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Stovetop Spinach

Ingredients

  • Fresh spinach or baby spinach

Equipment

  • Sauté pan with straight sides
  • Plate or tray
  • Potato ricer (optional)

Instructions

  1. Fill a sink or bowl halfway with cold water, then gently swish the spinach around to remove any dirt present in the leaves. You don’t want to agitate the spinach too much because the dirt should normally sink to the bottom. Take the spinach out, drain off the washing water, and do it again if you deem it necessary.
  2. To dry the spinach, place it on a kitchen towel. It’s not essential to dry it completely, but make sure to remove as much moisture as possible.
  3. Put a sauté pan over medium heat on the stove. Toss in the spinach. You can pile the spinach up a little because it tends to wilt rapidly, but not all of it may fit into the pan at first.
  4. Toss and turn the spinach gently with tongs until all the leaves that are yet to wilt get in contact with the pan’s bottom.
  5. Pour in any residual spinach, keep cooking and continue to toss as the spinach simmers down. You’ll know the spinach is done when all of the spinach has wilted and developed a bright green color.
  6. Transfer the spinach from the saute pan and put it on a plate to cool down while the steam evaporates.
  7. Gather the spinach into a compact bundle and squeeze this ball as hard as possible once it has cooled. Do this while standing over the sink, so the juice drains into the sink. But if you want to save the juice, do it into a bowl instead. It may be necessary to carry out this step in batches or use a potato ricer if you have one.
  8. Season the spinach with salt and pepper, as well as any flavorings of your choice if you’re planning to eat it on its own.

This easy spinach recipe can be achieved in such a short cooking time, but it delivers such healthy and delicious results to your plate. As long as you follow the right cooking instructions with stove-top spinach recipes, you’re good to go.

If you’d like to see more recipe ideas for cooking spinach on the stovetop, we recommend that you watch this video recipe for some insight.

Notes

  • Seasoning suggestions: If you’re not using your cooked spinach in any recipe and instead want to serve it as a side dish, season it with a touch of salt and a spritz of olive oil. A squeeze of lemon or a handful of chili flakes for spice will also help to brighten things up.
  • Another option is to start the wilting process of cooking the spinach by using oil to sauté garlic or onions until they are almost done. It only takes a minute or so for the spinach to wilt so that you can add it in the right at the end of the cooking. Continue to gently toss the spinach to introduce all of the unwilted leaves to the pan’s heat until all of it has completely wilted. Do not wring out the water.