Greek Breads and Pies
Hortopita Recipe (Greek Wild Greens Pie)
Χορτόπιτα hor-TOH-pee-tah · Hortopita
Photo: Pyrig.jpg by Kagor, CC BY-SA 3.0. Placeholder until original photography is shot.
In short
Hortopita is a Greek pie built on a mix of wild and cultivated greens rather than spinach alone, giving a more varied, slightly bitter, genuinely rustic filling than spanakopita. It is a staple of Cretan and Epirot home cooking, using whatever good greens a household has gathered or grown.
Where spanakopita leans on cultivated spinach alone, hortopita is built on horta, a genuinely wide mix of wild and cultivated greens, dandelion, chicory, nettle tops, chard and spinach among them, whatever a household has gathered from the hillside or grown in the garden. This gives it a more varied, slightly bitter, considerably more rustic character than the milder spinach-only pie.
It is a real staple of Cretan and Epirot home cooking specifically, regions with a particularly strong tradition of foraging and using wild greens across the whole of Greek cooking, not just this one pie, and it can be made entirely vegan by leaving out the egg and cheese that some households add.
The technique mirrors spanakopita closely, cooking and draining the greens thoroughly before they meet the phyllo, with the main difference being the variety and character of what actually goes into the pot.
Key preparation steps
- Wash and roughly chop a mix of wild and cultivated greens.
- Wilt and drain thoroughly.
- Mix with onion, herbs and, optionally, feta.
- Layer with phyllo and bake until deeply golden.
Choosing the greens
A genuine mix works best: chard, spinach and spring onion for body and mildness, alongside something with more bite such as dandelion greens or wild chicory if you can find them, giving the finished pie real character rather than a one-note flavour. Where wild greens are not available, a mix of chard, spinach and kale gives a reasonable approximation of the same textural and flavour contrast.
Wilting and draining
Wash the greens thoroughly, since they carry more grit than cultivated spinach alone, then wilt in a dry pan or briefly blanched and squeezed, until as dry as possible. This step matters as much here as in any spinach pie, since excess water is the main enemy of a properly crisp phyllo crust.
The filling and baking
Mix the well-drained greens with softened onion, chopped dill and, if not keeping it vegan, crumbled feta and a beaten egg. Layer with phyllo exactly as with any other Greek savoury pie, brushing every sheet with olive oil, scoring before baking, and resting properly once out of the oven before cutting.
Tips from my kitchen
Use a genuine mix of greens
This is what gives hortopita its varied, rustic character. A single mild green alone gives something closer to plain spanakopita.
Drain thoroughly
Wild and cultivated greens both carry a lot of water. Squeeze hard to avoid a soggy finished pie.
Leave out the egg and feta for a vegan version
The greens, onion and olive oil filling holds together well without them, though it will be slightly less rich.
Hortopita Recipe (Greek Wild Greens Pie)
Χορτόπιτα · by Kalliopi Andreou · updated 2026-07-31
- Prep
- 40m
- Cook
- 45m
- Total
- 1h 25m
- Serves
- 8
Ingredients
For the filling
For the pie
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a wide pan. Cook the onion for 6 minutes, until soft.
- Add the greens in batches, wilting each batch before adding the next, about 10 to 12 minutes in total.
- Drain the wilted greens thoroughly in a sieve, pressing out excess liquid, then squeeze in a clean tea towel until as dry as possible.
- Mix the drained greens with the dill, feta and egg if using. Season well and cool completely.
- Heat the oven to 190C fan 170C. Oil a 30 x 22 cm baking dish.
- Layer half the phyllo sheets into the dish, brushing each with olive oil.
- Spread the greens filling evenly over the phyllo base.
- Top with the remaining phyllo sheets, brushing each with oil, and tuck in the edges.
- Score the top into portions and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until deeply golden.
- Rest for at least 15 minutes before cutting along the scored lines.
Nutrition, per 1 slice
- Calories
- 268
- Protein
- 8 g
- Carbs
- 20 g
- Fat
- 18 g
- Sat fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 4 g
These figures are calculated estimates based on the ingredients listed, not laboratory analysis. Actual values vary with brands, cuts and portion size.
Frequently asked questions about Hortopita
What is horta?
A broad category of wild and cultivated edible greens gathered or grown across Greece, particularly associated with Crete and Epirus's strong foraging tradition.
Is hortopita vegan?
It can be, if made without the egg and feta some households add. The greens, onion and olive oil filling alone holds together perfectly well.
What greens can you use if wild ones are not available?
A mix of chard, spinach and kale gives a reasonable approximation of the same textural and flavour variety that wild greens bring to the traditional version.
