Spinach borek remains my favorite go-to appetizer! Is there anything tastier than the combination of spinach, sweet onions, and salty cheese? I’ll take that combo any day of the week! In cannelloni, as a spread, in börek, in anything! You can find so many different types of börek in Turkey, their shapes or fillings differ, but my favorite one has got to be the spinach borek! It’s just so good! Combine that delicious filling with the soggy melt-in-your-mouth pastry and the crunchy layer of yufka on top, and you hit the jackpot!
If you don’t have a Turkish store in your town, I’ve got you covered with substitutes so you can enjoy this classic savory pastry anywhere, anytime! The filling comes together in no time and after spending 10 min assembling your spinach borek, you can sit back and wait for your kitchen to be filled with the loveliest aroma.
Spinach
Spinach borek can resemble vegetarian lasagna but they taste pretty different. Spinach borek is flatter (there is less filling), ‘drier’ (there is no béchamel sauce), sharper (because of the cheeses), and crunchier (yufka acts differently than pasta dough). All of these differences make for a memorable experience because the filling can really shine. So many people have asked me for this spinach borek recipe (even my Turkish in-laws)!
Fresh spinach is traditionally used, but I am not patient and if I can avoid spending 10 min cleaning and stemming spinach, I will! Frozen spinach is so handy! If you want to use fresh leaves, you’ll need to double the amount of spinach. I’ve also added more filling than you would commonly find in a traditional spinach borek.
In Turkey, böreks fillings can be sparse, especially in bakeries where they tend to cut back. So you end up mostly tasting the pastry. But if I’m eating a spinach borek, I want to taste the spinach! I could have added even more spinach (I freaking love spinach) but I tried to stay as faithful to traditional böreks as possible.
Step by step
➝ How to make spinach borek? Nothing could be easier thanks to store-bought sheets of yufka (filo pastry)! All you have to do is to care of the cheesy spinach filling and to assemble the spinach borek.
- Cook and drain the spinach.
- Cook the onion.
- Combine all the filling ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- In a lined baking dish alternate the following layers: 1 sheet of yufka brushed with a mixture of milk & oil + 1⁄5 of the spinach filling. End with 1 sheet of yufka.
- Brush the top, sprinkle with sesame & nigella seeds, slice with a sharp knife and bake the spinach borek for half an hour.
Classic savory pastry
In Turkey, spinach borek is considered a ‘snack’ eaten in the morning or in the afternoon with a glass of çay (Turkish tea). However, I’m more than happy to serve a big platter of spinach borek for dinner! You can find böreks all over Turkey, sold in bakeries, or made at home from fresh yufka (Turkish ‘filo’ pastry). If spinach borek isn’t your thing, don’t worry they come with lots of different fillings; ground beef, potatoes, eggplants, cheese, nettle,…
You’ll always find böreks as part of a spread on a communal table during family gatherings where everyone helps themselves, next to lots of mezes, salty pastries, ‘olive oil dishes’, salads… One of the reasons I find spinach borek so comforting is that they remind me of joyous days spent with my extended family, or when I used to stop by my favorite bakery in the morning with my then-boyfriend, now-husband before our lessons started.
Well, you guessed it, börek is a big part of Turkish food culture. I’ve named a few different types of fillings, but you can also find su böreği (water börek, you boil the pastry sheets like pasta sheets), çig börek or paçanga (you fry them), talaş böreği (made with puff pastry) there is no end to böreks and they’re all equally delicious!
Yufka
➝ What’s yufka? Yufka is the Turkish version of the filo pastry. It’s slightly thicker than filo pastry and less brittle. The unleavened flour dough is rolled out with flour at home and with starch in bakeries. It takes a while to get the hang of making homemade yufka. Rolling out the disk of dough with an oklava (long rolling pin) until they are paper-thin so you can see through them (and without piercing the dough) takes a lot of practice. Frankly, I would never bother just to make spinach borek when you can get yukfa from a Turkish store. Sure, the pastry sheets won’t be as springy as günlük yufka (made fresh daily) but it’ll come pretty close, without any effort.
If you don’t live near a Turkish store you can use filo pastry, bought from a supermarket. Your spinach borek will be a bit more on the crispy side, but brushing each layer with oil and milk will help to make the pastry softer. If you want to make baklava, pick a package of yufka with the word ‘baklava’ written on it, to make sure the pastry will be as thin and crisp as needed.
Ready-made
And with packaged yufka being readily available in the refrigerated section of Turkish grocery stores, spinach borek is super easy to make at home! Who has time to make yufka/filo pastry anyway? Individual böreks can be easily shaped as cigars with triangular sheets of yufka, or a big börek can have that distinctive snail shape. However, it doesn’t get any easier than layering sheets of pastry, cut into the size of your baking pan. You’ll have your spinach borek ready in no time.
The famous snail shape looks great, but getting a good result with packaged yufka can be a challenge. The yufka sheets bought in shops are drier than the fresh yufka found in Turkey, so the pastry tends to break while being rolled, causing the spinach borek to leak. Not a big deal, but enough to drive me, a perfectionist, up the wall, so beware. Böreks come in so many different shapes or with so many different fillings, that you can totally get creative and make them your own.
Spinach borek
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Side dishes
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Turkish
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Spinach borek remains my favorite go-to appetizer! After all, there is nothing more delicious than the combination of spinach, sweet onions, salty cheeses and melt-in-your-mouth pastry with a crunchy topping.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 400g frozen spinach (14 oz)
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- 150g lor or çökelek cheese (you can use cottage cheese) (⅔ cup)
- 50g beyaz peynir (you can use feta) (⅓ cup)
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp kirmizi biber (you can use mild chili powder)
- 45ml vegetable oil (3 tbsp)
- 50ml whole milk (¼ cup)
- 6 sheets of yufka cut into the size of your baking pan (you can use filo pastry)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp nigella seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook and drain the spinach. Heat half of the olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the frozen spinach and break the blocks into smaller chunks with a wooden spoon. Cook for 6 min, stirring from time to time. When the spinach is cooked (wilted and warm), drain through a colander and squeeze out the excess water using the back of the spoon. Set aside to cool.
- Make the filling. Swipe the pan clean with a paper towel and pour the rest of the olive oil. Heat over low-medium heat and add the chopped onion. Cook until softened, about 7 min. Add the cooked onion, drained spinach and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix until combined. Crumble the cheeses on top and add the black pepper and chili powder. Mix with your hands (it’ll be easier). Taste and adjust the seasoning accordingly. The filling should be slightly saltier than what you would normally eat because it will be placed between 6 sheets of yufka (or filo pastry).
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line a 29*22cm (11*8in) rectangular baking dish with baking paper. Take the yufka (or filo pastry) out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 5 min before opening the package. In a small bowl, whisk the vegetable oil and milk together.
- Assemble the spinach borek. Place one sheet of yufka (or filo pastry) at the bottom of your baking dish. You might need to cut it or rip it by hand, so it can properly fit the baking dish. Brush liberally with the oil and milk mixture. Place 1⁄5 of the filling over the yufka. The filling won’t cover the sheet of pastry entirely and it’s totally normal. Repeat the layers (1 sheet of yuka, 1⁄5 of the filling), not forgetting to liberally brush the pastry before placing the filling, finishing off with the 6th layer of yufka. In total, your spinach borek should have 5 layers of filling and 6 layers of yufka.
- Brush the top. Beat the egg yolk and what is left of the oil and milk mixture together. Pour on top of the spinach borek and brush liberally. Sprinkle the seeds on top and cut the spinach borek into 8 equal pieces with a sharp knife.
- Bake. Bake for 30 to 35 min, until golden brown. Remove from the oven, cover with a kitchen towel and allow the spinach borek to rest for 30 min (but the longer, the better). Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4 slices
- Calories: 886
Keywords: mediterranean mezze, vegetarian dinner, turkish meals for dinner, meatless monday
Looking for more appetizer recipes? Here are my favorites:
- Turkish sarma (Vegetarian stuffed vine leaves)
- Tuna cream cheese dip
- Mücver
Nicola karakas
Love all your Turkish recipes thank you you are an inspiration x
★★★★★
Amélie
Thank you so much, your comment made my day! It’s always fun to recreate the food I ate while living in Turkey or what my Turkish in-laws lovingly made for me. I’m glad someone else enjoys these recipes too 🙂