Whether you’re the poster child for healthy eating or tend to pick at bits of anything remotely nutritious on your plate, there’s a green meal out there for you. We round up a few spinach recipes that will have you buying bags of the green goodies on your next grocery run. By Eshita Srinivas
With the plant-based, healthy-eating revolution sweeping the culinary world, spinach has found itself in several gastronomical creations, from bowls of soup to cones of ice cream. A serving of this leafy green offers a good dose of vitamins A, C, K as well as folic acid, thiamine, iron, and calcium. Naturally, studies link it to a host of health benefits, including better eye and heart health. And if that’s not reason enough to be loading up on this vegetable, we don’t know what is.
When brought together with the right ingredients and cooking techniques, spinach can go from being slimy and unappetizing to downright delectable. But don’t take our word for it. Give some of these fun recipes a go instead.
Load up on greens with these fun spinach recipes
Spinach And Artichoke Dip
Indulgent enough to make you forget you’re eating greens and versatile enough to complement most carbs, this spinach and artichoke dip is a must-try. The recipe calls for cream cheese, mayonnaise, parmesan, mozzarella, black pepper, and dried basil. Baking these ingredients gives the dip a heavenly brown crust at the top. Pair it with crackers, add dollops of it to your toast, or incorporate it into a buddha bowl meal.
Spinach Pancakes
The comfort of fluffy pancakes meets the nutrition of vibrant spinach in this fun recipe. The ingredients are staples found in every kitchen, including buttermilk, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, oil, flour, and (of course) a cup of fresh packed spinach. The buttermilk gives the pancakes that perfect airy texture, and the spinach adds a bright pop of colour. Serve your creation with whipped cream and fresh fruits. You could also switch it up with the batter and make waffles. This one’s bound to impress the kids.
Spinach, Almond Butter, Banana Smoothie
If you don’t enjoy the flavour of spinach or any greens for that matter, a fool-proof way to include it in your diet is by blending it with peanut butter and frozen bananas. Add protein powder, hemp seeds, and unsweetened almond milk to the mix and you’ve got yourself the most delicious, nutrition-packed breakfast smoothie. The frozen bananas sweeten the smoothie and make it creamy while the butter and seeds add nuttiness to the flavour. If you don’t quite like bananas, switch them out for mangoes.
Spinach Pesto Pasta
The perfect way to use that large bag of spinach lying in the back of your fridge before it wilts, this recipe is meal-prep friendly. Make large batches of it with baby spinach, toasted pistachios, lemon, parmesan, basil, parsley, and olive oil. Toss it with your favourite pasta, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil, and you’ve got a nutritious dinner in minutes!
Spinach Crepes
If you like beginning your day with a large dose of nutrition but can’t find the time to whip something delicious up, this recipe is for you. All you need to do is add spinach, flour, milk, cornflour, oil, garlic powder, baking powder, salt, and water to a blender to make the mixture for the crepes. For the white-sauce filling, you’ll need butter, milk, mushrooms, onions, spinach, cheese, and flour. Prepare the crepes and fill them with this creamy mixture for a hearty start to the day.
Cheesy Spinach-Stuffed Chicken
Elevating the classic meat and vegetable combination, this recipe calls for boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cream cheese, mayonnaise, parmesan, and mozzarella. The process is super simple and the payoff is restaurant-quality! If that’s not a great deal, we don’t know what is. Searing the chicken on the stove before finishing it off in the oven ensures your meat is perfectly cooked in the centre. This is a dinner-worthy fare that you’re bound to add to your usual rotation of meals.
Crackling Spinach
Snacks are often synonymous with potato chips. However, if you’ve got a bag of spinach lying around, you could whip something far more nutritious up in minutes. This crackling spinach recipe just has shredded spinach, sesame seeds, garlic, and a pinch of salt. The ingredients combine to give you the most crunchy, flavourful alternative to packaged snacks. Give this one a go when the munchies hit.
Vegan Palak Paneer
This classic Indian comfort food gets a vegan makeover in this unique recipe. Just as indulgent, aromatic, and flavourful as its vegetarian counterpart, the instructions call for tofu instead of cheese. Other ingredients include the usual rotation of Indian spices (read garam masala, cumin, and fenugreek) as well as cashews, tomato, and lemon. Nutritional yeast adds a creamy touch to the meal, and you could serve this with naan or rice.
Sigeumchi Namul
This classic Korean salad is served as a side dish (banchan) to the main components. It’s also a great snack that’s quite like the Japanese spinach ohitashi. This one takes very little time to put together, calling for ingredients like cloves, onion, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and sesame seeds. The easy-to-source, seemingly simple ingredients transform the leafy greens and make them delectable. Give it a go when you’ve got leftover spinach from one of the other recipes on this list.
Three Cheese Spinach Pizza
We’re rounding out this list on a bang, with this indulgent, extravagant meal that’s fit for house parties or Sunday brunches. This is an elaborate process, with Martha Stewart herself to guide you through the process of making the base and everything that goes on it. Your pizza will have shredded gruyere, fresh mozzarella, baby spinach, and olive oil, amongst other delectable ingredients. The payoff is restaurant quality and will impress your loved ones.
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