What can I make with spinach?
Spinach wilts down to almost nothing, so it works in far more dishes than people expect. Recipes using spinach are below, along with storage tricks that buy you several extra days.
12 recipes with spinach
Egg Muffins
Baked mini frittatas loaded with veggies and cheese.
American30m4
Palak Paneer
Cubes of paneer in a creamy spinach curry.
Indian35m4Bibimbap
Mixed rice bowl with sautéed veggies, beef, and a fried egg.
Korean40m4Bibimbap
Korean rice bowl with sautéed vegetables, beef, fried egg, and gochujang.
Korean45m4
Japchae
Chewy sweet potato noodles tossed with beef and vegetables.
Korean50m6
Three-cheese souffles
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6 and butter 4 small (about 200ml) ramekins.
France4
Tuna Nicoise
Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
France4
Spinach & Ricotta Cannelloni
First make the tomato sauce.
Italian4
Curried Spinach from Botswana
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
4
Spanish beans with chicken & chorizo
step 1 Soak the beans for at least 4 hrs or overnight in a large bowl with plenty of water to cover.
Spanish4
Shakshuka Feta Cheese
1 In a pan heat the oil medium to high heat, with a tablespoon of olive oil 2 Add the chopped vegetables as onions, garlic, celery and red pepper.
Saudi Arabian4
Tunisian Lamb Soup
Add the lamb to a casserole and cook over high heat.
Tunisian4
How to get the most flavour out of spinach
- 1Cut into even pieces so everything finishes at the same moment.
- 2Roast at 425F on a preheated sheet pan for caramelised edges, or sear hard in a skillet if you want it fast.
- 3Do not crowd the pan; steam is the enemy of browning. Use two trays if you have to.
- 4Season in layers: salt before cooking, then acid and fat after, so the spinach tastes finished rather than plain.
What goes well with spinach
Spinach is at its best with garlic, olive oil, lemon, feta, toasted seeds and chili. Any two or three of those, plus spinach, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing spinach
Store spinach unwashed - moisture is what causes rot. Leafy types last longest wrapped loosely in a towel inside a bag; roots prefer somewhere cool and dark, not the fridge door. Anything starting to soften is ideal for soups, stocks, and roasting.
Substituting spinach
If you are out of spinach, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Spinach recipes: common questions
- What can I make with spinach and not much else?
- Plenty. With spinach plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest spinach recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute spinach?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover spinach?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover spinach without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.
- Are these spinach recipes vegetarian-friendly?
- Many are, and the vegetarian and vegan collections filter the whole library down to recipes with no meat or no animal products at all. In the chat you can also say "vegan" or "no dairy" and every suggestion will respect it.