The BEST Creamed Spinach Recipe (2024)

ByJaclyn Shimmel On Updated

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This creamed spinach recipe is so rich and delicious that you will forget you are even eating spinach!

It is a wonderful spinach side dish to serve up during the holiday season–or any time of year really.

The BEST Creamed Spinach Recipe (1)

Like creamed corn, this easy side dish is perfect to make and serve with any of your favorite main dishes.

Creamed spinach with creamed cheese really helps to add such rich flavor to the recipe. I love the flavor and it is great paired with chicken, pork tenderloin, or even meatloaf or steak.

Creamed Spinach

If you are craving something different, I recommend this easy spinach side dish. I have served this up all year round, and I love the tang from the parmesan cheese in it.

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What is creamed spinach?

Creamed spinach is fresh spinach leaves that get wilted in a pan on the stove and paired with a homemade creamy sauce. I used butter, onions, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and more for the best-creamed spinach recipe ever. It is so rich and incredible, but so easy to whip up.

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How to make creamed spinach

To make this, all you need to do is grab a large skillet and toss your butter in and let it melt down on medium heat. Then add in your diced onions and cook until softened and translucent in color.

Now add in your garlic and give a quick stir until nice and fragrant.

Then in the microwave, you will want to heat your milk in the microwave just enough to warm it up. Then whisk in the cornstarch, and then pour the mixture into the skillet stirring.

It will thicken, add in your cream cheese, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Then stir in the spinach and let it wilt down a bit. Once it is fully creamed and wilted, serve, and enjoy.

How to make creamed spinach using frozen spinach

If you have frozen spinach on hand and want to use that in replace of fresh go right ahead. Just thaw your spinach and then squeeze off the excess liquid. If you skip this step it will water down your sauce.

Once it is thawed, you will stir in at the end of the cooking of the cream sauce. Then just heat until warmed, and then serve just like it was fresh spinach.

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Can you make creamed spinach ahead of time?

Personally, I prefer creamed spinach fresh. You will find it offers the best texture and flavor. If you want to make ahead of time, you can do so. Just know that when you go to reheat it will have a softer spinach texture that is more broken down.

Go ahead and make it, and then store leftovers in the fridge until ready to serve. Then reheat in the skillet until warm. If the sauce is too thick add in a little chicken stock to help thin out the sauce as you reheat.

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How long does creamed spinach last

You are more than welcome to store this for up to three days in the fridge. Make sure you store in an airtight container. Always use your best judgment in terms of quality. When in doubt, toss it out.

What to serve with creamed spinach

You can serve creamed spinach with so many things. From the classic Thanksgiving or Christmas feast to meatloaf, steak bites, pork, or chicken. While great for the holidays, this spinach side dish is so versatile, and we eat it all year round. Just like these crockpot glazed carrots.

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Expert Tips

  • Use half and half in replace of whole milk for a thicker and creamier texture
  • Or reach for heavy cream for a richer flavor overall
  • Feel free to add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg for even more flavor
  • You can double the recipe if you plan to serve a crowd

More Delicious Side Dishes

  • Sweet potato casserole
  • Brussels sprouts with bacon
  • Copycat Cracker Barrel fried apples
  • Pan-seared asparagus
  • Corn casserole

Recipe

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Recipe

4.68 from 117 votes

Creamed Spinach

Author: Jaclyn

Prep: 5 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Total: 15 minutes mins

Creamed spinach - a classic spinach side dish with a rich and creamy sauce.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1/2 small onion diced
  • 2 cloves garlic smashed and sliced
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 ounce cream cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese
  • 12 ounce spinach washed and dried

Instructions

  • In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until translucent (about 3 minutes). Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring often.

  • Heat the milk in a microwave for 25 seconds; whisk in the cornstarch. Pour mixture to skillet.

  • Add salt, pepper, cream cheese, and Parmesan cheese to skillet; whisk until well combined.

  • Stir in the spinach, coating the spinach completely in the cream mixture. Serve warm.

Notes

You can use frozen spinach in place of fresh. Just thaw and squeeze to remove as much liquid as possible before adding to the skillet in step 4.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 156kcal

The BEST Creamed Spinach Recipe (8)

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The BEST Creamed Spinach Recipe (9)

The BEST Creamed Spinach Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What brings out the Flavour of spinach? ›

Olive oil: I love sauteing the spinach in olive oil. It has the best flavor! Garlic: Before tossing in my fresh spinach, I cook fresh sliced garlic in the olive oil, which gives the olive oil a lovely garlicky flavor. Lemon: It is optional but adds fresh flavor!

What is creamed spinach made of? ›

Wilted spinach is mixed through a silky smooth white sauce, flavoured with sautéed onion and garlic, then served with parmesan cheese. This is the side dish of your dreams! Creamed spinach can be mistaken for just a bunch of spinach and heavy cream thrown together — like abracadabra — and you have creamed spinach.

What are the ingredients in Stouffer's creamed spinach? ›

SPINACH, SKIM MILK, SOYBEAN OIL, WATER, 2% OR LESS OF BLEACHED ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, DRIED ONIONS, SALT, SEASONING (CORN MALTODEXTRIN, NONFAT DRY MILK, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR, BUTTER [CREAM, ANNATTO], WHEY PROTEIN ...

How to improve the taste of spinach? ›

Citrus juice can efficiently cover the bitterness of the spinach and give a fresh flavour to it. You can use either lemon, lime or even orange juice for the purpose. As soon as the leaves get cooked, take them out in a bowl. Drizzle some citrus juice over them, give a light stir and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Why do people put vinegar on spinach? ›

The cider-vinegar sets this veggie side apart and gives the baby spinach a subtle, sour flavor.

Why do you add milk to spinach? ›

However, the absorption of calcium from milk and other rich-in-calcium ingredients won't be impaired by spinach's oxalic acid, which is why pairing spinach with dairy products helps ensure you gain all the nutrients you need. Oxalate may also be produced by body or converted from vitamin C during its metabolism.

Why do we boil spinach before cooking? ›

If you are stir-frying spinach, you can either start from raw and washed or blanch the spinach first, but you probably should not boil it all the way. You will get spinach that is hot and cooked through, but still has a resilience to it.

How do you saute spinach so it's not bitter? ›

Cook it quickly over very high heat, stirring very frequently so the liquid that cooks off evaporates more or less immediately, the pan stays dry, and the spinach leaves are cooking in dry heat, not wet heat.

Why is my creamed spinach bitter? ›

Spinach can become bitter when sautéed due to its high levels of oxalic acid, which can be released when the leaves are cooked for too long or at too high a temperature. Additionally, overcooking can break down the chlorophyll in the spinach, leading to a bitter taste.

What are the benefits of creamed spinach? ›

Each serving provides: An excellent source of vitamin A and folate and a good source of calcium, magnesium, potassium and fiber. Recipe was reviewed and approved by Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) for Hidden Valley Ranch.

How long does creamed spinach last in the fridge? ›

Serve it as an easy veggie side at your holiday dinner to really add some fancy factor alongside your Thanksgiving turkey. Storage and reheating. If you have any leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Alternatively, you can also freeze your creamed spinach for around 3 months.

What are the ingredients in Seabrook creamed spinach? ›

** Contains: Milk, Wheat **

Chopped, tender, young Spinach and a smooth, delicately flavored sauce made with real cream - no artificial flavors or colors added - packed in a flavor-saving boilable cooking pouch.

What is creamy spinach dip made of? ›

Ingredients
  1. 16 oz. frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained.
  2. 8 oz. cream cheese softened.
  3. 1 cup sour cream.
  4. ½ cup heavy cream.
  5. 1 tbsp. pickled jalapeños finely chopped.
  6. 2 tsp. dijon mustard.
  7. 1 cup shredded mozzarella reserve ½ cup for topping.
  8. 1 cup shredded Monterey jack reserve ½ cup for topping.
Feb 12, 2023

Does canned spinach taste like frozen spinach? ›

We prefer frozen spinach over canned because it has better flavor and is lower in sodium. Plus, 1 cup of frozen spinach has more than four times the amount of nutrients—including fiber, folate, iron and calcium—compared to a cup of fresh spinach, so if you want to power up, do it with frozen spinach.

How do you get the metallic taste out of spinach? ›

For me, the key to tasty spinach is a little acid added right at the end of the cooking. Either some variety of vinegar (rice wine, white wine, champagne) or a healthy squeeze of lemon juice.

How do you increase spinach absorption? ›

To aid in iron absorption add vitamin C, such as a squeeze of lemon juice over your sauteed spinach or eat your spinach with other vitamin C rich foods like bell peppers or citrus fruits.

What makes spinach taste fishy? ›

It was also found that (Z)-1,5-octadien-3-one and methional, in a concentration ratio of about 1 : 100, are responsible for the fishy off-flavour as dry spinach stored at lower temperatures under nitrogen. The hay-like flavour was caused by oxidative degradation of furan fatty acids, yielding 3-methyl-2,4-nonanedione.

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