Portions: 4 portions Calories: 216kcal |
Serve this easy cheesy spinach side dish when you're short on time, but want everyone to clean up their dinner plate. Nobody will complain about eating their veggies, not with a flavorful dish of cheesy creamed spinach overflowing with cheesy flavors.
Why I ❤️ it • Recipe • Ingredients • Preparation
Cheesy spinach side dish.
Why I ❤️ it
If your whole family needs a bit of convincing to eat spinach, this no-bake, gluten-free, low-carb, creamy spinach casserole dish, with two types of cheeses, and lots of flavors, will do the trick.
The colorful pepper and onion add a bit of texture and color to the dish, and I topped it with some cottage cheese (queso cremita or queso blanco) for extra cheesiness. A no-baking dish that is perfect with grilled meats, and will be a screaming success at your potluck.
Cheesy spinach recipe
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Utensils and tools
- Large skillet or pan
- Strainer (if you use frozen spinach)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter, (34 grams)
- 1 medium white onion, diced (95 grams)
- 1 red bell pepper, diced (150 grams)
- ½ tablespoon of garlic powder
- 10 ounces chopped spinach, (283 grams)
- ¼ cup heavy cream, (60 mililitros)
- ¼ cup cream cheese, (53 grams)
- 1 teaspoon of salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon of black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground), or to taste
- ¼ cup drained ricotta cheese, crumbled (33 grams)
Preparation
Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.
1. Cooking the onion and pepper
In a large pan heat the butter over medium-low heat, stir in the onion and bell pepper, and garlic powder and cook stirring until the onion starts to become translucent.
2. Cooking the spinach
If you are using frozen spinach, squeeze the spinach in a strainer to eliminate as much water as possible liquid and add the spinach to the pan. Cook stirring until the spinach is heated through. Add the cream and cream cheese to the mixture and stir.
Lower heat and simmer covered until the spinach mixture is creamy, but there is no excess liquid (about 15 minutes). Stir often while it simmers. Once the spinach is cooked through, season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Serving
Remove from the heat. Sprinkle with the ricotta cheese and serve.
Variations
If you want an extra cheesy dish, add half a cup of mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese along with cream cheese to the preparation.
You can substitute parmesan cheese for cottage cheese if you want a sharper, stronger taste.
Top tips
You can use fresh or frozen spinach, you just need to play a bit with the cooking time, but fresh spinach only adds a couple of extra minutes.
Serving suggestions
If you ever wondered what to serve with smoked pork chops, this is one of my favorite side dishes for fried smoked pork chops. They go great together.
This is also a great dish to go with any BBQ meats.
Nutritional information
Calories: 216kcal - Carbohydrates: 9g - Protein: 6g - Fat: 19g - Saturated Fat: 11g - Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g - Monounsaturated Fat: 5g - Trans Fat: 1g - Cholesterol: 59mg - Sodium: 842mg - Potassium: 390mg - Fiber: 3g - Sugar: 4g - Vitamin A: 9868IU - Vitamin C: 44mg - Calcium: 173mg - Iron: 2mg
Benefits of spinach
Spinach is a wonder plant, it packs an enormous amount of vitamin K, as well as vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, E, and C. If that wasn't enough, you can get manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, protein, and choline. Of course, as with any greens, it is a very good source of dietary fiber.
Isn't that good enough to add more spinach to your diet? Popeye would be proud.
FAQs
Can you use frozen spinach instead of fresh?
Yes, you can use frozen spinach instead of fresh to make a cheesy spinach side dish.
Can we eat spinach with cheese?
We absolutely can eat spinach with cheese, in fact, they make a great pairing in side dishes, dips, and appetizers.
How do you make spinach taste better?
Spinach is at its best paired with dishes in a variety of spinach pasta dishes, spinach side dishes, or cheesy spinach dip.
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How to Make Creamy Cheesy Spinach Side Dish
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon butter salted, (34 g)
- 1 medium white onion diced (95 g)
- 1 red bell pepper diced (150 g)
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach (283 g)
- ¼ cup heavy cream (60 ml)
- ¼ cup cream cheese (53 g)
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper freshly-cracked, or ground, or to taste
- ¼ cup cottage cheese crumbled (33 g)
Instructions
Cooking the onion and pepper
- In a large pan heat the butter over medium-low heat, stir in the onion and bell pepper, garlic powder and cook stirring until the onion starts to become translucent.
Cooking the spinach
- If you are using frozen spinach, squeeze the spinach in a strainer to eliminate as much water as possible liquid and add the spinach to the pan. Cook stirring until the spinach is heated through. Add the cream and cream cheese to the mixture and stir.Lower heat and simmer covered until the spinach mixture is creamy, but there is no excess liquid (about 15 minutes). Stir often while it simmers. Once the spinach is cooked through, season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serving
- Remove from the heat. Sprinkle with the ricotta cheese and serve.
Notes
Originally published on Oct 11, 2018
Diksha
This is seriously the best cheesy spinach recipe that I have ever made, and quite possibly one of the best ones that I have ever eaten. it was fantastic. Thank you!
Tia Clara
Thank you very much, I am so glad you enjoyed it!