Börek with spinach – crispy, spicy and simply delicious!
Börek with spinach and feta is a hearty dish that you can enjoy hot or cold. It is a simple recipe that is incredibly tasty because it is creamy, spicy and crispy. Whether as a main course, finger food or an addition to a buffet – the spinach-filled börek tastes fantastic and is perfect for any occasion.
What is Börek?
Börek is a dish that is prepared with yufka dough. The shape and filling can vary. You may be served börek or burek wrapped up as a snail, as a piece from a tray or from a casserole dish, as a roll or as a pocket. For example, I have layered the börek with minced meat as a casserole.
The mostly savory filling can consist of cheese, potatoes, minced meat or spinach and feta. Of course, there are other variations and the börek recipe also changes depending on the region.
Börek originates from Turkey, but is also part of the cuisine in parts of the Balkans, Arab countries and Greece.
You need these simple ingredients for börek with spinach
You can now also get börek in various bakeries. However, it just doesn’t taste as good there. The dough is not crispy and the pastry generally has very little flavor. So there are only two options: you fly to Turkey and feast your way through the tasty world of börek or you stay at home and go on a culinary journey in your kitchen. And by that I mean put on your apron and make your own börek with spinach!
You will need ingredients that you can find in any well-stocked supermarket. For the vegan version, you can simply replace all dairy products with plant-based foods. The yufka dough you need for the spinach börek is vegan and you can adjust the other ingredients accordingly.
If you have a little more time, you can also make the yufka dough yourself. This is because homemade dough is a little more elastic than the ready-made dough and you can roll it into a Börek snail more easily later.
You need the following ingredients for the sauce:
- Butter
- Yogurt (10% fat)
- Whole milk
- Egg
- Salt, pepper
And for the Börek snail:
- Onion
- Garlic clove
- Spinach leaves (frozen)
- Feta cheese
- Yufka dough (ready-made dough)
- Egg yolk
- Olive oil
- Black cumin seeds
- Sesame
- Salt, pepper
You can also prepare the spinach-filled börek with fresh spinach leaves or baby spinach. However, you should blanch it first so that it loses its water and the börek doesn’t get soggy. The fresh spinach makes the vegetarian börek even more aromatic.
Absolutely delicious – how to make börek with spinach and feta
When the börek snail with spinach and feta comes out of the oven, it looks really fierce, like a delicious work of art. That’s why I like to bring them to brunch invitations, because they are relatively easy to prepare – even if it doesn’t look like it.
I like to divide my recipes into rough steps so that you know what you have to do and can organize your time.
- The sauce: Melt the butter and mix with the yogurt, milk and egg. Then season to taste with salt and pepper.
- The filling: Sauté the onion until translucent. Add the spinach, garlic and spices and sauté until the water has evaporated. Crumble in the feta and put the pan to one side.
- Preparation: Drizzle a sheet of yufka dough with sauce, spread the spinach and feta filling on top and roll up. Twist the roll into a snail and add more spinach rolls to form a large snail. Then bake in the oven until crispy and enjoy.
How long should börek be in the oven?
For crispy spinach börek, you should bake the dough snail in a hot oven at 180° C top and bottom heat
for approx. 30-40 minutes until crispy. Every oven is different and can always vary by a few degrees hotter or colder.
Alternatively, you can also set the oven to a slightly higher temperature, which will shorten the baking time. However, you should then check from time to time how dark the dough is so that it doesn’t burn.
3 tips for irresistible börek with spinach filling
- For more flavor, you can add a little acid such as lemon juice or sumac to the spinach filling.
- Cover the yufka dough with a damp cloth while you prepare the börek. This will prevent the dough from drying out too quickly.
- When the spinach börek is ready, take it out of the hot oven, otherwise it won’t stay crispy.
And now you can start preparing the börek with spinach straight away. I hope you enjoy it and, of course, bon appétit.
If you liked this Börek recipe, please leave a comment and give this recipe a rating.
Börek with spinach and feta recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 50 g Butter
- 100 g Yogurt (10% fat)
- 100 ml Whole milk
- 1 Egg (M)
- Salt, pepper
For the Börek snail
- 1 Onion
- 1 Garlic clove
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 500 g Spinach leaves, frozen
- 180 g Feta cheese
- 10 Yufka dough sheets approx. 250 g
- 1 Egg yolk (M)
- 1 Tablespoon Black cumin seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Sesame
- Salt, pepper
Zubereitung
Preparation of sauce
- Melt the butter, remove the pan from the heat and mix with the milk and yogurt.
- Stir in the egg and season with salt and pepper to taste.You can also stir in the egg white (from the egg yolk) so that you don't have any leftovers.
Preparation Börek
- Preheat the oven to 180° C top and bottom heat. Line the springform tin with baking paper and grease the sides.
- Peel and finely chop the onion and garlic.
- Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion for approx. 2 minutes.
- Add the spinach, garlic and spices and fry for approx. 2-3 minutes until the water in the spinach has evaporated.
- Crumble the feta into the pan, stir everything together and season with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle the yufka pastry sheet with sauce.
- Spread the spinach and feta mixture around the edge and roll up. Wrap the roll into a snail shape and place in a springform pan. Repeat the process until everything is used up. However, only shape the first roll into a snail and then add the other rolls until the springform pan is filled with a large snail.
- Brush the Börekschnecke with egg yolk and sprinkle with black cumin seeds and sesame seeds.
- Then bake in a hot oven for approx. 30-40 minutes until crispy.
Notes
Nährwerte
How long can börek with spinach keep?
Every now and then there is some leftover food. It doesn’t happen often, but if it does, it’s no problem to store the börek with spinach filling in an airtight container or tin in the fridge for approx. 2-3 days.
You can eat it cold (yes, it tastes good!) or heat it slowly in a pan, in the oven, in the microwave or in the airfryer – but not too hot, otherwise it will burn on the outside and still be cold on the inside.
Would you like to try out more börek recipes? Then I also recommend the börek with potatoes and börek from the hot air fryer.
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.
