Last month while attending a food bloggers conference down in Miami, I had the huge pleasure of going on a lunchtime excursion with my blogging friends Christie and Leigh Anne. We ate lunch at Taverna Opa in the Mary Brickell Village neighborhood of Miami Beach, and I ordered a wonderful meal – Santorini sunfish with a clementine citrus sauce that was served with grilled asparagus and Greek rice.
It was a fantastic meal – my first time eating sunfish – and I loved the accompanying citrus sauce. But surprisingly, I haven’t been able to get that Greek rice out of my mind! It was a simple recipe of rice and spinach – but it was also flavored with fresh dill and lemon – a combination I never would have thought to put together with rice. The dill added such a different, fresh twist to the rice – and I knew that I wanted to recreate this side dish at home.
Today’s recipe is my attempt at recreating that wonderful Greek rice, which I have since learned is known as “Spanakorizo” or spinach rice. There are many variations of this recipe – sometimes served with feta cheese or an egg on top (our version does not include those). Like the version I enjoyed in Miami, our recipe has a wonderful distinctive dill and lemon flavor.
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Note: You will need a medium-sized sauce pan with lid for this recipe.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- Zest from one lemon
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ pound baby spinach, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 4 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped and divided
- ½ teaspoon salt
- A few grinds freshly ground black pepper
- Juice from one lemon
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Sauté onions until translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Add garlic and sauté for another minute.
- Add the lemon zest, cumin and spinach and cover the pan. Cook until the spinach wilts down (about 3-5 minutes).
- Stir the rice, vegetable broth, 2 tablespoons of the dill, salt and pepper into the spinach mixture and stir to combine. Bring to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to a simmer, replacing the lid on the pan, and cook until the rice is tender (about 15 to 20 minutes –follow your rice’s package instructions).
- Stir in the lemon juice and the remaining fresh dill before serving.
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Thanks for posting this! I used to get this several times a week at a small Greek restaurant in Vienna, VA and have been looking for a recipe for this for many years since moving from VA. As I recall, it had a little diced tomatoes in it also. Yum!
That sounds like a great variation Fran!
This looks delicious! My husband would love this! He goes crazy for Greek food!
Thanks Kathy!
Hi Martha.
I’m not a fan of Dill. Can you suggest a replacement?
I would just leave it out Heather! The rice will still have a nice lemony flavor along with spinach.
Permit me: Dill isn’t my thing either so I use oregano when I make this rice dish. It so happens to be greek oregano which I grow year round in a pot. Just strip a branch of its leaves and toss them into the rice, don’t bother to chop them.
Sounds like a great adaptation Ruthann – thanks for sharing!
Tarragon came to mind for a different lighter fresh tasting herb. Just to compare — both Dill and Tarragon are good with fish since they have a brightness to them. Just a thought.
Thanks for the suggestion Kelly!
Made this for dinner last night. It was very good. My husband also loved it and it’s rare that he finds Greek food that he really likes here in the US. Thanks for this authentic tasting recipe!
Thank you so much Daelia and we’re so glad you and your husband enjoyed the recipe! Have a great weekend!
I made this last night and absolutely loved it – thank you for the recipe! I did sprinkle a bit of feta cheese on top, and I served it with some herbed pork and a dollop of tzaziki. Delicious!
Thanks Jessica! Your additions to the recipe sound delicious!
Wow! This was so good! The whole family loved it! I put a lot of spinach in and not a complaint, they ate it up.
I can’t wait to make it again!! Thanks!
You’re very welcome Danya – so glad you all enjoyed the recipe!
Yumm!! I made this today to accompany some stuffed zucchini with Feta & sundried tomatoes, roasted cherrie tomatoes, and a cannelloni bean parsley/lemon salad and it was perfect! I usually make lemon-oregano roasted potatoes for the carbs when I make Greek mezze, but this is a bit of a fresher tasting option. I cook for people who can’t have onions & garlic because they work close with their customers, so I simply omitted them and added a bit more veggie broth powder, and it didn’t taste like it was lacking anything. Definitely will be making this again!
Sounds like a delicious meal Carolyn! So glad you enjoyed the recipe and the swaps worked out just as well!
Just made the Greek Rice as per your recipe, (except I, by mistake, used twice the amount of spinach.)
It was absolutely AWESOME!! I’m sampling it in the kitchen and I’m making so much noise my cats went hiding 😉 Truly flavorful, delicious, lip smacking good!! and just like -if not better- than the rice they serve at this well known Greek place here in Florida where I frequently dine.
10 stars for sure! I’ll be making this over and over. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Thank you so much Evita! So glad you enjoyed the recipe! 🙂
I made this tonight to go with Greek souvlaki pitas and my husband and I both loved it! I love that is includes spinach, any way to get more veggies in is good in my books! I just loved the lemony flavour! I forgot to buy fresh dill, so I subbed in dry dill, I used about a teaspoon and it had lovely dilly flavour!
Thanks Melissa! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Tried the Greek rice this evening and it was LOVELY! Such an authentic flavour! I put the spinach in last though as prefer it lightly cooked. Will definitely try your other recipes. Thank you!! xx
Thanks Jo! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I made this for a large group – so quadrupled the recipe and used my rice cooker. I rinsed the rice a lot (at least 5 or 6 times) because I read basmati rice can get gummy in a rice cooker if you don’t get the extra starch off. I did steps 1 & 2 on the stove, then added everything from step 3 to mix it well before adding to the rice cooker. Cooked it on my cookers white rice setting and It came out great and fluffy. I got lots of compliments.
So glad you all enjoyed the recipe Kelley!
Love this recipe! Easy to follow!!!!
★★★★★
Thanks Mary!
Ive been using this recipe for a couple of years now…family and visitors always really enjot it. I make chicken souvlaki , flat breads and tatziki with it mmm
★★★★★
Thank you Sharon! Sounds like a wonderful meal!
great recipe. everyone loved it
★★★★★
Thanks Dave!
This rice does not disappoint! Absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
Thanks Missy!
I have to start by saying that I’ve made 100’s of recipes that I’ve found on Pinterest. This is the only one I’ve felt compelled to leave a review. This rice is the BEST rice dish I’ve ever made. The flavor was amazing. The seasoning was spot on. The rice turned out perfectly fluffy. Maybe it was because of the basmati rice, but I can never get rice to come out fluffy where you can easily separate the grains. I did spend some more time than usual rinsing the rice first. Maybe that’s where I’ve been going wrong all these years! I served the rice with a tomato and cucumber salad and some baked falafel. They were good, but the rice was the star on the plate! I’m so happy to have found it. Hours of searching has paid off big time 🙂
★★★★★
Wow Stacie! Thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed the rice recipe!
I love this recipe and have made it several times now, all my family members request it. I follow the recipe exactly, only adding feta cheese at the end (because I love cheese) and it’s perfect every time. Thank you for sharing!
★★★★★
You’re very welcome Sara! I love the idea of adding feta at the end!
Hi…This must be delish ! After spinach is wilted, did you chop it ? Looks like you may have. Thanks…
Hi Patti – Yes – we did! Thanks for catching that – we will update the recipe. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
What can I sub for the dill? I don’t have access to fresh herbs at the moment, though I do have dried dill.
Hi Susan – The dill really is the predominant flavor in this dish – you can certainly try using the dried dill. Since dried herbs are more intense, typically you use half the amount of fresh called for in a recipe. Hope that helps!
Going to make this tonight. Can you substitute frozen spinach?
Hi Gail – Yes – just make sure it is well-drained. Hope you enjoy the dish!
Amazing recipe.!!!
★★★★★
Thanks Barbara!
Looks delicious! I have some questions!
1. Can I use chicken broth instead of vegetable?
2. Frozen spinach?
3. Can this be done in a rice cooker? (similar to an instant pot, it has a lot of functions)
Hi Tena – Yes – you can use chicken stock if you prefer. You can use frozen spinach, but I’d suggest thawing it and squeezing out the excess liquid before using it in this recipe. We did have another reader use a rice cooker (successfully) for this recipe…here are her comments and suggestions: “I made this for a large group – so quadrupled the recipe and used my rice cooker. I rinsed the rice a lot (at least 5 or 6 times) because I read basmati rice can get gummy in a rice cooker if you don’t get the extra starch off. I did steps 1 & 2 on the stove, then added everything from step 3 to mix it well before adding to the rice cooker. Cooked it on my cookers white rice setting and It came out great and fluffy. I got lots of compliments.” Hope this helps!