Spanakorizo Recipe (Greek Spinach and Rice)

Spanakorizo belongs to the ladera family, the wide category of Greek vegetable dishes cooked slowly in a generous amount of olive oil until the oil itself becomes part of the sauce. Here the vegetable is spinach, cooked down until it collapses completely, with rice simmered right alongside it in the same pot so it absorbs all that green, dilled liquid.

It is one of the fastest ladera dishes to make, ready in well under an hour, and it sits somewhere between a soup and a pilaf: looser and wetter than a standard rice dish, with a spoon rather than a fork being the natural way to eat it.

Dill and lemon are what make this dish unmistakably Greek rather than simply a spinach rice. Do not skip either, and add the lemon at the very end so its brightness survives the cooking.

Key preparation steps

1. Wilt a large quantity of spinach down in olive oil.
2. Add rice and just enough hot water or stock to cook it through.
3. Simmer until the rice is tender and the mixture is loose, not dry.
4. Finish with fresh dill and a generous amount of lemon juice off the heat.

How much spinach you actually need

Spinach reduces dramatically as it cooks, losing roughly three quarters of its raw volume, so the quantity that looks absurd going into the pot is exactly right once it has wilted down. A kilogram of fresh spinach for four servings is not an exaggeration.

Wash it thoroughly, since spinach can carry a lot of grit, and there is no need to dry it fully before it goes into the pan. The water clinging to the leaves helps it wilt rather than fry.

Getting the texture right

Spanakorizo should be looser and wetter than a normal pilaf, more like a very thick soup than dry rice. Add the liquid gradually rather than all at once, and be prepared to add a little extra hot water towards the end if the pot looks like it is drying out before the rice is fully tender.

Medium grain rice is the right choice, since it releases enough starch to give the dish a naturally silky, slightly thickened consistency without needing anything added to achieve it.

Dill and lemon, added at the right moment

Stir in the fresh dill during the last few minutes of cooking rather than at the start, so its flavour stays bright rather than cooking away to nothing. The same goes for the lemon juice, which should go in once the pot is off the heat or very nearly there.

Some households finish the dish with a whole egg or two stirred through while the rice is still hot, which lightly cooks and enriches the whole pot. It is a good, though optional, addition if you want something closer to a full meal.

What matters in this dish