I absolutely love spinach pie. It’s rich, but not quite as heavy as a quiche, it has a deliciously flakey crust, and it works as a savory breakfast, brunch, or just anytime meal. It’s so good that I literally can’t wait to eat the leftovers, even though I know that puff pastry isn’t going to be crispy anymore. It just tastes so good.
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What is Spinach Pie?
This spinach pie is inspired by spanakopita, which is a savory Greek pie made with phyllo dough, feta, and spinach (see an authentic spanakopita recipe here). To make my spinach pie a little easier, I used a couple of short cuts: frozen spinach and frozen puff pastry dough. And then to keep the price on the lower side, I replaced the feta with cottage cheese (totally not similar cheeses, but it works here). The result is fast, easy, and still oh so delicious!
Where to Find Puff Pastry
The puff pastry dough is an important part of this recipe. You can find frozen puff pastry dough near the frozen desserts and frozen pie crusts in most major grocery stores. I used this one from Pepperidge Farm, but if you want to try making your own, check out this recipe for homemade puff pastry from my friend, Christina, at Dessert for Two.
Store-bought puff pastry usually comes in a box of two sheets, with each sheet folded into thirds. You only need one sheet, so save the second one for the next time you want to make spinach pie! You’ll also need to fully thaw the puff pastry before you begin, so make sure to take it out of the freezer at least an hour before you make your spinach pie.
What Else Can I Add to Spinach Pie?
This is another one of those recipes that can take a lot of fun add-ins. Try tossing in some chopped sun dried tomatoes, or maybe some cooked bacon. Or how about some feta cheese or roasted red peppers? A little bit of dill would also take the flavor up a notch!
Spinach Pie
Servings 8 slicesIngredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry ($2.40)
- 1 lb. frozen chopped spinach ($1.99)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 cup cottage cheese ($0.40)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.44)
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg ($0.02)
- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 3 large eggs, divided ($0.63)
Instructions
- Make sure to take the puff pastry and spinach out ahead of time to thaw (spinach can be thawed quickly in the microwave, if needed, but do not thaw the puff pastry in the microwave). Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a skillet and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Set the onions and garlic aside to cool slightly.
- Add the cottage cheese, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and two of the eggs to a bowl, and stir to combine (save the third egg to brush on top of the pastry before baking).
- Squeeze out as much water as possible from the thawed spinach. Add the squeezed spinach and sautéed onion and garlic to the bowl with the cheese mixture. Stir to combine again.
- Place a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface (or dust lightly with flour) and roll the thawed puff pastry out until it's just slightly larger, about 10×10 inches.
- Drape the rolled pastry dough out over a pie plate. Spread the spinach and cheese mixture inside the pastry dough, then take the corners and fold them in toward the center. The pastry will not fully cover the top, but that's okay (see step by step photos below).
- Lightly whisk the remaining egg and brush it over the surface of the pastry dough. Bake the spinach pie for about 45 minutes, or until the pasty on top has puffed up significantly and turned golden brown.
- Remove the spinach pie from the oven, let sit for about five minutes, then slice into eight pieces and serve.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Glass Pie Plate
Nutrition
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Love Spinach? Try these other spinach-licious recipes:
- Double Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Easy Creamed Spinach
- Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese
- Creamy Pesto Mac and Cheese with Spinach
How to Make Spinach Pie – Step By Step Photos
Make sure to thaw one sheet of puff pastry and one pound of frozen chopped spinach before you begin. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Dice one yellow onion and mince one clove of garlic. Add the onion, garlic, and olive oil to a skillet and sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent. Set the onion and garlic aside to cool slightly.
Add 1 cup cottage cheese, ¼ cup grated Parmesan, 2 large eggs, ⅛ tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper to a bowl. Stir to combine.
Squeeze out as much water from the thawed spinach as possible. This is really important because you don’t want your spinach pie to be soggy!
Add the spinach and sautéed onion and garlic to the bowl with the cheese mixture, then stir to combine again.
And now the spinach pie filling is complete! Let’s move on to the puff pastry.
You’re going to need the puff pastry to be a little larger than it is as it comes, so lay the pastry dough on a sheet of parchment paper or a lightly floured surface, then roll it out until it’s about 10×10 inches.
Drape the pastry dough over a pie dish. There should be enough to drape over the sides (you’ll fold that over the top after it’s filled).
Add the spinach and cheese mixture to the pie plate and spread it out evenly.
Fold the corners in toward the center (it’s okay if they don’t fully cover the top. Lightly whisk the last egg, then brush it over the surface of the puff pastry.
Bake the pie in the preheated 375ºF oven for 45 minutes, or until the pastry on top is puffed up and deeply golden brown. Let the pie sit for about five minutes before slicing into 8 pieces and serving.
It’s sooooo good!
Delicious! The only thing I did differently was I used a one pound container of fresh spinach I needed to use up. I chopped it and sautéed it a little before squeezing out all the water. It’s a keeper and I don’t think it needed anything else. The flavor was good as is.
A new family favorite! I’ve made this twice, following the recipe exactly. Since there’s just my hubby and me at home, we get two meals out of this. Thanks for another delicious recipe!
Wondering if this can be made ahead of time and then reheated??
I made this last night and it was super duper easy. I followed the recipe exactly (although I was a little lazy about squeezing the spinach) and it turned out great. Next time I’ll play around with adding other stuff.
I was able to successfully half this recipe since I cook for one and boy it was some good! With the high cost if food and trying not to waste I love recipes using frozen veggies. Please keep them coming. Well Done!
What about using fresh spinach instead of frozen? How would that work?
Wondering the same thing!
You’d need to cook it down to remove almost all of the water so the pie doesn’t get soggy, but I’m not sure how much fresh spinach would be needed to create the equivalent to the one pound frozen used here.
I used 1 lb fresh spinach and it worked out perfect.
This is one of my favorites and actually made it this weekend! I do add about 3 ounces of feta to it and leave out the nutmeg.
A question: I have feta, parmesan, and muenster cheese. Could I use these instead of cottage cheese/eggs? Thanks. I love the use of puff pastry.
You could probably do some variation of this with those cheeses, but without testing the amounts I wouldn’t be able to give any specific advice on how to do so. You can check the link for spanakopita up in the beginning of the post for inspiration, since it uses all feta.
Very delicous! I was a little worried how mine would turn out because I did not have time to squeeze the moisture out out of the spinach. It had a lot of liquid inside before I put it in the oven, so I just poured some of it out. I was worried it would lose flavor or still be too watery, but it turned out good and I am really satisfied with the flavor and texture. Will absolutely make again!!
Hello! Do you think you could add chicken to this dish? If so, when in the cooking process would you recommend. Thank you!
Hmm, personally I don’t feel like chicken is a good fit for this dish, but if you wanted to I suppose you could. You’d probably want to dice it and sauté it first, then add to the filling ingredients.
Very nice recipe. It’s time to start updating your (costs) per item. They are consistently too low. Thanks.
This is an easy and delicious dish. Having to empty my refrigerator, I added some items to it – sautéed sweet peppers and a quarter cup of. Hopped sun dried tomatoes. I also used fresh spinach. It was fabulous! Do try this recipe, I’m sure even the pickiest eaters will like it!
What size pie pan did you use?
It’s a 9-inch pie plate. :)
This is delicious. It’s officially in the rotation. I’ve made it twice, first time as is written, second time I added feta and roasted red pepper, I use some seasoning salt too. It’s delicious with and without changes! Yummy!!
This was so delicious! I added in a few things we had sitting in the fridge that needed to get eaten: a couple crowns of broccoli chopped fine, a linguica sausage sauteed with the onions, and the last couple tbsps of a pizza cheese mix. Baked for closer to an hour & fifteen minutes to get the crust cooked all the way through on the bottom, with a foil covering added around 35 mins. We both ate 2 big slice for dinner, and can’t wait for leftovers. Thank you so much for this very delicious way to consume lots of veggies in one go!