Greek Lemon Rice with Herbs (Spanakorizo-style)

About This Recipe

Spanakorizo is Greece's spinach-and-rice comfort dish, a simple pot of rice cooked with wilted greens, dill, and lemon that shows up in Greek kitchens especially during Lent when meat is avoided. It's humble but deeply flavorful, the rice taking on a pale green hue as it simmers with the spinach. The technique matters more than the ingredient list: rice is briefly sautéed in olive oil before liquid goes in, which keeps the grains separate rather than clumping, and the spinach is added late so it wilts without turning to mush.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 1 cuplong-grain rice
• 500 gfresh spinach(roughly chopped)
• 1onion(finely chopped)
• 2 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 0.33 cupolive oil
• 2 cupsvegetable stock
• 1lemon(juiced)
• 0.25 cupfresh dill(chopped)
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• 0.5 tspblack pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Sauté the aromatics

   Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes until soft, then add garlic for 1 minute.

2. 2

   Toast the rice

   Stir in rice and cook 2 minutes, coating it in oil so the grains stay separate later.

3. 3

   Add stock and simmer

   Pour in stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.

4. 4

   Add the spinach

   Stir in the spinach, cover, and cook 5 more minutes until wilted and the rice is fully tender.

   Add the spinach in stages if your pot is small — it wilts down quickly.

5. 5

   Finish with lemon and dill

   Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, dill, salt, and pepper. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Variations

• •

  Add crumbled feta on top for a saltier, creamier finish.

• •

  Use Swiss chard instead of spinach for a slightly earthier flavor.

• •

  Stir in a beaten egg with lemon (avgolemono-style) at the end for a creamier sauce.

Storage

Refrigerate for up to 3 days; reheat gently with a splash of water or stock since rice dries out in the fridge.

Frequently Asked Questions