Garlic Creamed Spinach

“Eat your Spinach!” Said Pappy to Popeye. I would say, “Eat your creamed spinach”! There is no denying that spinach is good for you. Spinach is considered a “super food”, loaded with essential vitamins and nutrients. It is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. Remember what happened to Popeye when he ate his spinach? This Creamed Spinach is good for your taste buds as well! It is so much better than that junk from the can!

Creamed spinach is one of my favorite side dishes. It compliments so many main meals. Personally, I love pairing this creamed spinach with a nice filet of beef. It also goes well with chicken, pork or seafood. The leftovers reheat very well in the microwave. I actually think it tastes better the next day.

Note: The printable recipe is located at the end of this post. Please visit The Scoop for my latest posts or you can search or browse my Recipe Index to find more yummy recipes.

Ingredients needed to make Garlic Creamed Spinach:

• 24 oz Fresh Baby Spinach
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 cup cream cheese
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper – omit if you do not like spicy
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste

How to make Garlic Creamed Spinach:

In a large sauté pan, add the olive oil and heat on low to medium. (A pan with a lid will be very helpful when wilting the spinach.) Then add the cayenne pepper, salt & black pepper to your liking. I use about a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a 1/8 teaspoon of pepper. Add the minced garlic and sauté for about 1 minute.

Add the fresh baby spinach to the pan. I buy the pre-washed 24 oz bag of fresh baby spinach to save time. You may need to add the spinach in batches until it is reduced, fresh spinach is very bulky. This is where the lid comes in handy, it speeds up the wilting.

Keep adding and stirring until all the spinach is reduced. Remove the lid and stir occasionally for about 10 minutes over low to medium heat. See how much the spinach shrinks? It’s amazing! Now, remove the spinach from heat and drain well. This is so important! Try to drain as much liquid as possible. Once this step is complete, you could just stop and serve it as a nice sautéed garlic spinach. Or you can choose to go creamy! Let’s go creamy. Take your drained spinach and put in a food processor. Add the cream cheese and parmesan cheese.

Once all ingredients have been added, blend on the lowest setting in 5 second intervals until you reach your desired consistency. Just try not to turn it into baby food, unless you like that. You can also just mix the spinach and cheese with a spoon. I didn’t own a food processor when I first created this recipe and I still make it by just mixing sometimes. The only difference is consistency.

This is a great make ahead side dish. The flavors meld together when refrigerated and it actually tastes even better! Just refrigerate and reheat.

And there you have it. So go eat your spinach!