Persian Yogurt Spinach Dip (Borani Esfenaj)

Made with onions, spinach and garlic, this delicious Borani Esfenaj (Persian Yogurt Spinach Dip) makes a great snack or appetizer.

I love appetizers. In fact, if I had to choose my favorite type of meal, it would be appetizers. Like the Spanish tapas, there is something satisfying about enjoying small bits of a variety of foods.

Persian cuisine has a fabulous variety of delicious appetizers for you to sample. From an eggplant dip (kashk bademjoon) to a variety of yogurt dishes. And today I am sharing a delicious Persian yogurt and spinach dip (borani esfenaj).

Why you should try this recipe

Borani is a Persian type of dip typically made of yogurt and some sautéed vegetable. You can make borani with a variety of ingredients like beets, pumpkin, butternut squash, zucchini or even eggplant borani (borani bademjoon)

This spinach borani is probably the more popular version. This dip is made with sautéed spinach, onions and garlic. It is easy to modify to your own personal taste.

For me, I prefer a bit more garlic and spinach. It is a flavorful appetizer and even makes a light snack. Who said eating your vegetables can’t be both delicious and fun?!

See my Persian Borani Esfenaj (Yogurt Spinach Dip) Web Story for a quick visual guide to making this recipe.

Ingredients you need

• Extra virgin olive oil: You can use any oil to sauté the vegetables, but by using a good quality extra virgin olive oil, you get add more flavor. A great tasting olive oil could also be used as a garnish.
• Onion: You can use brown or white onions. You could even use sweet vidalia onions. If you don’t have onions, use green onions instead.
• Spinach: Fresh spinach is preferred, but you can also use frozen spinach. Just be sure to thaw first and drain the excess water.
• Garlic: Use as much or as little garlic as you prefer. You could swap in garlic powder, but it won’t have the same great garlicky flavor as you get with fresh garlic.
• Plain Greek yogurt: You want to use a thick yogurt, not a watery yogurt. Persian yogurt is a little on the sour side, so you might have to adjust the seasonings if you use that.
• Salt and pepper
• Walnuts: Chopped walnuts are used to garnish this dish. This is optional.

Step-by-step directions

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Add onion and sauté until they start to soften.

2. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until onions brown slightly, about 7 minutes. Mix in spinach and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until spinach is wilted and cooked. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. In a bowl add cooled spinach mix with yogurt, salt and pepper. Mix until combined, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours prior to serving.

4. When ready to serve, transfer to serving bowl and garnish with walnuts. You can also reserve some of the onion-spinach mixture and add that to the garnish.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Fight the urge to eat this right away. By letting the mixture sit in the refrigerator for a few hours, the flavors really start to meld together.

And my final Persian yogurt appetizer is Persian Yogurt with Cucumbers (Mast-o Khiar). No cooking involved with this one! Simply mix chopped cucumbers with dill, mint and yogurt. You can also add walnuts and raisins to it. This is especially popular with the kidlets.

All of these recipes can be used as an appetizer or a side dish.

And here’s a video tutorial on how to make yogurt:

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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