Spanakopita Egg Muffins (Cups) Recipe

I’ve found that one of the most wonderful aspects of learning how to cook is the education I’ve received along the way. Before just a few years ago, I knew virtually nothing about food or where certain dishes originated. I can’t say I’m entirely erudite at this point, but I can at least claim I’ve got an interest. It’s there and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

Have you ever heard of Spanakopita? I hadn’t until this morning. Laura recently found an interesting recipe for a dish that’s built upon the Greek favorite – Spanakopita. It’s a savory spinach pie that’s enclosed in a crust and that’s infused with feta cheese, parsley, and mint. It stems from southern Greece; oftentimes in northern Greece, the dish is referred to as Spanakotiropita. Sometimes the dish uses the cheese and sometimes it doesn’t. All I can say is that it must be delicious if what I made today is of any relation. What I prepared today was awesome.

Laura and I pulled this recipe from PureWow, who pulled it from food blogger Suzy Karadsheh’s new cookbook, The Mediterranean Dish. We’ve actually been exploring our own Mediterranean cookbooks a bit more than usual as of late. They’re filled with far too many incredible recipes. I don’t know of any type of food I enjoy more than Mediterranean. If you’ve tried some, you know what I’m referring to.

The Egg Version

Obviously, these Spanakopita aren’t prepared with a flaky crust. They’re made with eggs, which gives them an extraordinary versatility. We’ve prepared hundreds of frittatas over the years because we love the flavors and textures they offer, but those frittatas may be replaced by these Spanakopita. In the smaller, muffin shapes, these protein packed “finger foods” can be easily taken on the go. They’re also perfect for freezing for later. I do love them.

Ingredients

Makes: 8 Large Muffin Sized Spanakopita

Butter for Greasing Muffin Tins
10 Large Eggs
1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
16 Ounce Can Chopped Spinach, Drained
1 Medium Sized Onion, Chopped
1 Cup Parsley, Chopped, Divided
3 Tablespoons Fresh Mint Leaves, Chopped
1 Tablespoon Garlic, Chopped
4 Ounces Feta Cheese, Crumbled, Divided

Pre-Heat Your Oven + Butter Pans

Arrange your oven racks so one is in the middle position. Then, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. After that, grease your pans with a generous amount of butter. It’s all about the flavor here.

Combine Ingredients

In a large bowl, add the eggs, oregano, black pepper, paprika, baking powder, and salt. Whisk these ingredients together well. After that, add in the spinach, onion, 3/4 cup parsley, mint, garlic, and 3 ounces of feta cheese. Gently stir in these ingredients.

Bake the Spanakopita

Using a ladle, divide the mixture in the bowl between eight spaces in the muffin tins. Be sure to leave about a 1/4 inch from the top for each muffin to rise. Then, sprinkle the remaining feta cheese on top of each one. After that, add the tins to the warm oven for about 30 minutes. When finished, remove from oven and turn off heat. Sprinkle the remaining parsley over each muffin.

Serve & Enjoy

With the remaining feta cheese sprinkled on top of each muffin, your first bite should be full of flavor. It’s followed by the parsley and remaining flavors inside. As I said above, there are many benefits to preparing a “frittata” this way – portability being just one of them. It would be so economical and efficient to make a batch of these on Sunday to enjoy before work the entire week.

If you give these a try, let me know what you think! Thanks!