This sautéed spinach recipe is the best: it turns three big bunches of greens into a delicious side dish in 10 minutes! Here’s how to keep it green and never soggy.
Let’s go on record: I love cooked spinach in recipes. But for years I didn’t think I liked straight-up sauteed spinach — until this recipe! This sauteed spinach is scented with garlic, wilted until it’s bright green in a bit of olive oil, and finished off with lemon juice to give it a brightness.
The flavor is so fresh and vibrant, not lifeless and soggy as you may have had this dish in the past. This healthy side dish uses three large bunches of spinach, every time I make it Alex and I can devour the entire pan: it’s that good!
5 Star Reader Reviews
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Delicious and easy! I will definitely make again and again!” -Candace
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Wonderfully easy recipe! Delicious & healthy! I used butter infused olive oil. It was perfect! A new keeper!” -Bonnie
How to Saute Spinach
What are the secrets to the very best sauteed spinach? Well, a few things that apparently cooks in 1950’s America weren’t privy to. Even better: it takes only 10 minutes to make! Here are all the secrets to making spinach taste amazing:
- Infuse the oil. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add smashed garlic cloves and cook 1 to 2 minutes, until just golden. This infuses a subtle garlic flavor throughout, without being too overwhelming. It also minimizes the risk of browning or burning the garlic.
- Steam the leaves covered. Pile in the spinach and cover. Cook 1 minute, then uncover, toss, and cover for 1 minute more so the leaves wilt down.
- Finish uncovered. Cook about 30 seconds, just until every leaf has wilted but the color is still bright green. Be careful not to overcook it, or it can become soggy!
- Season off the heat. Stir in the salt and lemon juice, adding salt until the flavor pops.
The Spinach Shrink Factor
An interesting thing about spinach: its volume fresh seems very large, but when it’s sauteed it wilts into almost next to nothing. When you see 3 large bunches of spinach, you’ll swear there’s no way you could ever eat them. And you couldn’t if they were fresh. But saute it down with olive oil and it loses most of its volume.
Alex and I accidentally ate this recipe just the two of us in one sitting! So it’s a GREAT way to eat spinach without even realizing it. This easy plant based side dish is so delicious, even your dad might get over his childhood phobia. (I’m hoping mine will.)
Bunch Spinach vs. Baby Spinach
Spinach in bunches works great here! This is what I like to use, and it’s the perfect way to use bunch spinach. Because you’re cooking it down and adding flavor, it’s not as “in your face” as it could be in a salad. But baby spinach leaves or spinach that comes as leaves in a box also works!
I do love the convenience of buying pre-washed baby spinach in plastic boxes at the grocery. But because I’m working to minimize my single use plastic consumption, I’ve been trying to buy more greens in bunches lately. Yes, it does take a little longer to wash and prepare: but it’s worth it in the long run.
Tips To Avoid Sautéed Spinach Mistakes
- Don’t overcook it: cook just until its wilted. So many sauteed spinach recipes overcook it until it’s limp and lifeless. Don’t make that mistake too! Pull it from the heat when it’s just wilted and still a lovely green color.
- Add a squeeze of lemon at the end. Add hint of fresh lemon juice adds brightness to the flavor. Use only real lemon juice (none of that bottled stuff).
- Salt it perfectly. Many sauteed spinach recipes are too bland. Add that salt! Spinach soaks up so much that you won’t need a lot. Salt it until the flavor pops, but not so much that it tastes salty. (Keep tasting to get it just right!)
Easy Ways to Dress It Up
- Parmesan and pine nuts: Our Sauteed Rainbow Chard recipe features a topping of Parmesan cheese and toasted pine nuts that adds savory flavor and crunch.
- Slivered almonds: For crunch! See how to toast almonds.
- Feta and lemon zest: This adds a salty, tangy flavor.
- Mushrooms: Add sautéed mushrooms; try Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms.
What to Serve with Sautéed Spinach
- Salmon: Pile it under a fillet of baked salmon.
- Chicken: Serve with chicken piccata or baked chicken thighs.
- Shrimp: Pair it with perfect sautéed shrimp and crusty bread.
- Eggs: Serve it with scrambled eggs or add into a frittata.
- Risotto: It adds fiber to a plate of mushroom risotto.
- Pasta: Toss it with garlic butter noodles.
- Grain bowls: Add it to grain bowls with baked tofu.
How to Store and Reheat
You can store sauteed spinach refrigerated for up to 3 days, though it does become more soggy over time. Reheat the spinach in a skillet over medium heat for about a minute until warmed through.
Dietary Notes
This sauteed spinach recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, plant-based, vegan, and dairy-free.
Easy Sauteed Spinach (10 Minutes!)
This sautéed spinach recipe is the best: it turns three big bunches of greens into a delicious side dish in 10 minutes! Here’s how to keep it green and never soggy.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Sauteed
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Mediterranean Diet, Vegan, Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 3 bunches spinach (about 1 1/4 pounds total with stems) or 10 ounces baby spinach leaves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- ¼ teaspoon salt plus 2 pinches
- 1 ½ tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- If your spinach is in a bunch, chop off the stems and chop the leaves roughly.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Add the whole garlic cloves for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just golden. Then carefully add the spinach leaves and immediately cover the pan (any water on the spinach may cause the oil to spit momentarily). The mound of leaves will seem like a lot of volume, but it will quickly wilt down to be very small. Cook covered for 1 minute, quickly uncover and stir for a few seconds to integrate cooked spinach with raw, then cook covered another 1 minute.
- Remove the lid. Stir and cook about 30 seconds more, until the spinach is fully wilted but still bright green. Stir in the kosher salt and fresh lemon juice, then remove from the heat.
- Taste and add a few more pinches of salt to taste. (Spinach is very susceptible to salt, so use only small bits at a time! The flavor should pop but not be salty.) Immediately remove to a bowl; the spinach will brown if you leave it any longer in the pan. Serve warm.
What do you smash the garlic with?
The side of your knife or the bottom of a jar.