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).
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Laura says :
Why this recipe works
- Unique: 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).
- Simple: 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.
- Flavor: Even simple recipes can make a big impact. When everything comes together, this makes an incredible and delicious dish. Scoop up all that deliciousness with small pieces of lavash, pita or even pita or potato chips!
- Party food: You can easily dress it up with gorgeous garnishments for a crowd pleasing appetizer or keep it simple for a cool bite to eat during the hot summer months.
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. You can use store bought yogurt or learn how to make yogurt.
- Salt and pepper
- Walnuts: Chopped walnuts are used to garnish this dish. This is optional.
Step-by-step directions
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- Sauté onions. Sauté onions in olive oil until they start to soften.
- Add spinach. Reduce heat and cook until onions brown slightly. Mix in spinach and garlic and cook until spinach is wilted and cooked. Remove from heat and let cool.
- Mix with yogurt. Combine cooled spinach mix with yogurt, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours prior to serving.
- Garnish. 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! This is especially popular with the kidlets.
All of these recipes can be used as an appetizer or a side dish.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: I don’t recommend freezing this as the yogurt’s texture changes when frozen and thawed.
Borani is typically served as a dip. You can serve it with pieces of flat bread like lavash or with pita bread. You can also serve with potato chips, pita chips or vegetables like carrots, celery and cucumbers.
You should use a thick plain yogurt to make borani. Greek yogurt, for example, is readily available in grocery stores and makes a great base for borani. Do not use a watery yogurt, as it will not be able to hold up the vegetables. Also try yogurts you find in middle eastern stores or more your own. Just pass it through a cheese cloth to drain out the excess water.
Although fresh spinach is preferred to making borani, you can also use frozen spinach. Just be sure to thaw it completely, then squeeze out the excess water before adding it to the sautéed onions.
Persian Yogurt Spinach Dip (Borani Esfenaj)
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 ½ cup chopped fresh spinach
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 2 ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts optional
Instructions
- Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil. Add onion and sauté until they start to soften.
- 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.
- In a large bowl add cooled spinach mix with yogurt, salt and pepper. Mix until combined, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours prior to serving.
- When ready to serve, transfer to serving bowl and garnish with walnuts.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
We love appetizers too! In fact at restaurants we often order a starter as a starter, and then another starter as our main. Anyway, this looks good — I think we’d call it dinner. 🙂 Thanks!