Spanakorizo is a Greek dish with spinach and rice. It's really easy to make, and incredibly nutritious, making it an excellent vegetarian main course.
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Greek spinach rice is often served as a main, but you can enjoy it as a side dish as well. The flavor of the boiled spinach works so well with the rice, and although it's healthy and packed with greens, this is honestly one of my favorite comfort foods.
On top of the amazing flavors, this dish contains a ridiculous amount of spinach. As the leaves reduce in size while they cook, you will actually need several bags of spinach for this recipe. Eating enough vegetables has never been easier!
🥘 Ingredients
Spanakorizo has two main ingredients: rice, and a large amount of spinach. You will also need onion, garlic, lemon, dill, olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper and water.
You can make spanakorizo with any medium or long grain rice. Short grain rice tends to be more sticky, and is not suitable for this dish. I prefer to use basmati rice, but jasmine rice or arborio rice will also work well.
🔪 Instructions
Start by finely grating the garlic and dicing the onion.
Heat half of the olive oil in a pot, then add the spinach. Cook while stirring and turning the leaves until the spinach wilts. As you will be starting with a large amount of spinach, you might want to split it up in several batches.
Set the wilted spinach to the side in a separate bowl. The amount of spinach will have reduced significantly now.
In the same pot, heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil, and add the diced onion. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Then, add the garlic and saute for another minute.
Add the wilted spinach, rice, cumin and water to the pot. Bring it to a boil on high heat, then reduce it to low. Leave it to simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes (check the package instructions of the rice), or until all the water is absorbed by the grains. Do a taste test to make sure that the rice has cooked through completely.
Then, add the lemon juice and chopped fresh dill to the rice. Give it a stir and leave it for another 1-2 minutes. Serve the rice while it's still hot, or allow it to chill if you prefer to serve it cold.
💭 Top tips
Here are my top tips to make the best spanakorizo:
- Cook the spinach and rice on a low heat. This will ensure that the dish has the ideal texture, and prevent it from burning.
- After you add the rice to the pot, you should avoid removing the lid before it's cooked through. Taking the lid off too often could make the rice dry.
- Although frozen spinach can be used, you will get a far better result if you use fresh spinach.
- The recipe calls for a LOT of spinach, but keep in mind that the vegetable reduces in size when it cooks.
🥗 Serving suggestions
Spanakorizo is typically enjoyed as a vegetarian main course. Here are some of my favorite ways to serve it:
With feta cheese and lemon: It is very common to enjoy this dish with a sprinkle of feta cheese and lemon juice over the top. The combination of spinach and feta is absolutely amazing, and highly recommended!
With roasted or grilled meat: You can serve spinach rice as a side dish with meat, such as roast chicken with lemon.
Hot or cold: This dish is often enjoyed warm as a comfort food, but you can also serve it cold! I prefer the chilled version in the summer, and warm spanakorizo in the winter.
📖 Variations
You can definitely adapt the dish to suit your dietary requirements or personal preferences. Here are some common variations of spanakorizo:
More fiber: Use brown rice instead of white rice. Keep in mind brown rice takes longer to cook, and you might have to adjust the amount of water. Follow the instructions on the rice packaging.
More protein: Add chunks of cooked meat to the dish, or serve the it with grilled or roasted meat on top.
🍲 Leftovers
Leftover spanakorizo can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 3 days.
The dish can be enjoyed warm or cold. Reheat it in a microwave or in a stockpot on the stove top until it's warm throughout, or serve it chilled straight from the refrigerator.
I would not recommend freezing spanakorizo, as the rice and spinach can get a very unpleasant texture after thawing. You can however prepare the spinach, onion and garlic, and freeze this. Then, you can thaw the wilted spinach later, and simply add water and rice for a quick and easy spanakorizo. Perfect for using up a surplus of spinach!
🍴 You might also like these recipes..
If you love Greek food, you should try any of these recipes:
📋 Frequently asked questions
It depends on the dish! Many Greek dishes are made with medium or long grain rice, such as basmati, jasmine, brown rice or arborio.
Spinach rice is a stew made with large amount of spinach and rice. It's served as a vegetarian main course, and often enjoyed as a healthy comfort food.
Frozen spinach will wilt as it thaws. To save space in your freezer, it's therefore often recommended that you wilt the spinach in a stockpot before freezing it. You can use frozen spinach to make Greek spinach rice or other dishes.
Recipe
Spanakorizo - Greek Spinach Rice
Ingredients
Instructions
- Start by finely grating the garlic and dicing the onion.
- Heat half of the olive oil in a pot, then add the spinach. Cook while stirring and turning the leaves until the spinach wilts. As you will be starting with a large amount of spinach, you might want to split it up in several batches.
- Set the wilted spinach to the side in a separate bowl. The amount of spinach will have reduced significantly now.
- In the same pot, heat up 1 tablespoon olive oil, and add the diced onion. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent. Then, add the garlic and saute for another minute.
- Add the wilted spinach, rice, cumin and water to the pot. Bring it to a boil on high heat, then reduce it to low. Leave it to simmer gently for about 15-20 minutes (check the package instructions of the rice), or until all the water is absorbed by the grains. Do a taste test to make sure that the rice has cooked through completely.
- Then, add the lemon juice and chopped fresh dill to the rice. Give it a stir and leave it for another 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve.
Notes
Leftovers
Leftover spanakorizo can be stored in a refrigerator for up to 3 days. The dish can be enjoyed warm or cold. Reheat it in a microwave or in a stockpot on the stove top until it’s warm throughout, or serve it chilled straight from the refrigerator. I would not recommend freezing spanakorizo, as the rice and spinach can get a very unpleasant texture after thawing. You can however prepare the spinach, onion and garlic, and freeze this. Then, you can thaw the wilted spinach later, and simply add water and rice for a quick and easy spanakorizo. Perfect for using up a surplus of spinach!Top tips
Here are my top tips to make the best spanakorizo:- Cook the spinach and rice on a low heat. This will ensure that the dish has the ideal texture, and prevent it from burning.
- After you add the rice to the pot, you should avoid removing the lid before it’s cooked through. Taking the lid off too often could make the rice dry.
- Although frozen spinach can be used, you will get a far better result if you use fresh spinach.
- The recipe calls for a LOT of spinach, but keep in mind that the vegetable reduces in size when it cooks.
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