Spinach and White Cheese Pastry
Crisp yufka layers with spinach, onion and an optional white-cheese filling.
The Turkish pantry
Spinach
Choose sound green leaves and control their moisture before filling pastry.
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Fresh spinach leaves and tender stems. Baby spinach is a younger harvest; chard and kale are different vegetables.
Types & forms
Mature fresh spinach
Larger leaves with more substantial stems; trim tough stalks as needed.
Baby spinach
Young leaves with tender stems, useful when a delicate texture is wanted.
Frozen spinach · comparison
A processed form with different water content; follow its cooking instructions and the recipe’s quantity.
What to look for when buying
- Look for crisp green leaves. Avoid yellowing, slime and pooled moisture inside a bag.
- Keep bagged spinach chilled. A ready-to-eat or pre-washed label means additional washing is not required.
Prepare & cook
- Wash loose spinach before using, lifting leaves out of any settled grit, then rinse and drain well. Use water, not soap.
- For our börek, cook the spinach until wilted and its released liquid has evaporated, then cool before adding cheese. A wet filling can make the pastry soggy.
Store it well
- Keep fresh spinach refrigerated in a bag and plan to use within five days; follow an earlier package instruction. Wash just before use.
- For longer storage, use a tested blanch-and-freeze method. Frozen leaves are best directed to cooked dishes.
Substitutions depend on the dish
In a cooked filling
Plain frozen spinach may work after cooking as directed and thorough draining. Do not assume equal raw and frozen volumes.
Another leafy green
Chard changes flavor and has thicker stems. Prepare stems separately and treat the result as an adaptation.
Nutrition
Raw spinach leaves [1]
| Nutrient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 23 kcal |
| Protein | 2.86 g |
| Total fat | 0.39 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.06 g |
| Carbohydrate | 3.63 g |
| Dietary fiber | 2.2 g |
| Total sugars | 0.42 g |
| Sodium | 79 mg |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Calcium | 99 mg |
| Iron | 2.71 mg |
| Potassium | 558 mg |
| Vitamin D | 0 µg |
Raw edible-portion reference, not a cooked recipe or a separate analysis of every cultivar. Trimming and cooking change portion weight and composition. Values are rounded for readability; “not reported” does not mean zero. A “<” value is below the source’s measurement limit.
Nutrition values come from the reference source named above. They are published reference values, not our own measurements. Actual products and cooking methods may change the values.
At the Turkish table
Ispanaklı börek pairs spinach with white cheese inside wheat pastry in our linked version. Cooking off excess moisture helps the filling sit inside crisp pastry.
Cook with Spinach
Spinach and Cheese Flatbread
Thin hand-rolled flatbreads enclosing spinach, white cheese, onion and herbs.