Fatayer Sabanekh (Vegan Spinach Pies)
Learn how to make delicious vegan spinach pies (Fatayer Sabanekh) with this easy-to-follow recipe from columnist Waseem Hijazi a.k.a. Plant Based Arab. Stuffed with a tangy and aromatic spinach and onion filling, these soft and pillowy breakfast pies are a popular Middle Eastern food that can be enjoyed by everyone.
Print Recipe
Pin Recipe
Servings: 18 pies
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 2 cups 250g all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup 50ml vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup 115ml water, lukewarm
For the Spinach Filling:
- 3 cups 250g spinach, roughly chopped
- 4 tbsp lemon juice + 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 medium onion - finely diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sumac
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemon - juiced (about 2 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- 4 tbsp walnuts - chopped/blended - optional
- Pinch of cayenne pepper - optional
Instructions
Preparing the Dough:
- Add the sifted flour to a large bowl. Mix in the instant yeast. Add the salt and sugar and whisk again, making a well in the centre.
- Add the oil to the centre. Cover the flour on top and rub by hand to coat it all in oil. Go in with the water and knead to combine until smooth.
- Gently push down with your fist to flatten down into the bowl. Cover with food wrap and kitchen towel. Rest in a warm place (inside the pantry cupboard), allowing it to rise for an hour to double in size.
Making the Spinach Filling:
- Add the roughly chopped spinach to a large bowl with 4 tbsp of lemon juice and 1/4 tsp of salt. Mix and cover for 15 minutes to extract the water out of the spinach.
- Squeeze the spinach by hand to remove all the liquids. Do this a few times to dry it up completely - See Notes (1).
- Add the squeezed dried spinach to a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix to combine then set aside until ready to use.
Shaping the Fatayer:
- Once the dough is ready, punch down and roll into a giant ball. Cut into 4 quarters, then continue cutting into 18 equal parts. Use a kitchen scale to weigh each for best results. Should be about 25g each - See Notes (2).
- Form each into a ball, pinching the bottom and rolling to smoothen out.
- Place separated on a flat plate, and cover in food wrap to rest for 15 minutes.
- Take one out - keeping the rest covered. Gently push with your fingers to flatten down.
- Roll out into a thin circle using a rolling pin. Flip it, then add a heaping tablespoon of the spinach filling to the centre - See Notes (3).
- Lift up two sides of the circle, bringing them to the centre. Pinch to seal both sides into a line - go back and forth a few times to make sure it’s closed off.
- Grab the remaining side of the circle and bring it towards the centre. Continue pinching its edges with the two sides from before. Repeat for the rest of the dough balls, keeping the shaped pies covered under a clean kitchen towel.
- Baking Spinach Pies
- (1) Place the Fatayer on a sheet pan or air fryer basket. Generously but gently brush each pie with good quality olive oil.
- (2) Bake in a preheated oven (or air fryer) on middle rack for 8 minutes at 400F (or 205C), then move to top rack for 2 more minutes to give it a nice golden colour - See Notes (4).
Equipment
Notes
- Make sure to remove as much water from the spinach as possible. The spinach has to be somewhat dry before adding the remaining ingredients. This helps prevent the pies from opening up when baking.
- I recommend weighing each ball of dough on a kitchen scale to get consistent size and shape for the Fatayer (pies).
- Flip the dough circle before adding the spinach filling to help seal off the pies. It’s the stickier side.
- Oven vs. Air fryer: I don’t have a working oven. So I use my air fryer (at the bake option). Because of its smaller basket size, timing may slightly vary for your own oven/air fryer. Adjust accordingly. Add 2 extra minutes at a time until the top is golden.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!