Spinach Hand Pies

This Spinach Hand Pies recipe is loosely inspired by those we used to buy at a Lebanese bakery in Minneapolis. Easy, tasty make-ahead lunches!

Originally published August 22, 2017. Updated on 6/15/2021

Recently, I completely overhauled my Spanakopita post. More information, brand new photos - including progress ones - and, you know... this time we made them in an actual kitchen!

Apparently that wasn’t enough spinach for us, because we immediately followed it up by making a batch of my Spinach Hand Pies ... so here we are!

I created this recipe back in late 2017, as we were deep in our plans to move home to Canada.

By that point, we’d started to look at pre-move bucket lists : things we wanted to do in Minneapolis, before moving to Canada.

For me, that meant spending time with friends when possible.

For my husband - who grew up there - it's more things like going to the State Fair, Valley Fair, etc one last time.

Also: Have me create a great Spinach Hand Pies recipe.

Emily’s Lebanese Deli Spinach Pies - Sort Of.

There's a great Lebanese restaurant in Minneapolis - Emily's Lebanese Deli - that makes spinach pies that he adored.

While we'd usually go for a direct replica when it comes to something like this, he decided he preferred to have a bit of fun with it, developing a custom filling.

So, if you're looking for an Emily's knockoff, this is not the recipe you're looking for! (It is definitely in the same ballpark, though.)

To adjust it a bit more to my husband's tastes, there is more filling than in the source material, as well as flavour additions like kalamata olives.

Ours features an egg glaze, giving the outside of the crust a bit of sheen.

Fun Sandwich Options For Lunch

While a plain tuna salad sandwich will definitely hit the spot at times, we like to have a bit more fun with sandwich type lunch options.

These are great to make as a quick, grab-and-go lunch. They’re portable, tasty, no-mess eating that reheats well in a microwave.

I’m going to claim them to be *relatively* healthy, too - that much spinach has got to be a pass on the amount of fat in the dough, LOL!

Spinach Hand Pie Ingredients

While I always do the dough for this recipe as-is, the filling can be more of a wing-it situation, based on what we have on hand, and what we’re in the mood for.

A few notes on that:

How to Make Spinach Feta Hand Pies

The full recipe follows at the bottom of the page, but first: here is a pictorial overview, to show you how it comes together!

Make the Dough

Stir yeast and sugar into warm water, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.

Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl: combine flour and salt. Pour in yeast mixture, sour cream, olive oil, and eggs; mix well to combine.

Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes. Alternatively, you can mix it in a stand mixer with a dough hook for 7 minutes or so - that’s what I do.

Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Note: I forgot to cover it when making the batch for photos. Not a huge deal, the top side got a little crusty, that’s all!

While dough is rising, make your filling:

Make The Spinach and Feta Filling

Squeeze all of the water out of the spinach, set aside.

In a large pan, saute onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add spinach and garlic, stir well to combine, cook over medium heat until liquid is completely gone. Remove from heat.

Stir in feta, olives, dill, pine nuts, lemon zest, and nutmeg, stirring until well combined.

Add yogurt, stir until completely incorporated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

At this point, I like to smooth the filling out to an even thickness, and mark it out into even portions. We did 8, but you can do 10 if you want smaller pies.

Cover and chill until ready to use.

Assemble & Bake Your Spinach Hand Pies

Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out. We divided the mixture into 8 equally sized balls, – but you can make them smaller by dividing into 10 equally sized pieces.

I like to stretch them out to disks at this point.

Preheat oven, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Stretch and/or roll each dough ball into a round, approximately 8″ diameter.

Scoop filling into the center - I like to make it triangle shaped, as a guide - and fold the edges in to make a triangle, as shown below:

Gently flatten each pie out to about 1″ thick.

Once you have all of your pies formed, set them on lined baking sheets to rise for another 10 minutes.

Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each hand pie. Sprinkle with Sesame seeds, if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm or room temperature, with tzatziki dip, if desired.

Wrap any unused pies in plastic and chill until use.

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5 from 1 vote

Spinach Hand Pies

These hand pies are loosely inspired by those we used to buy at a Lebanese bakery in Minneapolis. To adjust it a bit more to my husband’s tastes, there is more filling than in the source material, as well as flavour additions like kalamata olives.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Rising Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Lebanese, Middle Eastern

Servings: 8 Large Hand Pies

Calories: 522kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Equipment

• 2 Baking Sheets
• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup Warm – not hot – water
• 4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 2 tablespoon Granulated Sugar
• 5 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 2 teaspoon Salt
• ½ cup Sour Cream
• 3 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 Large Eggs beaten

Filling

• 4 blocks Frozen Chopped Spinach 40 oz total, defrosted
• 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Large Red Onions Finely chopped
• 5-6 Garlic Cloves Pressed or minced
• 4 oz Crumbled Feta
• 3 tablespoon Finely Chopped Kalamata Olives
• 2 tablespoon Finely Chopped Fresh Dill
• 1 ½ oz Pine Nuts Finely chopped
• Zest of 1 Lemon
• Pinch Nutmeg
• ¼ cup Plain Yogurt
• Salt and pepper

Assembly

• 1 Large Eggs
• 1 tablespoon Water
• Sesame seeds Optional

Instructions

• Stir yeast and sugar into warm water, allow to stand for 10 minutes – it should get very bubbly.
• Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl: combine flour and salt. Pour in yeast mixture, stir well to combine. Add sour cream, olive oil, and eggs; mix well to combine.
• Dump dough out onto a floured surface, knead until soft and elastic, 5-10 minutes.

  Alternatively, you can mix it in a stand mixer with a dough hook for 7 minutes or so.
• Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
• While dough is rising, make your filling:
• Squeeze all of the water out of the spinach, set aside.
• In a large pan, saute onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add spinach and garlic, stir well to combine, cook over medium heat until liquid is completely gone. Remove from heat.
• Stir in feta, olives, dill, pine nuts, lemon zest, and nutmeg, stirring until well combined. Add yogurt, stir until completely incorporated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• At this point, I like to smooth the filling out to an even thickness, and mark it out into even portions. We did 8, but you can do 10 if you want smaller pies.
• Cover and chill until ready to use.
• Once dough has doubled, punch it down, and divide it out. We divided the mixture into 8 equally sized balls, – but you can make them smaller by dividing into 10 equally sized pieces.
• Preheat oven to 350 , line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Stretch each dough ball into a round, approximately 8″ diameter. Scoop filling into the center, and fold the edges in to make a triangle, as shown below:
• Gently flatten each pie out to about 1″ thick.
• Once you have all of your pies formed, set them on lined baking sheets to rise for another 10 minutes.
• Whisk egg together with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the tops and sides of each hand pie. Sprinkle with Sesame seeds, if desired.
• Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Serve warm or room temperature, with tzatziki dip, if desired. Wrap any unused pies in plastic and chill until use.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 522kcal | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 830mg | Potassium: 230mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 326IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 128mg | Iron: 5mg

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