Creamed Spinach Recipe
Creamed Spinach is your new favorite side dish. What it lacks in looks it makes up for in dreamy, creamy, bright flavor. It is the perfect plate unifier; it brings together all the other elements of your meal, especially between your mashed potatoes and perfectly seared steak. But it also ties together your Thanksgiving plate beautifully. It comes together quick and you can make it ahead!
Servings: 10
Calories: 162kcal
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 2 shallots chopped (you can use half a yellow onion in place of the shallots)
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt only use 1 and 1/2 teaspoons table salt
- 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 5 cloves garlic smashed and minced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 and 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 16 ounces fresh baby spinach chopped
- 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese shredded (Parmesan is great)
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice from that same 1 lemon
Instructions
- Start by prepping all your veggies! Chop 2 shallots into a dice. Smash 5 garlic cloves and mince them. Chop 16 ounces of spinach into smaller pieces. Set aside.
- In a 12-inch high sided skillet, add 5 tablespoons butter. Melt over medium heat.
- Add the 2 chopped shallots and stir.
- Add all the spices: 2 and 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, 3/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adds flavor, not heat), and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg.
- Let the shallots and spices cook for about 3-5 minutes, until the shallots are soft.
- Add 5 cloves of minced garlic and stir. Continue cooking over medium heat for about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Sprinkle 1/4 cup flour over the mixture. Stir for 1 more minute, until all the butter has absorbed into the flour.
- With the heat still set to medium, SLOWLY add 1 and 1/2 cups of milk. The process will take several minutes. Add in maybe 1/4 cup of the milk (just pour some in, you don't need to measure) and stir it together until it's completely absorbed into the flour mixture. Then do it again. Repeat, waiting every time to add more liquid until all of it has been absorbed. Eventually, it will turn into a white sauce.
- Add 1/2 cup heavy cream slowly to the sauce. Stir until it has all come together.
- Start adding 16 ounces chopped spinach to the pan with the white sauce. Add the spinach in increments. Pile some on top of the sauce, then stir a minute or two until it wilts down, then add some more fresh spinach and repeat until ALL of the spinach has been added. It looks like a lot! Put it all in! Trust!
- Once all of the chopped spinach has been added, simmer the creamed spinach for about 10 minutes. Keep the heat at medium or medium low, whatever will get you a very low simmer. Do not let the mixture boil, or your sauce will break. You must be gentle with cream! It has a delicate soul.
- After about 10 minutes, add in 1/2 cup freshly shredded Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese. Stir until melted.
- Zest 1 lemon with a microplane grater, then cut it and squeeze out the juice. Take the creamed spinach off the heat, then add the zest and juice to the pan.
- Give your creamed spinach a final taste and adjust the seasonings however you like. If you're not sure if it's right, ask yourself, do I want to take a second bite immediately? Then, do I want to take 10 more bites? That's my favorite question to ask myself when I'm trying to decide if a dish is "done."
- Store covered in the fridge. Heat on low on the stove, or in the microwave!
- Make ahead: You can make creamed spinach up to 2 days ahead! Perfect for Thanksgiving. Make it as instructed, store covered in the fridge, then reheat in the microwave or on low in a pan on the stove.
Notes
FROZEN SPINACH: You can use frozen spinach, but there are a few more steps. Frozen spinach has a lot of water content, so you need to let the spinach thaw, then squeeze out as much moisture from the spinach as possible.
I like to put it all in an old, clean rag (make sure it's old, because it'll dye it Elphaba-green) and then squeeze the liquid out through the rag. The recipe calls for 16 ounces of spinach, and the frozen packages are usually 10 ounces each, so you will need about 1 and 1/2 packages.
I prefer to make the recipe with fresh spinach because it's actually easier to avoid these extra squeezing steps!
Nutrition
Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Potassium: 361mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 4695IU | Vitamin C: 17mg | Calcium: 160mg | Iron: 2mg
