Tiropita Recipe, Greek Feta Cheese Pies | Alexandra’s Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between spanakopita and tiropita? ›

The difference between a spanakopita and tiropita is that spanakopita includes spinach and feta (sometimes only spinach) whereas tiropita only has cheese in its filling. And while it is a popular street-food it is also a popular dish people make at home.

Its flavor is tangy and salty, ranging from mild to sharp. Feta is used as a table cheese, in salads such as Greek salad, and in pastries, notably the phyllo-based Greek dishes spanakopita "spinach pie" and tyropita "cheese pie".

Tiropita are often served as a breakfast in Greece alongside coffee. However they make a great appetizer or you can build a few of them into a lunch such as with a Greek salad on the side.

Tiropita or tyropita (Greek: τυρóπιτα, "cheese-pie") is a Greek pastry made with layers of buttered phyllo and filled with a cheese-egg mixture.

Using a combination of tender greens and herbs gives the pie subtle complexity, while making the upgrade from frozen to fresh greens ensures the best flavor. Good olive oil adds richness and depth, giving heartiness to this vegetarian dish.

When cooking, you fold in ingredients–like that cheese–when you don't want to overmix. In our recipe for Cheesy Mashed Potatoes, the goal is to add the two cups of shredded cheddar very gently to keep the potatoes light and not gluey. If you fold in ingredients, everything stays fluffy.

French Feta is made with Lacaune sheep's milk (if you remember, that's the sheep breed used for Roquefort production). It has a softer and creamier texture that Greek Feta and a milder, less tangy flavor (though it's sharper than Israeli Feta).

While feta cheese provides you with an excellent source of nutrients like calcium and protein, it also contains high amounts of sodium and saturated fat. Feta is lower in fat than many other cheeses, however, and is considered a reasonable option to eat in moderation.

In Greece "Feta cheese" is ONLY what is made from sheep's milk (70%) and goat's milk (30%). Sheep's milk has more fat and thus gives more cheese, goat's milk has less fat, gives less cheese but hardens the feta and gives it the special taste that made it famous.

The festive table includes cabbage stuffing, pies such as meat pie, spinach pie, milk pie, and sweet pumpkin pie. In Ioannina, the wild boar salmon and the classic “baklavadakia” have their honor!

What do you eat tzatziki with in Greece? ›

Traditionally, tzatziki is served as a dip along with bread for dipping. It is of course an important ingredient in souvlaki and gyros and it is fine to dip any kind of meat in it as well. I find it makes a great dip for carrot sticks, celery sticks, raw zucchini strips, cucumber and cherry tomatoes.

Tiropsomo is similar to spanakopita and tiropita as they use cheese as their main ingredient. But what differentiates this Greek street food is that the cheese is baked into light bread instead of filo pastry. Apart from feta cheese, tiropsomo uses unkneaded dough made from flour and milk.

Turkish borek and Greek spanakopita come from the same family of pastry. However, the two often differ in preparation and texture, with Greek spanakopita often having a flakier, puffier crust. Is it burek or borek? Both spellings of this pastry are technically correct, depending on the country.

Greeks also love eating pies for breakfast !

All kind of pies : tiro pita (cheese pie), spanakopita (spinach pie), kreato-pita (chicken meat pie), served in triangular pieces.