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This Spinach Fatayer Recipe is one that I grew up eating. If you eat Lebanese food often you might also know it was Lebanese Spinach Turnovers. A spinach, feta and lemon juice mixture is baked inside dough to create a delicious vegetarian meal. These freeze great too!

SPINACH FATAYER RECIPE

Today’s Lebanese Spinach Pie Recipe, or Fatayer Bi Sabanekh, is one I love making for many reasons.

First of all, it reminds me of childhood.

I grew up eating both this Spinach Fatayer Recipe and these Lebanese Meat Pies.

Spinach Fatayer is part of a traditional Lebanese meal in my family.

We usually paired them with hummus and pita, an easy Lebanese salad, stuffed grape leaves and yogurt.

Spinach Fatayer are a nice vegetarian meal option that freezes well and works nicely for a large crowd.

When I make these I like to make a big batch, freeze half for later and use the other half throughout the week for lunch or dinner.

My kids go crazy for them too!

WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN A SPINACH PIE RECIPE?

DOUGH: You can use a homemade dough or buy a store-bought dough to use in this recipe.

For super quick preparation I buy the Rhodes Roll Dough that is frozen and already portioned out into small rounds.

When you are ready to make your fatayer you will remove the dough and let it thaw and rise for 3 to 4 hours before making the spinach pies.

SPINACH: You can use frozen or fresh spinach in this recipe.

If you use fresh spinach you will want to wash it and then sprinkle salt on the spinach and set aside for 15 minutes to let the spinach macerate.

Then you squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible before using. If you use frozen spinach you will squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible before using.

LEMON JUICE: I like to add lemon juice to the spinach mixture to give it a nice sweet, zesty flavor.

FETA CHEESE: Feta is an addition I like in my spinach pies.

You can easily make them without the feta cheese if you want or try goat cheese.

SPICES: Feel free to get creative with spices that go into the spinach mixture.

I like to add a small amount of salt and pepper and then sumac or za’atar. Feel free to get creative and experiment with your favorite spices.

WAYS TO MODIFY THIS SPINACH FATAYER RECIPE

Change up the spices that are used. If you have a blend of spices you like try using that. Another idea is to use a shawarma seasoning or add za’atar.
Add pine nuts or silvered almonds to the spinach mixture.
Add goat cheese in place of feta cheese.
Add some drained, diced tomatoes to the spinach mixture.
Spice up the spinach mixture by adding additional cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper.

WHAT IS FATAYER?

Fatayer, Petaeer (Arabic: فطاير‎)is a meat pie that can alternatively be stuffed with spinach (Arabic: سبانخ‎), or cheese (Arabic: جبنه‎) such as Feta or Akkawi.

IS FATAYER HEALTHY?

Because of the Spinach Pie contains very high amounts of vitamin A and a considerable amount of vitamin C. Spinach also has iron and the feta cheese has calcium which makes it a nice healthy choice.

WHAT SHOULD I SERVE WITH LEBANESE SPINACH PIES?

I am all about simple salads to pair with spinach pies.

Here are a few I like along with some side dish options:

Fattoush : A healthy Middle Eastern Salad with a light, lemony vinaigrette dressing. This Fattoush Salad mixes crisp romaine, fresh vegetables, pita chips and a light lemony sumac dressing and is great with fresh farmers market vegetables.

Grilled Beef Kofta Kebabs: Grilled Beef Kofta Kebabs are easy to prepare and use warm, rich Middle Eastern spices. You can eat the beef kebabs in a pita sandwich or on a plate of hummus with pita on the side.

Tabbouleh: Tabbouleh is a fresh, light salad mixing tomatoes, parsley, mint, green onions, bulgur wheat along with a light lemon olive oil dressing. A great side to any meal or a main dish for lunch!

Persian Cucumber Salad: Persian Tomato Cucumber Salad is a fresh, light salad mixing tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, jalapeño, fresh mint and parsley and topped with an olive oil lemon dressing.

Spicy Potatoes: Spicy Lebanese Potatoes are crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and will spice up any meal. The sauce on these potatoes is the star featuring coriander, paprika, cayenne pepper mixed with olive oil and lemon juice.

Lebanese Spinach Pie

Name: Lebanese Spinach Pie
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 24
Cuisine: mediterranean
Ingredients: 1 package of dough or 1 package of Rhodes 36 count frozen dinner rolls; 2 Tablespoons olive oil; 1 cup sweet onion, finely diced; 2 garlic coves, minced; 8 cups fresh spinach {or you can use 2 pounds of frozen, chopped spinach; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/8 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon sumac {optional}; 1 lemon, juiced; 6 ounces of crumbled feta cheese

Yield: 24

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes

This Lebanese Spinach Pie is one that I grew up eating. If you eat Lebanese food often you might also know it was Spinach Fatayer. A spinach, feta and lemon juice mixture is baked inside dough to create a delicious vegetarian meal. These freeze great too!

Ingredients

1 package of dough or 1 package of Rhodes 36 count frozen dinner rolls
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup sweet onion, finely diced
2 garlic coves, minced
8 cups fresh spinach {or you can use 2 pounds of frozen, chopped spinach
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon sumac {optional}
1 lemon, juiced
6 ounces of crumbled feta cheese

Instructions

Place frozen dough in your refrigerator 6 to 12 hours before using. Dough will not rise, but will be thawed and ready to use.
Spray two baking trays with non-stick spray. Lay out the dough on the tray if not using the frozen rolls and cover with a kitchen towl to rise for about 1 hour. When the dough has doubled in size form the dough into 2 inch round balls and make about 24 of them. Cover with kitchen towel for another 30 min to rise again.
If using the frozen roll dough place 24 of the frozen dough rolls on two of the baking sheets. Spray the top of the dough with non-stick spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough thaw and rise, which takes about 2 to 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium skillet heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute for 2 to 3 minutes or until soft. Set aside.
To prepare the spinach mixture: if you are using fresh spinach, chop the spinach and put it in a large bowl and sprinkl with 1 teaspoon of salt. Set aside for 15 minutes to macerate the spinach. Use your hands to squeeze the spinach dry. If you are using frozen spinach you will also want to squeese the liquid out. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add the garlic and onion mixture, the sumac, salt and pepper and lemon juice, Mix well.
To prepare the spinach pies: Set out of a large cuttting board or another work surface that has space to roll out the dough. Flour the surface your working on. Use a rolling pin to roll each dough round out so there are three sides.
Fill each dough round with enough spinach mixture to fill the dough but leave room around the edges to close the spinach pie. Sprinkle a few pieces of feta cheese on top of the spinach mixture.
Bring the three sides of the dough together to a point in the middle. Use your fingers to pinch the dough together and make sure they are closed completely.
Spray the each spinach pie with a bit of olive oil or use a brush to brush them with olive oil.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until just golden brown. To get a nice golden brown on the edges you can turn the heat up to 450 the last 2 minutes of baking.
Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Serve warm or freeze for later.