When you have a large crop of spinach from the garden or farmstand, you don't have time to casually include it in complicated recipes or to frantically figure out how to use it up before it goes bad without getting sick of it. You want to make the most of your harvest and to actually enjoy it.
Here at Plant to Plate, we like to keep things simple! Here are some of my favorite ways to use or preserve spinach:
- Use it as a Base or Partial Base for an Interesting Salad. (Wondering why I capitalized those letters? Read more about Interesting Salads here!)
- Add it to sandwiches, paninis, and grilled cheeses.
- Add it to smoothies for a green boost.
- Make a breakfast sandwich by combining spinach with a poached egg or egg patty and serving on toast.
- Make spanakopita. This Greek spinach pie consists of a feta and spinach filling inside buttered or oiled phyllo. Bake it for 20 minutes at 375°F. You can certainly make spanakopita more complicated and creative if you like, but the basic spinach, feta, and phyllo recipe is a tasty, simple way to use up your spinach!
- Stuff it in a squash. Stuff a winter squash like butternut or acorn squash with turkey and spinach and bake.
- Bake it with chicken. Stuff spinach and ricotta inside a chicken breast, bake, and top the chicken with marinara sauce before serving.
- Use it as a pizza or flatbread topping, alone or with one or more of the following:
- Tomatoes, especially cherry tomatoes
- Garlic
- Artichokes
- Sauté or stirfry it with cherry tomatoes and garlic. This is a delicious standalone dish, or it can be added to egg dishes, pastas, casseroles, and more.
- Make a dip with cooked spinach along with artichokes and cream cheese or a cream cheese substitute. Add garlic powder and/or cayenne powder if desired.
- Make a spread with cooked spinach, garlic, and either ricotta or cream cheese. Spread this on pieces of bell pepper, artichoke hearts, or other veggies for an extra-healthy selection, or it also goes well with crackers or crostini.
- Add it to tortellini, inside or outside the pasta, along with sage. This especially complements tortellini served with a butternut squash sauce, which can be as simple as a squash purée.
- Add it to cooked macaroni along with pumpkin chunks or pumpkin sauce.
- Add it to other pasta dishes, both stovetop and baked.
- Similarly, add it to spaghetti squash dishes, especially with parmesan and garlic.
- Add it to gnocchi along with parmesan.
- Toss it with quinoa and tomatoes. Add feta or other cheese if desired, although this combo is great on its own.
- Add it to your favorite premade queso dip along with jalapeños.
- Add it to a burger patty. Combine beef, lamb, chicken, or turkey with spinach, feta, and onions. Shape into patties and cook.
- Make a simplified Tuscan chicken in the slow-cooker. Combine it with chicken and cherry tomatoes and start the slow-cooker. Top with alfredo sauce when serving.
- Blanch and freeze it. If you will use your frozen spinach within 1-2 months, it is not necessary to blanch it first. Otherwise, for longer preservation, blanching before freezing is recommended for best mineral and quality retention. Check out this article for more info about blanching.
- Dry it. Spinach can be dried or dehydrated just like herbs and other greens. This is a great preservation method if you lack freezer space as -- let's face it -- most gardeners and bulk-buyers do! Later, the spinach can be powdered and added to smoothies or used as a thickener for soups and savory bakes.
Further Reading
Growing spinach? Check out these quick facts like its best growing conditions, companion plants, and expected yields.
Spinach is also featured in these articles:
- Quick Facts: Growing Spinach
- The Interesting Salad Protocol: How to Build an Interesting Salad
- How to Preserve Your Harvest: Drying and Dehydrating
- How to Preserve Your Harvest: Freezing