Spanakorizo or Greek spinach and lemon rice, the best side dish for a Greek food fiest such as fall off the bone oven roast lamb and a glass of Greek local white wine! Dig in!
Have you ever been to Greece before?
Or even to a Greek restaurant?
Then chances are very high that you might have heard of, seen or even tasted spanakorizo back then. That is the very name for braised Greek rice and spinach with lemon.
And the name says it all really.
Spanako in Greek means spinach.
Spinach & Rice
And riso (I don’t need to tell you that) means rice of course.
I used to go to this Greek restaurant in Brussels near the south station a lot a couple of years back. The place is unfortunately closed now.
However I would always go for the same exact meal there after years of tasting the food there. A succulent piece of fall off the bone lamb and a huge plateful of braised spanakorizo rice.
I can even smell and taste it just thinking about it right now!
Epic flavor memory.
I have to admit that I have never had oven roast lamb like the lamb they prepared there.
The best ever.
Easy Spanakorizo (Greek Spinach Rice)
Lamb, rice, spinach, lemon.
Because hey, what can I say about that flavor combination here!
It is so simple.
Rice, lemon, spinach and fall off the bone oven roast lamb is what I can clearly remember from back then. Served with plenty glasses of that excellent Greek retsina white wine of course!
And a glass of metaxa (a kind of Greek cognac) to finish off my meal.
The hubs would go for a sweet dessert instead: galaktoboureko or kataifi in honey.
Or how about the local sfakiani pita with mizithra cheese and honey?
Epic food memories.
Do you love cooking Greek food at home?
Then you should also check out my chapter of Greek recipes!
Enjoy!
Easy Greek Spanakorizo Spinach Rice Recipe
- 7 oz basmati rice (200 g)
- 5,5 oz fresh spinach (155 g)
- 1 ½ cup vegetable stock (360 ml), warm
- 1 small onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- ½ fresh lemon
- olive oil
- pepper
- salt
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Peel the yellow onion and the garlic cloves. Chop them up finely. Pour a little olive oil in a large non-stick pan and add the onion and garlic.
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Place the pan over medium-high heat and then gently fry the onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Then add the basmati rice.
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Stir well to coat the rice with the olive oil. Bake the rice for 2 more minutes until it starts to make crackling noises. Slice the half lemon up and add it to the rice. Also pour in the warm vegetable stock. Then season with a pinch of pepper.
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Stir well to make sure the rice isn’t sticking to the bottom and bring it to a rolling boil. Then turn the heat low and cover the pan. Simmer the rice for 6 to 8 minutes until nearly tender. In the meantime rinse the spinach and chop it up roughly. Once the rice is almost tender, add the spinach.
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Stir well and cover the pan again. Let the spinach soften for 3 minutes. Check the seasoning and add extra pepper or salt to taste if necessary.
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Take the pan off the heat, scoop the spinach rice onto plates and serve hot.
