Easy vegan spanakopita

Easy vegan spanakopita

easy vegan spanakopita

For fellow UK-dwellers, happy bank holiday weekend! Judging by how busy it was out yesterday and how unusually empty of cars our street is, lots of people have gone away for the weekend. We’ve decided to beat the crowds and we aren’t hitting the road until after the weekend. We’ve planned a small break on the Pembrokeshire coast during the week so we are both checking the weather forecast like hawks.

As long weekends are conducive to family gatherings, especially after the year we have had, I thought that a tray of a Greek-inspired (I miss Greece!) crowd pleaser that’s easy to make would make a good recipe today. As you probably know, I am no stranger to Greek cuisine on account of having lived there for four years and so I have made a spanakopita recipe before and while I still stand by that recipe, it is a little more time consuming to make due to its coiled shape and my almond feta cheese, which while delicious, it is a little more involved. It is time, I thought, for a simpler recipe that anyone can pull off without feeling intimidated.

The most time consuming bit about any, not just vegan, spanakopita recipe is the spinach prep. It needs to be precooked and then all of the moisture needs to be squeezed out of it as otherwise all that moisture will steam up in your pie during baking, making it soggy. It doesn’t take that long though, especially if you can task someone with strong hands to do all the squeezing for you while you prep the rest. I mean, I am fairly sure you won’t be eating this amount of pie alone, so you should not have to be making it alone either. You can employ an old kitchen towel to squeeze the moisture out, but the least messy way is to simply squeeze the spinach out by the handful and go over it all at least twice.

Other than the spinach prep, layering the pastry in the tin is a breeze. You simply need to be gentle with it, but it is absolutely fine if there are any tears (use these sheets in the middle of the pie) and the pastry layers do not have to sit perfectly flat against each other – in fact, some unevenness and creases encourage air pockets forming between layers and leads to a flakier end result, so a little messiness is a good thing.

The creamy element of spanakopita is usually made of a combination of a few different cheeses and sometimes yoghurt or cream cheese is added for extra creaminess. I aimed to match the consistency and flavour profile of that element by making a creamy cheese-like component with soaked cashews (flaked almonds, sunflower seeds or tofu would work also!) flavoured with lemon, salt, garlic and nutritional yeast. It comes together in seconds in a food processor or blender and gets directly added to the spinach and sautéed aromatics.

Another hallmark of a good spanakopita is building an impressive stack of layers on top of the filling, so even though it may be tempting, do not scrimp on the amount of pastry or oil. I used up nearly two packets of it in an effort to get that crispy golden canopy of pastry and it turned out beautifully. I hope you’ll make it and enjoy the end product as much as we have.

easy vegan spanakopita ingredients

easy vegan spanakopita filling

easy vegan spanakopita layering pastry

easy vegan spanakopita before after

easy vegan spanakopita side on

easy vegan spanakopita side top down 2

easy vegan spanakopita slice out

makes
22x33cm 9x13"
PREP
45 min
COOKING
40 min
makes
22x33cm 9x13"
PREPARATION
45 min
COOKING
40 min
INGREDIENTS
  • 200 g / 1½ cups cashews, soaked overnight*
  • 60-75 ml / 4-5 tbsp juice + zest 1 lemon
  • olive oil
  • 4 tbsp / ¼ cup nutritional yeast, divided
  • 1 tsp salt, divided
  • 3 garlic cloves, divided
  • 900 g / 2 lb fresh spinach
  • 10 spring onions / scallions, sliced finely
  • 15 g / ½ oz mint leaves
  • 15 g / ½ oz dill leaves
  • 15 g / ½ oz parsley leaves
  • freshly ground nutmeg (I use about ½ nutmeg), to taste
  • ½ tsp black pepper, to taste
  • 2 x 250 g / 8¾ oz packets of vegan phyllo, thawed in the fridge overnight
  • sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)
METHOD
  1. Place drained cashews in a food processor (an upright blender will work too and give you a creamier texture, but you may need to use a tamper as the mixture is meant to be quite thick).
  2. Add 80 ml / 1/3 cup of water, 60 ml / ¼ cup lemon juice, 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 tbsp of nutritional yeast and ½ tsp salt and one garlic clove, process or blend until smooth, scraping the sides of the machine as you go along to make sure the mixture is creamy and uniform – a little texture is fine.
  3. Cook the spinach by blanching it in batches for about 40 seconds and then plunging it into a bowl of ice-cold water (to stop it from cooking any further).
  4. Wring cold spinach dry (that’s very important as otherwise the pie will be soggy) using your hands or a kitchen towel – be very thorough. Chop the spinach finely afterwards.
  5. Heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a small pan, gently stir-fry the spring onions (apart from the green tops, add them directly to the filling – I used half of them) and garlic until softened and fragrant. Cool them down.
  6. In a large bowl, mix the cashew mixture with chopped spinach, lemon zest, finely chopped herbs, nutmeg, black pepper, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, softened garlic and spring onions. Mix everything really well, taste the mixture and add more salt if needed (I used another heaped ½ tsp) and more lemon juice (I added 1 tablespoon).

ASSEMBLY

  1. Preheat the oven to 180° C fan / 355° F fan (or 200° C / 390° F without a fan, although I recommend using a fan – it helps to crisp the pastry up) and grease your baking tin with olive oil.
  2. Line the tin with the first sheet of pastry allowing the excess to rest against the sides of the tin. Brush the pastry with some olive oil and place another sheet on top. Continue in this manner until you’ve used up approximately a third of your pastry sheets making sure the sheets you are not working with are covered with a damp kitchen towel so that they do not dry out.
  3. Spread the filling on top of the pastry, levelling it out with a spatula.
  4. Fold the excess pastry from the bottom sheets over the filling to tuck it in. Next, start covering the top with more pastry sheets, brushing each sheet with olive oil as you go along. Trim the sheets you are putting on top of the filling to size, alternating using whole sheets with two half sheets, brushing with oil between each layer.
  5. Brush the final layer with oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using). Using a sharp knife scour the dish so that the pastry puffs up during baking and it is easier to cut it into slices later. Try not to cut into the filling underneath as it will dry out too much.
  6. Bake for approximately 35-40 minutes, until golden brown. Allow the pie to ‘set’ for 30 minutes or so before cutting into it. It’s best after it has been made but you can store the leftovers in the fridge for 3-4 days in an air-tight container.

NOTES
*Or at least for 1 hr in boiling water.

I find that shop bought phyllo / filo can be a little bland so sprinkling a little salt between sheets while brushing with oil is a good idea.

This is the baking tray I used, it has the following dimensions: 9″ x 13″ / 22 x 33 cm.

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NUTRITIONAL INFO
calories
266
13%
sugars
2 g
2%
fats
12 g
17%
saturates
2 g
12%
proteins
9 g
18%
carbs
33 g
13%
*per serving
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5.0
9 reviews, 27 comments
REVIEWS & QUESTIONS
Annelies:
We are big fans of spanakopita. this vegan version definitely beats the non-vegan one in flavour. Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Aw thank you Annelies, I am so so happy to hear that! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. Ania
Louisa:
Yum yum. I prefer recipes with cashews over almonds for making fake cheese, but I always leave out the nooch as I don't actually like the cheesy flavour! I didn't realise until I was making it that I'd bought some kind of brik pastry rather than filo, but I mostly worked out! Another great recipe.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Louisa, I am delighted to hear that you enjoyed it and great that you alerted the recipe to your tastebuds. x Ania
Mel:
Hello, looking forward to making this! Please can you clarify how many servings the pie provides as the nutritional information is given per serving but it doesn't say how big the servings are or how many the recipe makes... Many thanks for this and all your brilliant recipes!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Mel,
    Sorry for this oversight, I shall correct in a second. It's 12 pieces as per the photos. Hope you'll enjoy it. x Ania
Cait:
Hi! Do you know how long the "cheese" mixture will stay fresh for? I would love to make this for a party, and I'm trying to work smart by making certain things ahead of time. (Thanks in advance - I'm very excited to try a childhood favourite of mine in vegan form!)
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Cait,
    If you keep it in the fridge, it should keep for 2-3 days easily, possibly longer but I would not risk it just in case. I hope you'll enjoy it! x Ania
Hasha Samarasekera:
Hi Ania and Duncan,
I tried making this recipe for Mother’s Day today as I am aspiring to transition to a vegan diet (so far I am a flexitarian, meaning that I am mostly vegetarian unless I couldn’t find any vegetarian or vegan options). I baked it for 37 minutes and I was so pleased to see the pastry turning almost completely golden brown by the thirtieth minute. The taste was also very delicious as I could feel the spinach taste in my mouth. I hope that the both of you will continue this awesome blog, and I am especially looking forward to you veganising more non-vegan dishes (including feta cheese and crab meat)!
Thank you (Efcharisto)!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you, Hasha! I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed my dairy-free take on spanakopita! I already have done one feta recipe, but I might attempt more, for sure. Thanks for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it! x Ania
Ali:
Delicious. I swapped out some of the green onions for leeks I had in the fridge and doubled the garlic as I usually do, but excellent recipe. Will make again! And again and again… Thank you!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm delighted to hear that you enjoyed it, Ali! And thank you for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
    Fotini:
    Hi,
    Can you tell me which brand of vegan phyllo you used?
      Ania
      Ania:
      Hi Fotini,
      I used Theos brand phyllo that is available in Tesco in the UK. Hope this helps! Ania
Nora:
Hi :) This recipe looks soo good. I was wondering if I can freeze my leftovers and if so, what kind of reheating method would you recommend (microwave or oven)?
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Nora! I would say thaw naturally and reheat in a 180-200° C oven for about 25-30 minutes (cover the top initially, remove the covering for the last 5-10 minutes). I don't even own a microwave so I cannot give you any advice on that option, I am afraid. x Ania
Helen Downing:
Thank you so much for this recipe! I used to make standard veggie spanakopita a lot for family celebrations, but since going vegan 8 years ago I haven't been able to find a good vegan recipe for it (although I have found some really dodgy ones!). Your recipe turned out brilliantly, for a late Christmas family celebration. My son who's an omnivorous chef even said he preferred it to my old feta-based version!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Helen,
    I'm delighted to hear that, especially that Greek cuisine is so close to my own heart so I want to do it justice. Thank you so much for returning to write this review, I really appreciate it. x Ania
Alex:
It’s takes some time to make but was so worth it! Everyone at the table, vegan and non-vegan, loved it! Thank you Ania 😊💛✨
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Alex, I am so happy to hear that it was a success with you and your diners, including non-vegan ones! And thanks so much for returning to review - I really appreciate it! x Ania
Emma:
This was delicious! It kept really well in the fridge too. As good as, if not better than, any dairy-filled version I've tried in the past. I can imagine the filling making a really good open tart as well, with some tweaks to the proportions, and maybe some pine nuts sprinkled over.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thank you so much for your kind words, Emma! I'm so happy to hear that you rated it so highly! That's so nice to know! Ania
Anne Powell:
Had this for dinner tonight and it was loved by all! Thanks for the recipe.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Thanks Anne, I'm delighted to hear that. And thank you so much for coming back to leave to review - I really appreciate it. x Ania
Danielle Aronson:
You're absolutely right... the method was easy, just time-consuming. Worth it, though!
    Ania
    Ania:
    I'm glad you think so, Danielle. x Ania
Danielle Aronson:
Delicious!!! But I would not label it as easy. Ended up being three different sessions of prep work. Was thrilled with the result anyhow! It even tempted me to taste-test comparison to "real" spanakopita with my 10% non-plant-based ration for the week, and I was still impressed. I made the mistake of tasting the cashew filling out of the blender and almost quit right then. Thankfully, something magical happened after step 2. Fair warning to others--ignore the temptation and power through.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Danielle,
    Glad you enjoyed this dish and trusted me when it comes to the cashew filling. Well, it is relatively easy to put together (doesn't require intricate pastry work like this coiled version or making the 'cheese' component in advance, culturing it etc.), but it still is a spankopita after all and you cannot escape the fact that it's the type of dish that requires a fair amount of prep, even the non-vegan version. Ania
evelyn lee:
Isn't filo chock full of butter? ? If you have a god vegan brand, can you please post what it is?
    Ania
    Ania:
    If you buy butter phyllo sure, but a lot of commercially available phyllo is accidentally vegan (it's a production cost saving measure). Not sure where you are based but in the UK, jus roll has a vegan phyllo, for example. Ania
Ramya:
will be making this soon i never had spanakopita and greek food before perfect for my after office meals will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
    Ania
    Ania:
    Great to hear, let me know if you enjoyed it! Ania
Liz Mackay:
Dear Anna - I live on the West Coast of Canada, and we have some really good frozen chopped spinach available here, which would reduce the work a bit ... obviously it would need to be squeezed well just like the fresh spinach ... would this be a viable alternative?
LOVE your blog and recipes!! I was born in, and grew up in Chester , Cheshire till I emigrated to Canada just before my 24th birthday, and almost 53 years ago!
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Liz,
    Yes, absolutely, frozen spinach (defrosted and squeezed out well) will work just fine. Thank you for your kind words about my work, it's lovely to hear. I've heard of Chester, but have not been there yet. West Coast of Canada sounds like a brilliant place to put down roots, my husband is very jealous as living in Canada in amongst wilderness is certainly something he fantasies about ;) . x Ania
Annie:
This looks so good! How would you go about using tofu instead of cashews? Unfortunately I’m allergic to cashews so I’m always looking for an alternative.
    Ania
    Ania:
    Hi Annie,
    I would use firm cotton (as opposed to silken) tofu and blend it with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and nutritional yeast and a touch (if needed) of water if you feel that it is needed. You may need a bit more tofu than cashews, I think - in total you want just over a cup of the mixture by the time you are done. Hope this helps! Ania
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