Creamed Spinach
Spinach folded into a garlicky parmesan cream — the steakhouse side, ten-minute version.
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Join HomecookedIngredients
- 400 g Spinach
- 150 ml Cream
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 20 g Butter
- ½ tsp Salt
- 30 g Hard cheese (optional)
- 0.13 tsp Nutmeg (optional)
- ½ tsp Black pepper (optional)
Method
- Mince the garlic and finely grate the cheese.
- Wilt the spinach in batches in a dry hot wide skillet, turning with tongs until fully collapsed.
- Tip the spinach into a colander and press the water out hard with the back of a spoon.
- Soften the minced garlic in the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, then add the cream and simmer to thicken slightly.
- Fold the pressed spinach, the cheese, the salt, the pepper, and a grating of nutmeg into the cream until thick and glossy.
- Serve the creamed spinach hot beside anything seared.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Creamed Spinach
Creamed spinach is the steakhouse side dish rendered lean and fast—American comfort in its purest form, where wilted greens meet buttery cream and sharp cheese. The dish works because it covers spinach's slight earthiness with garlic warmth and nutmeg's subtle pepper note, transforming a vegetable that can read as austere into something glossy and rich. The method is critical: the spinach must be pressed dry after wilting, or the cream becomes watery and breaks.
This ten-minute version skips the béchamel entirely, letting cream and cheese do all the binding work, which means you taste the actual vegetables and seasoning instead of starch. The result is tender, concentrated spinach enrobed in a silky sauce that clings without coating—perfect alongside seared steak or fish, or spooned over rice as a light main. Its restraint is its strength: you could eat a bowl of this alone and feel satisfied, not guilty.
Creamed Spinach: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Creamed Spinach?
One serving of Creamed Spinach has about 221 calories, with 7g of protein, 6g of carbs, 20g of fat and 2g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Creamed Spinach gluten-free?
Based on its ingredients, Creamed Spinach has no gluten-containing components, so it's naturally gluten-free — as always, check that any packaged ingredients you use are certified gluten-free to be safe.
Is Creamed Spinach dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter. Swapping it for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
Do I need every ingredient to make Creamed Spinach?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out hard cheese, nutmeg, black pepper — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Creamed Spinach make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.