Javascript required
Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer
Home / What Can I Make With Spinach and Cream Cheese

What Can I Make With Spinach and Cream Cheese

A quick recipe to make creamed spinach over the stove top. With options to use fresh or frozen spinach.

Total Time: 30 minutes

Jump to Recipe

stove top creamed spinach

spinach with cream cheese

creamed spinach with cream cheese close up

Quick creamed spinach prepared with cream cheese within minutes over the stovetop.

Recipe includes instructions for fresh and frozen spinach and some ideas to enhance the dish further to your needs.

creamed spinach prepared in a pan
Jump to:
  • What's Creamed Spinach?
  • Ingredients
  • How to make creamed spinach on the stovetop?
  • Serving
  • Storing
  • FAQs
  • More Spinach Recipes
  • 📖 Recipe

What's Creamed Spinach?

Creamed Spinach is served as a side dish. Fresh or frozen spinach is cooked in a creamy cheese sauce.

The creamed spinach was mainly popularized in steakhouses in the US. It's a delicious addition to steaks.

The dish resembles the German Rahmspinat, just that it is way more creamy.

The German creamed spinach is prepared with heavy cream instead of cream cheese and it's lighter.

Ingredients

You will need the following ingredients to make this dish.

  • spinach - fresh or frozen. I prefer baby spinach as it's more delicate.
  • cream cheese - like Philadelphia or another brand
  • milk
  • oil - I use olive oil but regular cooking oil will do too
  • onion
  • garlic fresh (fresh garlic makes all the difference!)
  • dried herbs to season - can be thyme, oregano, Italian seasoning, or herbes de Provence
  • black pepper and salt
  • grated cheese - I like parmesan, cheddar or mozzarella (not the fresh ball variety). You can use a combination too.
quick cream cheese with spinach

Other Optional Ingredients that you can add

I didn't add any of these ingredients to my creamed spinach but you can pep up yours if you like.

You can add other greens too besides the spinach such as kale, collard, turnip greens, amaranth leaves and mustard greens.

Or stir in other vegetables such as mushrooms, leeks, bell pepper or zucchini to make it a whole vegetarian meal.

I have tried adding meats and seafood too. Bacon, chicken strips or shrimp are my got to choice.

If you want to make this dish healthy, switch the cream cheese with sour cream, creme fraiche (UK and France), half and half (US). Or skip the cream cheese altogether and the cheese, but it won't be that creamy.

How to make creamed spinach on the stovetop?

You can make this quick creamy spinach with fresh or frozen spinach.

Here is an overview on how it's done from scratch within minutes over the stove top.

The adjustable US and metric measurements are located at the bottom of this post. The video is the pop up on the mobile.

Step 1

Using fresh spinach: Clean and briefly cook for 3-5 mins in water. Strain, press together to get rid of excess water, and cut small.

blanch spinach

Using frozen spinach: Thaw spinach and cut small

Step 2

Heat up a skillet with oil and saute onion, garlic and spinach and add seasoning.

saute onion and spinach

Step 3

Stir in cream cheese, milk and grated cheese.

Combine over heat and cook until you are satisfied with the taste and result.

add cheese and cream cheese to spinach

Serving

Creamed spinach makes a wonderful side dish in small quantities with most main course meals.

It works a bit like a sauce, so I usually serve it with filet mignon or mini beef wellington.

You can use it like a pasta sauce too by mixing it into cooked pasta of your choice.

Another idea is to serve up your creamed spinach as a party dip.

spinach with cream cheese

Storing

Store leftover in an airtight container in your fridge and use within 3 days.

You can freeze your homemade creamed spinach in smaller batches too.

Thaw overnight in your fridge or reheat over the stovetop or in your microwave in a suitable container.

FAQs

Is this creamy spinach dish low carb or keto?

Yes it's keto and low carb because it contains protein-rich cream and spinach. It doesn't contain sugar.

Fresh VS Frozen Spinach. Which one is better for me?

Use fresh spinach if you have time to cook and if you want more nutrients in your food. Pick baby spinach because it's more delicate and easier to blanch (quick boil). I only use fresh spinach if I can find good quality spinach in stores, and I try to avoid fresh spinach that has been sprayed with pesticides (they go in the soil and spinach is quite sensible to that stuff, which in turn can harm our health). Frozen spinach is great when you want to cut prepping and cooking time. You can use frozen spinach, which you prepped after your harvest, too.

More Spinach Recipes

  • Spinach cream cheese stuffed chicken
  • Cannelloni pasta shells stuffed with creamy spinach
  • Spinach ricotta stuffed pork chops
Quick Creamed Spinach with Cream Cheese Recipe pin image

📖 Recipe

stove top creamed spinach

  • 9 ounce Spinach or 1 cup frozen, *see Notes
  • 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
  • 1 medium Onion
  • 2-3 cloves Garlic
  • 2 Teaspoon Dried Herbs Thyme or Oregano, *see Notes
  • ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1 Teaspoon Salt
  • ½ cup Milk
  • ¾ cup Cream Cheese
  • ½ cup Grated Cheese parmesan or cheddar *see Notes

  • If you use fresh spinach: Prep your fresh spinach. Rinse and pick out withered leaves. Keep a small pot with water to boil and place spinach leaves in to blanch (aka cook briefly) for 3 minutes. Take out from the water and place into a prepared bowl with ice water to halt the cooking process instantly.

  • If you use frozen spinach, just thaw it and remove excess water.

  • Chop spinach and keep it aside.

  • Chop onion and garlic.

  • Heat up a skillet with oil and saute onion and garlic.

  • Stir in spinach and saute.

  • Season with dried herbs of your choice (see notes), black pepper, and salt. Mix up and sautee over a medium heat setting.

  • Stir in cream cheese, milk and grated cheese. Combine while cooking it still over a slow to medium heat setting.

  • When it's all well mixed and hot, it's ready to be served up.

  1. Use fresh or frozen spinach. I prefer fresh baby spinach or regular spinach leaves if possible vs frozen spinach. If I'm in a hurry, I will use frozen thawed spinach too.
  2. Use thyme or oregano or Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence seasoning blend.
  3. For the cheese choose grated parmesan, cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey, gruyere, or Emmental cheese.

  • Small Pot

Nutrition Facts

Creamed Spinach with Cream Cheese Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 279 Calories from Fat 207

% Daily Value*

Fat 23g 35%

Saturated Fat 11g 55%

Cholesterol 61mg 20%

Sodium 974mg 41%

Potassium 511mg 15%

Carbohydrates 9g 3%

Fiber 2g 8%

Sugar 4g 4%

Protein 11g 22%

Vitamin A 6729IU 135%

Vitamin C 21mg 25%

Calcium 296mg 30%

Iron 3mg 17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

What Can I Make With Spinach and Cream Cheese

Source: https://www.masalaherb.com/creamed-spinach/