Spanakorizo

the Greek weekday supper: spinach and rice cooked together in olive oil and abundant lemon juice until the rice is tender and the spinach has collapsed into a bright, herb-fragrant mass, finished with dill and eaten warm or at room temperature with a wedge of feta

Origin: Greece and the Aegean World

From the journey of Spinach.

Spanakorizo (σπανακόρυζο, from σπανάκι, spinach, and ρύζι, rice) is one of the most widely made domestic dishes in the Greek kitchen: a simple one-pot preparation that requires no special technique, no expensive ingredients, and no more than thirty minutes from pan to table. It is a weekday supper first and a restaurant dish never, which means it is far more deeply embedded in Greek domestic food culture than most Greek preparations known outside the country. The dish is one of the most eloquent expressions of the Greek cooking philosophy called ladera (λαδερά, meaning 'oiled' or 'cooked in oil'): the category of dishes (bean, vegetable, or legume preparations cooked in generous olive oil without any meat) that traditionally appear on Greek tables during Lent and on the many fast days of the Orthodox Christian calendar. Ladera dishes are by no means frugal or austere; they are deeply flavoured by the quality of the olive oil, the freshness of the vegetable, and the herbs that are added generously at the end. The lemon juice in spanakorizo is characteristically Greek: sharp, bright, added in a quantity that surprises those accustomed to more restrained European vegetable cooking. The dill that finishes the dish is the herb most distinctively associated with Greek spinach cooking, the combination of spinach, dill, and lemon juice defines Greek spanakorizo as surely as feta defines spanakopita. Fresh spring onions or leeks are the preferred aromatics in the ladera tradition, giving a milder, sweeter base than the hard onions more common in northern European vegetable cooking.

Ingredients

Base

  • 6 tbsp good extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 4 spring onions (scallions), thinly sliced, white and green parts separate
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced

Rice

  • 200 g long-grain white rice or medium-grain rice, rinsed
  • 700 ml hot water or light vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp fine salt

Spinach

  • 600 g baby spinach or flat-leaf spinach, washed

Finish

  • 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice (approximately 2 lemons), plus wedges to serve
  • 0.5 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 30 g fresh dill, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

To Serve

  • 150 g feta cheese, crumbled, to serve

Method

  1. Heat the olive oil in a wide, heavy-based pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and the white parts of the spring onion. Cook, stirring, for 8–10 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  2. Add the rinsed rice and stir to coat in the oil. Cook for 1–2 minutes until the grains are slightly translucent at the edges. Add the hot water or stock and the salt. Bring to a simmer.
  3. Add the spinach to the pot in large handfuls, pushing each addition down as it wilts, the pot will seem overfull but the spinach will collapse quickly. Once all the spinach is incorporated, stir gently to combine with the rice.
  4. Cover with a tight-fitting lid, reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 18–20 minutes, checking occasionally, until the rice is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. The finished dish should be moist and slightly saucy, not dry.
  5. Remove from the heat. Add the lemon juice, black pepper, dill, parsley, and the green parts of the spring onion. Stir gently to incorporate. Taste and adjust for salt and lemon.
  6. Serve warm or at room temperature with crumbled feta scattered on top and extra lemon wedges on the side. A drizzle of fresh olive oil on each portion is traditional and excellent.

Notes

Spanakorizo is one of the purest examples of the Greek ladera (oiled vegetable dish) category and is at its best with good-quality olive oil that you would not be embarrassed to eat with bread, the oil is not merely a cooking medium here but a central flavour. The dish is better warm or at room temperature than piping hot; the lemon and herb flavours bloom more fully when the dish has had a few minutes to settle. It keeps well refrigerated for 2 days and is particularly good cold from the fridge as a packed lunch. A handful of roughly torn mint leaves can supplement or replace part of the dill for a slightly different character. The dish is entirely vegan if the feta is omitted or replaced with a drizzle of olive oil and a few toasted pine nuts.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
© 2026 The Gastrographer. All original research, narratives, and illustrations. All rights reserved.