Creamed Spinach

5 from 6 votes

Imagine your favorite restaurant that serves spinach dip as an appetizer and then imagine it as a side dish... you honestly can't go wrong!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Ingredients

3 lbs fresh spinach, roughly chopped into 1 inch pieces
⅓ cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1 lemon, zested and juiced
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temp
4 ounces grated fontina cheese (white cheddar also delish)
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a very large pot or Dutch oven. Add the the spinach in batches, stirring to wilt until all the spinach has been added. Cover the Dutch Oven and cook on medium-low, stirring every few minutes, until the spinach is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the balsamic and stir to combine. If the spinach starts to brown, reduce heat to low and continue to cook.
While the spinach is cooking, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the panko bread crumbs and season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Stir and sauté until the bread crumbs are golden-brown, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and remove from the heat.
Add the cream cheese in small pieces into the spinach over low heat. Stir the cream cheese until it's melted into the spinach. Add the fontina, lemon juice and heavy cream and combine for about 1 minute until the fontina is melted. Transfer the spinach mixture to a serving bowl and sprinkle the toasted panko over the top to serve.

Notes

Prep Ahead Instructions: This is an amazing recipe that you can prep ahead. The entire spinach recipe could be made a day or two ahead of your dinner party and then re-heated over low heat on the day of your event. The panko needs to be made day of, and preferably just before serving so it's a little warm and still quite crispy!

Also Note: You can also make this with spinach, or half spinach and half kale. You can even throw in some Swiss chard. Bottom line… it’s great with any hearty leafy green.

Nutrition