These spinach and feta triangles (essentially mini spanakopita triangles) are a finger food version of a classic Greek dish. Filled with cheese and spinach, they’re full of flavour, easy to make and they can be made ahead. Win!
These little parcels are so versatile. With a filling similar to that of classic spanakopita, they can be eaten hot out of the oven or cold from the fridge. You can make them into a dinner with a side salad, eat them as an appetizer on their own or with dip, or pack them into lunchboxes. They’re the perfect finger food for a party too, since you can make them ahead of time, then just bake them when ready but also because they just happen to be vegetarian.
Love filo? Try these chicken filo parcels or this chicken filo pie.
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Ingredients and substitutions
While the filling is similar to spanakopita, the shape is not. Traditional spanakopita is made more like a pie in a large square or rectangle pan with the filling stuffed between two layers of filo pastry. The flavour inside these spanakopita parcels is the same though ever so slightly simplified (there is no parsley, mint or nutmeg but you could easily add those).
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
- Filo / phyllo: Store-bought filo dough is perfect here. It generally comes in rolls of rectangular sheets. The dough is very thin and great for getting a lovely crisp texture. You’ll need 10 sheets of filo pastry in total for this recipe and get 15 pastries. You can swap this for puff pastry too – just cut it into squares and use a single layer placing the feta mixture on one side and folding the other side over the top.
- Spinach: I use frozen spinach for this – it’s just so convenient. You can use fresh baby spinach or regular fresh spinach leaves but you’ll need to blanch it or just cover it in boiling water for 30 seconds, then transfer it to iced water before squeezing out all the excess water.
- Feta: It’s in the name so grab a good quality crumbly feta for this.
- Kefalotyri cheese / Parmesan cheese: Kefalotyri cheese is a greek sheeps milk cheese. It’s a hard, salty cheese so can be easily substituted with parmesan cheese or even Romano.
- Dried dill: Dill works great in this recipe and you can use fresh Dill (you’ll need 3 times as much) or dried dill like I do here.
- Sesame seeds are purely optional. They’re mostly just aesthetic although they do add a slightly crunch and nutty flavour to the spinach and feta triangles. You could also add pine nuts inside the parcels for extra crunch and nuttiness.
- Onion: I use just red onion here to keep things simple but classic spanakopita has a combination of red onion and spring onions (scallions / green onions).
How to make spanakopita triangles
These feta and spinach parcels are so easy to make. There is a little time required in folding them up but it isn’t difficult at all and you can very easily make these ahead of time. You can assemble them the day before baking or even make a big batch and freeze them for another time – it makes them perfect for parties.
Jump to the recipe card for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Drain the spinach
Start by thawing the spinach then squeeze out as much excess liquid as possible. I find it easiest through a cheesecloth but kitchen paper towel will work too. You don’t need to discard the liquid – see my notes if you hate any kind of waste. Do this over a strainer and bowl, so that you can just set it aside and let it keep dripping away until you need it.
2. Cook the vegetables
In a large skillet / frying pan, cook the onion, garlic and dill over medium heat until the onion has softened. Add the drained spinach and cook for another couple of minutes to remove any extra moisture.
3. Make the filling
Once the spinach mixture has cooled, add the cheeses and an egg. Give it a good mix.
4. Assemble them
Now, it’s time to assemble your spinach and feta parcels. Start by brushing one layer of filo with melted butter. Add another layer of filo on top but don’t butter it.
Fold the pastry, short side to short side in half (since you didn’t butter the top layer of pastry it won’t stick together).
Then fold it in half again in the same direction and cut it into 3 even squares. When you unfold them, you’ll have 3 long strips of double layered filo.
Now, just unfold the first of the strips of filo and add 1 ½- 2 tablespoons of the spinach and feta mixture onto the bottom corner (closest to you).
Fold the bottom corner over the filling diagonally so that the bottom edge now lines up with the side edge.
Now fold that section upwards, then continue folding it diagonally, then upwards until you get to the end of the pastry.
Once you get to the end, butter the overhang and fold it around the triangle to stick it.
5. Butter and bake
Butter the pastry on the seam side, then transfer to a lined baking sheet, butter side down. You can sit them fairly close together as they don’t really spread but you still want air to be able to get around them. Brush the tops with more butter then sprinkle on sesame seeds. Now bake your spinach and feta filo parcels for 25-28 minutes until golden.
Tips & tricks
- You don’t need to discard the spinach juice: The liquid that is squeezed from the spinach is full of nutritional value and you can use it in things like smoothies or soups. When cooking something with stock, try adding a bit of the spinach juice. You can freeze it in freezer blocks for later or you could just drink it too (wild, but if you love the flavour, why not?!). Keep in mind it’s very green so whatever you add it to will have a green tinge.
- Be extra generous with the butter: When using filo, you can be generous with the butter (or swap it for a light flavoured olive oil). While I only butter one of the sheets, and then the outside of each pastry, you can butter the strips once you unfold them too.
- Add some fresh herbs: Spanakopita generally has lots of fresh herbs like dill, parsley and mint. Feel free to swap the dried dill for fresh and add a little of the others too.
- Don’t make them smaller: I tested cutting 4 strips from each pastry sheet instead of just 3 but the flavour suffers. While the smaller triangles are cute and maybe just 2 bites, there isn’t enough filling to pastry.
Air fryer instructions
You can cook the spinach and feta triangles in the airfryer too. Preheat it for 3 minutes at 180C/350F, then cook for 12-15 minutes, turning at the halfway mark, until golden brown.
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped red onion (½ medium onion)
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 250 g frozen spinach thawed (~9oz)
- 125 g feta cheese crumbled (~4 ½oz)
- 50 g finely grated kefalotyri cheese or parmesan cheese (⅓ cup packed)
- 1 large egg
- ½ lemon
- 10 sheets filo pastry (phyllo pastry)
- 100 g salted butter melted (3 ½oz)
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Strainer
- Cheesecloth helpful but not essential
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C (160 fan forced) / 350F. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
- Thaw the spinach then wrap in cheesecloth or a few layers of paper towel and squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible. Set aside.
- Add the olive oil, onion, garlic and dried dill to a pan over medium heat. Add a couple of pinches of freshly cracked black pepper, then cook for 3-4 minutes until the onions have softened.
- Add the spinach and cook for another 1-2 minutes, to cook off any excess moisture.
- Tip the mixture into a medium bowl and allow to cool.
- Once cool, add the feta, kefalotyri/parmesan, egg and add a good squeeze of lemon juice. Mix well to combine.
- Separate one sheet of pastry and lay it in a clean work surface. Brush with melted butter then place another sheet of pastry on top. Don’t butter the top sheet.*Keep the rest of the unused pastry under a damp tea towel so it doesn’t dry out.
- Fold the pastry in half from short side to short side. Then fold in half again in the same direction. Use a sharp knife to cut the filo into 3 squares, then unfold one at a time.
- Place about 1 ½- 2 tablespoons of mixture in the corner of the first one. Fold the corner over diagonally to form a triangle with the filling inside. Now fold it away from you, straight up. Repeat these folds, over and over until you get to the end. Brush the end with a little butter and seal it up. Brush the seam side with more melted butter and transfer to the prepared baking tray butter side down.
- Repeat with the remaining pastry and spinach mixture.
- Now brush the tops of all the triangles with butter and scatter over sesame seeds, if using.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Air fryer Instructions: You can cook the spinach and feta triangles in the airfryer too. Preheat it for 3 minutes at 180C/350F, then cook for 12-15 minutes, turning at the halfway mark, until golden brown.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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4 Comments on “Spinach and Filo Parcels”
Easy to make and everyone says delicious.
I’m so happy you all love them, Rachel. Thanks so much for dropping back to leave a review.
How much spinach is 250 g? And 125g of feta, etc?
Hi Sarah Jane 9oz and 4 1/2 oz, respectively. I’ve updated the recipe card.