Lower calorie spanakopita (lower calorie way to deal with filo sheets)

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HeidiCooksSupper
HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
in Recipes
Most recipes for using filo sheets for spanakopita involve melting whole sticks of butter or pouring on olive oil with reckless abandon. Since fat is calorie dense, I've come up with a way to make spanakopita using only 1/4 to 1/3 cup of olive oil for a whole pan of the stuff using an entire sleeve of frozen filo sheets.

Use your fingers and dot the oil on. That's it. No brushes, no worrying about covering each sheet with melted butter or oil, just dab on some oil with your fingers. The result is delicious spanakopita and you won't miss all that melted butter or cups of oil at all.

Here's my recipe: https://www.justapinch.com/recipes/bread/savory-bread/spanakopita-easier-than-you-think.html

Tonight, I'm throwing shallots and portobello mushrooms in with the spinach. As a one-dish supper, it's about 500 calories (depending on the final oil measurement) per 1/4 recipe serving.

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  • abbynormalartist
    abbynormalartist Posts: 318 Member
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    I make something I call a "lazy spanakopita" which is a VERY bastardized version. It's sauteed spinach, garlic, cottage cheese and feta cooked in a high fiber wrap or flat bread and then I use tomato sauce to dip it in. It's less than 300 calories for a main course for dinner and it's delish!
  • dklibert
    dklibert Posts: 1,196 Member
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    Thanks for the recipe! I can't wait to try it. I LOVE the stuff! I made folded triangle style spanakopita once. I used olive oil cooking spray. It was tasty and spraying the filo was easy. Sadly it is hard to determine how much oil you are spraying.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »
    Use your fingers and dot the oil on. That's it. No brushes, no worrying about covering each sheet with melted butter or oil, just dab on some oil with your fingers. The result is delicious spanakopita and you won't miss all that melted butter or cups of oil at all.
    .

    hmm..or olive oil spray.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    dklibert wrote: »
    Thanks for the recipe! I can't wait to try it. I LOVE the stuff! I made folded triangle style spanakopita once. I used olive oil cooking spray. It was tasty and spraying the filo was easy. Sadly it is hard to determine how much oil you are spraying.

    just saw this after my response.

    Just weight the can before and after (the propellant gas used shouldn't weigh much).

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