Gluten Free Spanakopita Bites Recipe
Updated Feb 15, 2021, Published Jun 02, 2013
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In a perfect world (at least my perfect world), meals would consist of appetizers and desserts. Obviously it is not practical to eat appetizers and desserts at every meal – I mean it would be a little time consuming coming up with all that mini-food – but we can certainly entertain that way. In fact that is my very favorite way to entertain, cocktail parties with small bites – some savory, some sweet.
When I am the one hosting a party, I get to choose all the foods I personally adore. This is one of the many reasons I really like entertaining!
I love Greek Food but being gluten free, I often can’t indulge in some of my favorites from before. However, that doesn’t mean that I can’t reinvent them to be gluten free. These Gluten Free Spanakopita Bites are a perfect example.
Traditionally, spanakopita is a spinach cheese filling folded into triangles with layers of filo dough brushed with butter. I have yet to master (or to be perfectly honest, ever even tried to make) gluten free filo dough so I improvised and baked a traditional spanakopita filling into little cups made with Chebe Focaccia Mix. Doing so makes them not only gluten free but grain free as well.
(Update: Although I didn’t personally make this recipe, we now have a gluten-free filo pastry dough recipe on the site, in case you want to make traditional spanakopita or maybe a sweet treat!)
This recipe makes a lot of little bites – perfect for a party. If you have too many (and I seriously doubt that) you can always freeze them. Just wrap them up well after being baked and cooled then freeze for up to a month. Defrost and then re-heat at 350 for a few minutes until hot.
Gluten Free Spanakopita Bites Recipe
Ingredients
- Gluten free, non-stick cooking spray
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 2 (7.5 ounce) boxes Chebe Focaccia Mix
- 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup water
- 1½ cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided use
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 2 scallions, minced
- 1 (10 ounce) box frozen spinach, thawed
- 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray two (24 each) mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
- Put the pine nuts in a dry skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, 3 – 4 minutes. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the focaccia mix, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 4 eggs, water, and 1 cup parmesan cheese. Dump the mixture out onto a clean work surface and knead until a smooth dough forms, about 1 – 2 minutes. Divide into 48 equal sized balls. Place the balls in the muffin tins and make an indentation with your thumb into each ball forming a cup.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the scallions and cook for 1 minute. Squeeze all the moisture from the spinach and add to the onions. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is totally dry. Put in a mixing bowl; add the reserved pine nuts, feta, ricotta, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Spoon the filling into the cups. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup Parmesan on top of the cups and bake for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This looks good and I would love to make it, since I have most everything on hand, including the Focaccia mix. But when (where) do you add the remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan?
Hi Diane, thanks for pointing this out! What a job as my proof reader :) You sprinkle it on top of the cups before baking. Off to fix the recipe now.
OMG mouth watering!! Who knew that you could make such DELICIOUS recipes all gluten free?? I’m truly amazed. I’m starting my journey to become more gluten free and this definitely is promising.
Thanks for the post! <3
Thank you so much! Enjoy and good luck on your gf journey!
I can’t get the Chebe Focaccia mix locally, but I can get the All Purpose Bread Mix or the Pizza mix. Could I use one of those for this Spanakopita recipe?
Sure! Just throw some dried herbs into the mix, I would add either 2 teaspoons of Italian seasoning or a mix of dried oregano, basil, and thyme. Easy!
Recipe sounds great. But, can you use a gf frozen pie crust, and fill it instead of all the individual mini cups? It would be a lot easier, for me anyway.
Jacquie,
Yes that would definitely work.
xo,
Carol
I am a little challenged in the kitchen … using the gluten-free mixes I have available in my area, they have a yeast packet inside. For your recipes where you say to use the mixes, does that mean to also use the yeast packets? I made several of your recipes last night for a party tonight, and I did not use the yeast packets since it said to use the “focaccia mix”; they look great. Hmm, I have not tasted yet the “mix” recipes. The crispy artichoke recipe was delicious.
Hi Charlotte,
Definitely understand where you’re coming from, well the mix mentioned in the recipe is this mix by Chebe https://www.chebe.com/collections/dry-mixes/products/focaccia-mix-8-pack-case-7-5-oz-per-package, but if you’re not using that mix, just follow the instructions for the mix you are using and you should be all good to go!
And glad you liked it!
xo,
Carol
I’m excited to make this, but what would you substitute for the cheese if you are dairy free. Vegan cheese will not please the crowds, I’ve noticed. Would appreciate what ever guidance you might have.
Hi Pamela,
That’s a tough one! Since this recipe calls for three different cheeses, it might be pretty difficult to get similar results without either using those cheeses or their dairy free versions. What you could do is make the outer crust/cups using nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan cheese, and then make the spinach/onion/pine nut mixture using some cashew “cheese” to add some creaminess. Or, you could make the crust (again, with nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan) and then fill the cups with a different filling altogether that’s already dairy free. Hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.
xo,
Carol