Spanakorizo
A quintessential Greek dish, and a classic example of those flavours you learn to appreciate more when you get older. It’s very tasty, but also very green; which is usually enough to put off most children. I was never a fussy eater, but I remember the feeling of disappointment I had every time my mum prepared this dish — it was just too green!
When I eventually grew up and moved out, I rediscovered the love for Spanakorizo (literally, spinach with rice). It was familiar, it tasted like home and it was comforting. So not surprisingly, this has become one of my go-to’s whenever I get a little homesick.
“I like it but I can’t get over to the fact that you consider this a main and not a side dish — it’s not a risotto!”
This is considered a main dish. You will normally cook it in big batches and eat it over a few days, at room temperature and with some feta on the side.
Popeye would love this one.
Ingredients:
800g Spinach
10tbsp Risotto rice
Olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
Spring Onion
A handful of dill
Half a lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cooking time & People
These quantities serve 4 people and will take you roughly 40 minutes.
Step by Step
Wash the spinach
Put some olive oil in a deep pan, set to medium heat and then add the sliced spring onion
Add the spinach in the pan straight away (you don’t have to sauté the onion first). Put the lid on and don’t worry if the spinach seems a lot. Its volume will decrease massively as soon as it starts sweating out its water
Keep an eye on the hob and as soon as the spinach loses most of its volume it’s time to add the rice. The water from the spinach will help cook the rice. Just remember to keep the lid on and to lower the heat to medium-low by this point
Add salt to taste and let it cook. This normally takes about 20min from the moment you add the rice, but cooking time will depend on the rice you use so make sure you keep an eye on it and stir it every 5mins or so. The water from the spinach should be enough too cook with but if it dries out too quickly, add a couple of tbsp of water
15mins into cooking squeeze half a lemon, add a handful of dill and stir. Taste to understand if it needs more salt and let cook until the rice is soft
Once ready, let it cool down and enjoy at room temperature
Tips & cheats
The biggest tip is to always try to keep heat medium low to ensure the water doesn’t evaporate before the rice is cooked.
If you forget the pot on the hob and the spinach on the bottom burns, you can easily save it. Just take a new pan and pour the remaining spanakorizo in it. Don’t scrape the bottom, just pour the bits that didn’t stick. Taste it and add some extra water (you don’t want to use the burned water from the first pan). Also important: don’t tell anyone.
This is a great Summer dish. You can enjoy it straight out of the fridge and it will still taste great. If you want to ‘pimp’ it up a little more, you can add a tbsp of Greek yoghurt in your plate and mix everything. This will make it creamier and fresher.
It’s hard to make Spanakorizo look very pretty, so a many don’t really like preparing it when hosting guests. I disagree, I think it’s a very underrated dish which is easy to prepare and has a lot of unexpected flavour. I’ve added different pictures of how you could present it if you had guests, just to give you an idea.
“Ok it’s not a risotto, way less stirring going on. Still think it’s a side dish though!”
Very true! Going back to Phil’s first comment, if you feel this is more of a side dish to you, you can always use it as such. Your kitchen, your rules!
