This Vegan Spiral Spanakopita is a plant based twist on a classic Greek dish. It is made with crisp filo pastry with a creamy ricotta and spinach filling. Get the recipe below.
Spanakopita, the beloved Greek spinach pie, is a delicious dish that can easily be made plant based with a few simple swaps.
This vegan twist on the classic dish keeps all the flavour and texture of a traditional spanakopita, with a beautiful spiral shape that’s just as impressive on the table as it is satisfying to eat.
Whether you're hosting a dinner party or just craving something comforting and nourishing, this recipe is a celebration of simple ingredients coming together for a delicious dish.
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Ingredients
There are quite a few ingredients in this recipe.
- Filo pastry
- Leek
- Spinach
- Vegan ricotta
- Nutmeg
- Dill
- Mint
- Oregano
- Garlic
- Lemon
- Olive oil
- Sesame seeds
Check out the recipe card for quantities.
If you can't get hold of vegan ricotta (or want a more purse-friendly alternative) check out my recipe for homemade vegan ricotta which is perfect for this Vegan Spanakopita. You can make a large batch for much cheaper than store bought vegan ricotta and it is higher in protein too!
Step-by-step Instructions
There are quite a few steps to this recipe and coiling the filled filo can be quite tricky. But follow my simple steps below and you'll be able to create a perfect Vegan Spiral Spanakopita.
- Step 1: Cook the leeks and garlic in a pan with a little olive oil until soft the leave to cool.
- Step 2: Defrost the spinach and squeeze out as much water as possible.
- Step 3: Mix the vegan ricotta, leeks, spinach and all of the herbs and spices, nutritional yeast and lemon juice.
- Step 4: lay a sheet of filo pastry on a work surface with the long side facing you. Brush with a little olive oil then lay another sheet over the top.
- Step 5: Spoon a row of the filling across the width of the filo pastry. Then Roll up the filo pastry into a sausage and repeat.
- Step 6: Take the filo pastry sausages and coil them to create a spiral shape on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Step 7: Brush with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
- Step 8: Bake in the centre of the oven for 20-30 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.
Hint: a pastry brush or oil spray is great for ensuring you get oil over all of the filo pastry ensuring it goes golden brown and crisp.
Substitutions
If you don't have the right ingredients then try some of the following substitutions.
- Onions - instead of leeks consider using regular white onion or spring onions instead
- Leafy greens - if you don't want to use spinach, why not use another leafy vegetable like kale, you will need to cook this with the leeks so it wilts before adding to the ricotta mix
- Vegetarian - you can use regular ricotta if you want this recipe to be vegetarian not vegan
Variations
If you want to turn up the heat consider adding some chilli flakes to the mix.
Storage instructions
This recipe is best served fresh out of the oven. It can be reheated if you really need to.
But, if you want to make in advance I recommend just making the filling, creating the spiral with the filo should be done just before baking.
Top Tip
Having spinach that is as dry as possible is essential to this recipe. I recommend using a potato ricer to get the moisture out. Just fill it up with a big handful of the defrosted spinach then give it a good squeeze over the sink!
FAQ
Just tear up some leftover filo pastry and patch it up. It doesn't have to be perfectly neat and tidy!
Place a damp tea towel over the top of the filo pastry while you are not using it.
The recipe
Vegan Spiral Spanakopita
Equipment
- 1 Baking tray
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large leek thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 750 g frozen spinach
- 1 lemon zest and juice
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 0.25 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 6 sheets filo pastry defrosted if frozen
- 300 g vegan ricotta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F/gas mark 4 and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat, add the sliced leek and cook for about 10 minutes until they are soft and translucent.
- Add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes to release the garlic's aroma.
- Remove the leeks from the heat and leave to cool.
- In the meantime, defrost the frozen spinach.
- Squeeze out as much water from it as you can then finely chop.
- Stir together the vegan ricotta with the leeks, spinach, lemon, mint, oregano, nutmeg, nutritional yeast then season to taste.
- To assemble the pie, lay your first sheet of filo pastry on a work surface with the long side facing you.
- Brush the filo pastry all over with a little olive oil then add another sheet on top.
- Take ⅓rd of the spinach cheese mixture and form it into a long snake along the long edge of the pastry just a few centimetres away from the edge.
- Roll the pastry up from the bottom into a long sausage.
- Coil the sausage, seam side down and onto the baking tray.
- Repeat the steps twice more, tucking the beginning of each coil into the end of the previous one to form the spiral.
- Brush the pastry all over with olive oil and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
- Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until it is golden brown and crisp.
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