Perfect Pairings: 8 Side Dishes to Serve with Spanakopita

Greek cuisine is famous for its many delicious dishes. Among them, one of the most popular is spanakopita (spinach pie).

Spanakopita consists of fresh spinach leaves, chopped onion, and garlic cooked in olive oil with filo dough on top.

It is sprinkled with feta cheese before serving.

Spanakopita has a savory flavor, which comes from the combination of spinach, onion, and garlic.

The blend of spices used in cooking spanakopita gives this dish an aromatic taste.

To enhance the flavor, even more, it is often served hot right out of the oven.

This dish is usually served as a main course, although it can also be an appetizer or side dish.

Usually, spanakopita is enjoyed with pita bread because the delicious baked filo dough goes well with the soft texture of pita.

You can also use it to dip, scoop or cover up the food on your plate.

In this article, we will be listing the top 8 side dishes you can serve with spanakopita.

Why Consider Serving Side Dishes for Spanakopita?

Consuming spanakopita is an excellent option for lunch or dinner, but it can be fun to get creative with side dishes.

Especially when you are entertaining dinner guests, why not treat them to something unique and tasty by pairing the meal with some great side dishes?

You may be pleasantly surprised to learn how well certain side dishes to pair with spanakopita.

Another positive aspect of serving side dishes with spanakopita is that they can help round out the meal.

Spanakopita may be rich in flavor, so pairing it with a complimentary side dish will help balance the meal.

Also, the Greek flavors of spanakopita pair well with certain side dishes.

For instance, serving spanakopita alongside pasta with feta cheese sauce will offer a rich and savory flavor profile.

Other side dishes that may go well with spanakopita include roasted potatoes or rice pilafs.

What to Serve with Spanakopita? 8 BEST Side Dishes

So, when you are planning your next big dinner party, consider the following side dishes for spanakopita.

1 – Pasta with Feta Cheese Sauce

Pasta with feta cheese sauce is another great accompaniment.

This dish combines the creaminess of a pasta sauce with the salty flavor of feta cheese, so it creates a perfect complement to spanakopita.

Not only does this dish offer a flavorful experience, but it pairs well with salad, as mentioned above.

The creaminess of the pasta sauce goes well with a tomato salad or a creamy Italian veggie salad, while the feta cheese complements a Greek salad.

You can find this dish in many different variations, so be creative with it.

For instance, you could add some grilled chicken or peppers to the dish for extra flavor and nutrition.

2 – Tzatziki Sauce

The tzatziki sauce is an excellent condiment to serve alongside spanakopita.

It’s very flavorful and pairs well with lots of different dishes.

For instance, if you need a sauce to top some pita chips with, this would be a perfect choice.

It can also go well with meats or vegetables.

You could dip crispy pita wedges into it for an appetizer, or you could serve it alongside your favorite meat dish for a great contrast in flavor.

This sauce is also a great option for chicken, especially if you are cooking a whole chicken.

When you bake the chicken, make sure to provide a side dish of tzatziki sauce to dip it in.

3 – Rice Pilaf

Rice pilaf is another excellent choice when serving spanakopita.

It’s very flavorful and has a great texture so that it can make a wonderful complement to spanakopita.

Typically, rice pilaf is made with various spices and different ingredients, depending on the recipe you use.

However, a standard version will typically consist of rice that has been cooked in the vegetable broth along with some other seasonings.

You can also find flavored rice pilafs, so be adventurous with them.

4 – Roasted Potatoes

Roasted potatoes are another tasty option to serve with spanakopita.

Roasting your potatoes will allow them to caramelize slightly, which adds a savory flavor profile.

It also gives the outer layer of the potato some crunch while leaving the inside nice and soft.

This dish is great on its own, but it also goes well with many other dishes.

When serving spanakopita, you can serve roasted potatoes on the side to complement the rich flavors of the spanakopita.

You could even use some leftover cooked potatoes for this dish if they are available in your kitchen.

They don’t have to be perfect cut potatoes either since you will be roasting them.

5 – Greek Salad with Feta Cheese

Greek salad is another popular option to serve alongside spanakopita.

You can use a classic Greek salad recipe if you have one, or you could try something new by adding in some different ingredients.

For instance, this is a great opportunity to add in some pine nuts, artichoke hearts, chopped peppers, or other vegetables.

The flavor is amazing when you include feta cheese, so it’s a great idea to add that into your salad as well.

The spanakopita and Greek salad will both have a bit of feta cheese in them, which creates a great flavor combination.

6 – Falafel

Falafel is another tasty option to serve alongside spanakopita.

This dish is very healthy, so it makes a great accompaniment to any meaty or cheesy dish.

It’s also perfect for dipping into the tzatziki sauce mentioned above, so you could even use this as an appetizer before your dinner if you wanted.

The ingredients for falafel are simple, allowing you to get creative with it.

Chickpeas are the main ingredient, but you could also add in some garlic, onion, or other spices if you wanted.

You could even experiment with different flavors of falafel by adding in hot peppers or using a different type of flour instead of regular wheat flour.

7 – Pita Chips

Pita chips are a common accompaniment to spanakopita.

They’re very easy to make and can be served as an appetizer or as a side dish.

Unfortunately, store-bought pita chips will go stale quickly because of their lack of preservatives since they’re made with all-natural ingredients.

This means you will have to make your pita bread to use for the chips if you decide to purchase them at a store rather than making them yourself.

Pita bread isn’t too difficult to make, although it does take some time and requires rising and kneading the dough.

There’s also frying involved, so you’ll need to be careful with the oil and panhandling.

However, once you’ve got your pita chips made, it’s easy enough to serve them alongside spanakopita or any other dish for that matter.

8 – Cucumber Salad

Cucumber salad is another healthy option you can serve alongside spanakopita.

This dish is very easy to make, as all you need are cucumbers, dill pickles, and sour cream.

You can also add your choice of chopped vegetables to the mix if you want.

To prepare this type of salad, first cut the cucumber into pieces, then add the chopped dill pickles and sour cream.

You can also sprinkle salt onto the cucumbers if you want, but make sure to let it sit for at least five minutes before serving.

This will help draw some moisture from them, so they aren’t too soggy when served alongside the spanakopita.

Conclusion

In conclusion, what to serve with spanakopita is a very important aspect of any dinner.

Spanakopita can be rich in flavor and extremely filling, so it’s best to have a lighter side dish on the plate.

While there are plenty of tasty options to choose from, roasted potatoes, falafel, pita chips, cucumber salad, and Greek salad with feta cheese are 8 of the most popular.

Please be sure to check out all of these great suggestions, and Happy Eating.

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