Vegan Spanakopita

Prep time: About 20 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour
Serves: 4-6

Please note: this is not a gluten free recipe. Phyllo dough needs gluten in order to stretch out to a paper thin consistency.

I love vegan Spanakopita. I grew up eating Lebanese food. My grandparents came to the United States from Lebanon as youngsters so I got a great dose of the culture and food of Lebanon growing up. My grandmother was a fantastic cook and could make a meal out of nothing in no time. While my grandmother did not make spanakopita, as it is more of a traditional food from Greece, she often made fatayer, a hand held, triangular-shaped spinach pie made using thicker dough. I have always liked spanakopita though and thought I would try making a vegan version.

This recipe produced a delicious spanakopita! And, it is an easy, relatively quick recipe to put together.

Phyllo dough is paper thin layers of dough. When putting this recipe together, for every two layers of dough, brush with olive oil and stack another 2 layers on top, brushing each set with olive oil.

Ingredients Needed to Prepare Vegan Spanakopita

For the Filling

16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, stems removed
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 chia eggs (4 tablespoons of chia mixed with 1 cup of water)
1 package Follow Your Heart vegan feta cheese crumbles
2 tsp dried dill weed
black pepper to taste
2 TBS lemon juice
½ tsp sea salt

For The Dough

16 oz package vegan phyllo dough (The Fillo Factory makes a great vegan dough)
Enough extra virgin olive oil to coat layers of dough

How to Prepare Vegan Spanakopita

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Thaw the spinach and drain well by squeezing excess liquid out by hand.
3. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the remaining filling ingredients. Stir until all is well-combined.
4. Unroll the sheets of phyllo dough to get it ready for assembly.
5. Brush the bottom and sides of a large baking dish with olive oil.
6. Line the bottom of the baking dish with two sheets of phyllo allowing them to cover the sides of the dish. Brush the layers with olive oil.
7. Keep adding more sheets of dough, two at a time, and brush them with olive oil. Repeat until three quarters of the phyllo is used.
8. Take the spinach filling and spread evenly over the phyllo.
9. Top with two more sheets, and brush with olive oil continuing to layer the phyllo sheets, two-at-a-time, brushing each set with olive oil, until you have used up the entire box of phyllo.
10. When you get to the top, finishing layers, brush with olive oil, and sprinkle with a few drops of water (not much).
11. If there is excess dough hanging over the side of the baking pan, fold the excess over on top of the spanakopita. Brush the folded sides of dough well with olive oil.
12. Score the Spanakopita into squares without cutting all the way through. You can also leave the cutting for after it has finished baking.
13. Bake in the 350 degree heated oven for one hour, or until the phyllo crust is crispy and a golden brown color.
14. Remove from the oven. Finish cutting the spanakopita into squares and serve warm.

For more amazing vegan recipes, check out HealthTastesGood.com.