There are many things to love about this frozen spinach recipe.
First, it’s super versatile:
Dice garlic, use the kind in a jar or grab garlic powder from your pantry.
Use frozen spinach or fresh.
Add wine or chicken broth.
It’s all up to you.
I also love this frozen spinach recipe because it’s vaguely Italian. That reminds me of our best times living in Rome, where three of our kids were born.
What you need for this Frozen Spinach Recipe
This frozen spinach recipe only requires a few ingredients, all of which are easy to keep on hand at any time.
1. FROZENSPINACH
I use cut leaf spinach in a 16 or 10-ounce bag.
2. WHITE WINE
I learned how to make this dish when we lived in Italy and they use wine. It is not required, though I think it’s delicious and so do our kids. If you feel weird about cooking with wine for kids, or you already drank all the wine, you don’t need it. Use water, use lemon juice or use 1/2 cup of chicken stock.
3. GARLIC OR GARLIC POWDER
However, the garlic (or garlic powder) and olive oil are not negotiable. Do not make this without them. (And if you do, do not mention my name.)
4. SALT.
That’s it. In 10 minutes, you’ll have a great spinach little side dish you can make once a week.
Believe me. I’ve fed it to four kids many, many times.
RECIPE
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Simple Sides: Frozen Spinach + Garlic + Olive Oil
Print Recipe
★★★★★4.2 from 18 reviews
I like cut-leaf spinach for this frozen spinach recipe but even chopped spinach works. And if you don’t have a 16-ounce bag, the 10-ounce bag will be fine. Just use less liquid.
Also, don’t thaw the spinach. Believe it or not, your frozen spinach cooks quickly in a hot pan.
Author:Charity Mathews, founder of Foodlets.com
Cook Time:10 mins
Total Time:10 mins
Ingredients
Scale
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 16-ounce bag frozen cut-leaf spinach
2 garlic cloves, diced or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 cup white wine, chicken broth or water plus juice of a lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3–4 cracks of fresh pepper
Instructions
Heat olive oil in a large skillet, then add spinach and garlic or garlic powder. Stir for 2 minutes, then add your liquid of choice.
Add salt and pepper then bring to a simmer and allow liquid to evaporate a bit, about 5 minutes.
Serve when you’re ready. This one can wait a while on the stove, and even be made ahead of time and warmed in the microwave.
Too much liquid? Just drain it off OR sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs plus a bit of cream cheese for a rich variation: creamed spinach in minutes!
There you go! As a mom of four small kids, I’m big on simple spinach recipes of almost any kind but a frozen spinach recipe is even better. But this is is my go-to. Especially when I’m in a hurry or exhausted, two states that often come as a pair.
As a bonus, you can also use the same technique for fresh spinach too.
Would your kids eat this spinach? Find out how to help picky eaters here, with a free 6-part email series!
Tools to make this Frozen Spinach with Garlic Recipe
Big sautépan. I’ve used mine almost every single day, and it looks brand new after 15 years.
Flat bottomed wooden spoon. Unlike regular spoons, these scrape the bottom perfectly. And because I use them almost daily, I love a set like this one.
Get Kids Excited
One of our goals at Foodlets is making fresh, wholesome food easy and fun for your whole family. This part’s just for the rascals.
Fun Facts
Spinach is an easy crop to grow in the garden. It doesn’t grow well in hot weather, but grows best during cool, rainy spring weather.
During World War I, spinach juice was added to wine and given to soldiers who had been injured. The reason is that spinach is good for building blood.
Spinach was probably first cultivated in Persia (now called Iran). It spread to Europe during the Middle Ages (about 400 AD to 1200 AD) and has always been known for its health benefits.
It is possible to cook with spinach directly from frozen, rather than defrosting it first, but this only works for certain dishes. Bruning says you can use frozen spinach in applications, like adding it into soup, but she notes that this may lead to uneven cooking.
Counter: Leave the frozen spinach on the counter in a bowl at room temperature. You can also thaw the frozen spinach in a colander over a sink so the excess water from the melted spinach can drain.
Even better, one cup of frozen spinach has more than four times the amount of nutrients, including iron, vitamin C and calcium, compared to a cup of fresh spinach.
You can count on them to give you firm, toothsome leaves (not just stems!) and rich vegetal flavor. Even though there's no sauce on this spinach (the package specifically says “no sauce”) this frozen chopped spinach tastes pre-seasoned and like a ready-to-serve dish.
While cooking times may vary depending on the amount of spinach you're preparing, it generally takes four to six minutes of cooking to properly defrost and heat up a package of frozen spinach on the stove. Once all of the leaves are heated through, remove the spinach from the pan and place it on a serving platter.
The best way to defrost frozen spinach is to warm it in the microwave for a few minutes or warm it over low heat on the stove in pot and strain excess water with a mesh sieve or colander.
Yes, you can actually skip the fussy step of thawing and squeezing out the liquid from frozen spinach more often than you might think. Anytime what you're making won't be ruined or made too soggy with excess liquid, feel free to use the spinach straight from the freezer.
The high potassium levels in spinach (two-thirds of a cup has close to 600 milligrams) relaxes blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. “Potassium also helps your kidneys get rid of extra sodium,” says Kopp. “High blood pressure and excess sodium can lead to heart disease, stroke and kidney damage.”
Frozen spinach is mechanically chopped, boiled or blanched, and then flash frozen. A single ten ounce package of frozen spinach usually equals one cup of greens once it's thawed and drained. To get that same cup with fresh spinach, you'd have to cook down about a full pound.
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.
If the package suggests to drain or rinse the vegetables, then they should be washed. While there has been some controversy in the past about the food safety of frozen produce, the AFFI assures that frozen produce is highly safe and manufacturing facilities are held to high standards of cleanliness.
Listeria and e. coli can survive freezing. And there could be re-contamination after the blanching process. Obviously, you haven't had a problem with any spinach yet.
Whether you opt for frozen or fresh spinach in your spinach smoothie, it doesn't really matter. Both count towards your daily intake of fruit and vegetables, so consuming either of them is a good thing.
The best part, you do not even need to thaw it beforehand. Toss it into a blender with the rest of the ingredients or add it directly to the simmering soup or sauce. Frozen spinach is not good to use in salads, sandwiches, or for garnishing meals.
Blanching spinach before freezing helps preserve the colour and taste for longer as it delays the enzymatic process that leads to decay, however, it's not so good at retaining the nutrients. Blanching spinach before freezing also means that it will last a lot longer in the freezer, for up to a year.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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