Spinach and Rice (Spanakorizo)

Being half Armenian this recipe took me back to my roots. I followed some of the suggestions and used tomato paste instead of tomatoes. I make a batch of it every week and have it for lunch and sometimes for dinner when I can’t think of what to make. I love it!!

As a Greek American I make this dish often, too. I echo what everyone else says, but I also add chopped celery when I sauté the onion at the beginning as well as pepper and fresh dill right off the bat so the onion absorbs the flavor. I add the spinach after the celery and onion and then the water, tomato and rice. You can cover it uncooked and the water absorbs it-just keep adding water and it will soften as the rice takes it in. Salt and pepper as needed and more dill if you like. I do not add garlic but maybe I’ll try it today when I make it. 🙂

This was surprisingly simple and delishous! Sort of creamy and stick to your ribs comforting. And healthy! I added the lemon juice at the end (maybe a tablespoon and a half) and kept tasting for my salt liking. Didn’t even need the feta. Also used a bag of fresh spinach that was about 1 pound, but added half a diced zucchini I had. Fresh dill was a MUST. I don’t normally like dill, but once I started chopping the fresh stuff I could totally understand why it’s so important to this dish. Perfectly paired. Will make often. Thank you for posting!

I had never had spanakorizo until just a few weeks ago when I made it as a side dish to go with gyros. Needless to say, my husband and I were so impressed with how delicious this was. We followed the modified directions from ReneeFS and always squeeze some fresh lemon juice and add crumbled feta when ready to serve. So good!

Good, easy side dish. I followed recommendations and topped with the juice of 1 lemon and feta. Otherwise, followed recipe to a T. I can’t imagine it without lemon and feta. Even the kids liked it. The fam commented that it didn’t look great, but tasted great. I think maybe diced tomatoes might have made the dish look better than the tomato sauce, but then again the kids probably wouldn’t have eaten it if they saw chunks of tomatoes. Definitely will make again.

10 STARS !! I could have eaten the entire dish :-), even without using feta & lemon. I did use chicken broth instead of water (the Rachel Ray trick). If you’re only a mild spinach fan, I would use half as much spinach. I used baby spinach and didn’t bother removing the stems.

I made this exactly as directed and my husband went nuts over it! I loved it, too. I will definitely keep this on the list as a great side. I served it with Greek inspired tacos for Taco Tuesday.

I doubled it, and I could not fathom using 4 onions for only 1 cup of rice, so I only put 2 onions. That is the only change I made. It did not turn out at all for me. The rice out mushy.

This dish and I will have a long affair. I get spinach to commingle with rice and then with the feta on top, Wow. Like the lady said, it really was heaven. Next time some garlic perhaps and chopped tomatoes. Yea, it’s on!

I followed other’s suggestions and used a whole diced tomato rather than the paste/ sauce and cooked the dish covered. At the beginning I also added some fresh garlic and cooked with the rice ( I increased the rice to 3/4 cup). To serve we topped with feta cheese and some lemon juice. The rice was moist and tasty along with Greek pork roast.

Made this as a side dish and it was okay, but if I was to make it again I would make the spinach and rice separately then mix them before serving. As is the rest of the dish gets overcooked while you wait for the rice to finish cooking and it really loses flavor.

I liked this. It was different. I bought a jumbo bag of spinach from the regular grocery store and realized it was still only 16oz! So, I ended up making a half a recipe which made about 4 good sized side servings. The recipe was easy to follow and accurate. I may try this again at another time with the feta and lemon juice suggestion. I don’t typically cook spinach this long or dark, but it seemed like it was still fairly healthy. When it was done I added a pinch of garlic powder, onion powder, and a quick sprinkle of Adobo seasoning. ty

Very good flavour! Definitely add the lemon and feta…also added some freshly ground nutmeg.

This is fabulous! Thank you. I also sauteed the rice with onion and garlic, then followed directions as stated. Awesome!! Great recipe.

A standby for us.

I used brown rice and substituted the dill weed for oregano because i didn’t have the dill. I also used fresh parsley instead of dried. It was pretty good, but I will use less tomato sauce next time. I also added a clove of garlic as it seemed it would lack flavour otherwise.

This seems to be the closest I have found online to direct people I meet at work or gatherings. I always tell them to keep the lid on when simmering, check frequently so the rice doesn’t “DRINK” all the liquid in the pan. Also, my Mother used one heaping tablespoon of tomato paste and worked it in to the dish very carefully. This IS a main dish. Often eaten in the summer when the vegetables and herbs are fresh in the garden. Different regions in Greece and individual families have given it their own twist. This was usually served with pan fried fish, home baked bread, cheese and olives.

This came out really soupy. Next time I will either add more rice or use less water. But the taste was good.

This was awesome. I followed the recipe exactly except for using chicken broth instead of water… I sprinkled feta and lemon juice on top. SO GOOD!

I was totaly surprised by this recipe. It is fantastic! I used frozen spinach and a little more rice than called for. I didnt want to open a whole can of tomato sauce so I used some leftover pizza sauce.(good move) I did add garlic too, The lemon and feta send it over the top. I cooked it covered ,I like my rice soft. Served it with lamb chops and asparagus. Tonight I’m using the leftover rice to stuff peppers and top with more feta and sauce. Serving with greek salad. Thank you for the recipe Kathy W.

It was good twist for a rice dish but def. way to much spinach for my taste. I always adding can of stewed tomatoes vs. tomato sauce. I couldn’t image it without the texture of the tomato. I also did a 1 1/2 cup rice bc after adding all of the ingredients i noticed the liquid to rice was not going to pan out with just 1/2 cup. All in all i thought it was a success due to my changes! My husband ate his whole serving!