I started fixin’ for some creamed spinach when I was pregnant — yes, they aren’t kidding about those iron cravings — but I never got to making it this summer. Because I didn’t have… time. Now, just pause for a second while I reach through this computer to throttle my summer self for thinking she knew what not having time was all about.
Then I had a baby and I was still craving creamed spinach but, you know, then I had a baby and really didn’t have time. And a week passed and then a month and a second month after that and on the very first day of his third month of life I was still drooling over an imaginary bowl of creamed spinach and decided enough was enough.
Do you know what this means? I am officially a baby-wearer, and not just a baby-wearer, but a baby-wearing home cook: one who straps her baby into a Bjorn to free her hands to trim the stems off the spinach, swish it in cold water, cook it down, squeeze out handfuls, and chop onions, quickly realizes that chopping an onion was a terrible idea, puts the baby down, hastily resumes chopping the onion while the baby fusses and loudly demands an explanation for his abandonment, puts the baby back in the Bjorn, cooks the onion in butter, makes a roux, makes a bechamel, stirs in the spinach and seasons it and finally — no, did you hear me? F-I-N-A-L-L-Y — has before me a bowl of creamed spinach.
And if you’ve been depriving yourself of creamed spinach because you fear butter or cream or because you think only steakhouses make it well or have a wee tot taking up all of your spinach-creaming moments, I hope you hear me out when I say that none of us have an excuse to any longer. It can be done! And it is totally worth it.
Oh, and I know that creamed spinach is supposed to be a side dish, I mean, I’ve heard that before, but I couldn’t resist doing one last thing to it. “Deb, you poached an egg while carrying a baby? Now you’re just showing off!” I swear, that’s not the case. I’ve just been craving runny eggs (and runny cheese, and a running fountain of bourbon while we’re at it) almost as long as I had been craving creamed spinach, and yesterday was the day I didn’t have to wait any longer. Er, for the runny eggs and creamed spinach.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to wash some dried yolk out of my son’s hair. (P.S. Still totally worth it.)
One year ago: Great Unshrinkable Sweet Tart Shell and Cranberry Pecan Frangipane Tart
Two years ago: Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie
Three years ago: Orangettes and Hoisin Honey Pork Riblets
Creamed Spinach
Serves 6
2 pounds baby spinach or 2 1/2 pounds fresh spinach, tough stems discarded
1 3/4 cups heavy cream or whole milk, or a mix thereof
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced (optional)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Wash your spinach well but no need to spin or pat it dry. Place spinach in a large pot over high heat. Cook, covered, with just the water clinging to leaves, stirring occasionally, until wilted, about 2 to 4 minutes for baby spinach and 4 to 6 minutes for regular spinach.
Press or squeeze out the excess liquid any number of ways, either by wringing it out in cheesecloth (my favorite method), putting it in a mesh strainer and pressing the moisture out with a spatula or large spoon or letting it cool long enough to grab small handfuls and squeezing them to remove as much water as possible. Coarsely chop the wrung-out spinach.
Wipe out large pot so you can use it again.
Heat milk or cream in a small saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until warm. Keep warm. Meanwhile, cook onion and garlic, if using, in butter in your wiped-out large pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about six minutes. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, about three minutes. Add warm milk or cream in a slow stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, and simmer, whisking, until thickened, three to four minutes. Stir in nutmeg, spinach, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until heated through.
Do ahead: Creamed spinach can be made one day ahead and chilled, covered then reheated over moderately low heat until hot. However, it really tastes best eaten immediately.
I will be making this for Thanksgiving. I am getting spinach in my CSA box on Monday.
In my opinion, a runny egg and a little salt could turn even a bowl of cardboard flakes into a meal. I think, however, that I’ll give it a try on this creamed spinach instead.
This is one of my most favorite treats. As I was reading the post, I was afraid there wasn’t going to be a baby picture! I’m so glad you included one, Deb. :)
Good lands that looks delicious.
I love creamed spinach!!
Looks so gorgeous with the egg and baguette!
That sounds delicious!
I used to eat creamed spinach a lot as a teenager but haven’t had it in years.
I can’t even explain to you what excellent timing this post is!
For the past few days I’ve been craving nothing but spinach and have had it almost every single day for the past week. I’ve run out of ways to prepare and will definitely be giving your recipe a try today or tomorrow.
This looks delicious!
I learned from Laurie Colwin that pickled jalapenos are an excellent addition to creamed spinach, which I periodically get a craving for as well. (My fussy kid version involves spinach, onions and whipped cream cheese. And pickled jalapenos, of course.)
I think that babywearing and cooking go hand in hand, of course. There are two types of confirmed babywearers — the AP mothering.com babywearers and the cooks.
what a sweet-looking baby!!
I’m not sure it will be the same without a delicious baby (mine will not be here until January and my 3.5 year old no longer qualifies as a baby, delicious though he may be) but I am definitely going to give this a try. I’ve always thought creamed spinach sounded, well, gross, but that was before seeing a recipe for it. Silly me.
Oh yum. I think this might be our green for Thanksgiving.
I saw this in your flickr stream this morning and became IMMEDIATELY obsessed. Guess we’re eating spinach for dinner, thanks for posting this!
Oh wow this looks good. And I usually only like spinach creamed indian style, with cheese added. But maybe this would work with goat cheese on top or mozarella added…
You are amazing Deb! Doing all this with a baby!
you are great. the throttling of summer self through computer. oh, how we thought we had no time before children. :)
cannot wait to make this dish (with 2 little ones hanging onto each leg).
I have a bag of spinach in my fridge just waiting to be creamed! This may be tonight’s dinner.
This post had me grinning from ear to ear! I had my first baby at the very end of 2008 and she has spent quite a bit of time in the Baby Bjorn while I cook. In fact, she loves it! (I am a HUGE fan of the Bjorn). My daughter has always been very small for her age and at almost 11 months old, I’m still easily carrying her around in the Bjorn while I make dinner. Only now I let her hold a wooden spoon or tightly sealed plastic spice jar so she feels like she’s doing something too! My husband thinks she will love cooking someday as a result of all this.
Is it possible to request a baby picture with each recipe? He is so freaking adorable that I find myself just as excited to see another picture as I am to read the recipe! (And for the record I can usually take or leave babies…so the fact that I get excited about yours proves that he is indeed the cutest baby in the world.)
I love me some spinach! I’ve creamed it before but always just threw things together so I’m happy to have an actual recipe now! Although what I made before wasn’t half bad…I just have no idea what I did.
Your baby is Gorgeous!!! (Doens’t yolk make the hair healthy anyway?!)
Yum, yum, yum. I’m 31 weeks pregnant and am craving such a dish like this. PERFECT!!! I have a 3# bag of spinach in the fridge which is now calling my name…
Allie
As a former nanny, who was responsible for cooking the food that the baby ate while ensuring that the baby never left my sight or arm’s reach or….. let’s just say I nannied for a protective family….. I have found that the most wonderful thing in the world is a baby sling. Like one of these:
http://www.peapods.com/browse.cfm/4,737.html
Kid goes on your back, onions can be chopped and things sauteed in olive oil, and all you have to worry about is not having all your hair pulled out or eaten before food is done.
Also, I’m totally changing tonight’s plans for dinner and having creamed spinach with a poached egg. Done and done.
As a child who spent a good portion of her infant hood in the bjorn while her mother cooked I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. When he gets older I hope he realizes how great he had it! I certainly did. Like another poster wrote – I got to “help” out from my position in the bjorn. I even got to feed veggies into the food processor. I used this image in my grad school personal statements. Go Deb!
Think I’ll make the spinach this weekend.
Interesting spinach :) I am looking for more photographs and mouth-watering ones like you have on other posts.
Well, I am not nursing a baby, but I am doing nursing of another kind… tending to my boyfriend, (recovering from surgery). Since I still have lots of spinach on hand from the garden, this will be a welcome addition to the table this evening.
Thank you kindly,
Michaela
First the gratin now the spinach! These greens are just the way fancy way I like them! And I’m totally feelin’ the poached agg on top- a tip if you’ve never had New Mexican Stacked enchiladas with a poached (or fried over-easy) on top you need to try them now!
Totally precious.
I bet the spinach was just perfect with a runny egg. I love runny eggs so much.
Mmmm…creamed spinach..one of my faves. Thanks for posting this or else I don’t think I would ever think to make it on my own. And I know 100% about the babywearing to cook. If I didn’t have a sling or wrap to throw the munchkin in, I don’t believe we’d ever eat again!
Dish from the old school that’s still cool. You know, you could make a lot of preggers and non-preggers people happy with this. Perhaps another Thanksgiving side dish?
Creamed spinach is one of my all time favorite foods! I just had some at Ben Benson’s that quite tasty. Now I need to make myself some…yum!
So, I am sick. I was just sick and stressed and on my PC for just a few minutes flipping through hotmail and come website I usually read. ..but I really didn’t feel like reading the NYTimes online or about Obama’s travels or checking my mails and realising how much work is awaiting me, should I ever become healthy again anytime soon. Anyway, the point is: I remembered SmittenKitchen, and how much I love reading about food, about the baby, your style of writing. There’s something life assuring in there for me because food usually was an integral part of my life (and thinking) every day too. Or, let’s say, it’s comforting. Yes, believe it or not, it was comforting just reading this and it gave me some hope that soon I’l be enjoying a bowl of creamy spinach again without the pains and worries of today.
so, thank you.
I love how you unabashedly love your son. Thank you for sharing it on your blog here. (and oh yeah, I’ve never had creamed spinach before, and now you’ve made me crave it!!)
If my clothes are any indication, I will need to wash a lot of things out my kids’ hair.
Lovely way to serve a drippy, gooey, utterly scrumptious egg. It’s dishes such as these that make me so glad I’m all grown-up with adult taste buds. Remember when creamed spinach was practically a punishment ? And an egg was to be scrambled, or not at all?
I could never master the Bjorn/cooking combo. Props to you! And soon your little guy will be eating creamed spinach himself.
I am sure you will be happy to know I visit (*stalk) your flickr to find the updated cutie pictures of your baby, and they never dissappoint! :) Oh, yeah, and Congrats on making the creamed spincah, courtesy of the Borjn. It looks yum. But creamed spinich compared to Spinach dip with artichokes and cream cheese and parmesean and olive oil and ….oohhhh… crusty bread to dip? Not even a comparison. I hope you feature a spinach dip recipe (or maybe you already have and I’m too lazy too find it?) lol :).
This is turning out to be a great morning. I came to find the Penne a la Vodka recipe for tonight and was planning to find something to do with the spinach that’s been in the fridge for two days now. Site loads, I want to cry. Problem solved and now I even have time to make some cheese straws. Thank you so much for finally making creamed spinach today. ;)
Oh wow….I just love spinich! Sounds like I found myself a great side dish for Thanksgiving. Thanks, Deb and that baby is just too cute!! :)
This looks wonderful. Especially the egg. When I’m wanting creamed spinach but feeling particularly lazy, I just saute the stuff, drain off excess liquid and then splash a little heavy cream into the pan. It’s not as thick and cozy, but the flavor is good and it takes no time at all.
Sounds so yummy and I bet it is. This will be a great addition to my many dishes that I plan on making for Thanksgiving. That baby is way too adorable.
So nutritious! I got to commend you on your cravings. And your baby is so adorable :)
This looks amazing. I made almost the same recipe recently with swiss chard instead of spinach, egg included. Swiss chard doesn’t cream as nice as spinach does though so I think I’ll try this one next time.
I read your “wring in cheesecloth” instructions and wanted to pass on a tip. You know those 100% cotton kinda gauzy loose-weave cotton diapers (don’t freak out here) that most of us use ONLY for burp cloths? They make a GREAT substitute for cheesecloth ’cause they are sturdy and hemmed and handle being washed and rewashed repeatedly, unlike cheesecloth which I find makes an unraveled mess in the washing machine. I kept a few around after my kids grew out of being spit-up fountains, and they are now dedicated to making homemade fresh cheese, wringing out potatoes for latkes, etc. etc. Just don’t use a dryer sheet on them ’cause it leaves a waxy residue.
What a sweet baby–could you ever have dreamed up a more beautiful child?!
the spinach look yummy, the baby looks peaceful….
Love this blog: baby, baking, veggies, yeah! Bring on the bourbon when you’re able…
Fell into this recipe yesterday; thought of you! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=49173
So this iron-craving thing is for real? I thought I was the only one who ate spinach by the pound while pregnant. I’m pregnant with my third, and it’s been the same for each. Makes my doc quite happy. And now I have another option to tame the spinach beast. Thanks!
Oh I could eat creamed spinach all the livelong day….
add a runny egg and some Hollandaise and I’d never leave the house…
Deb, are you inside my stomach?? How is it you so regularly post these recipes that I lovelovelove??? It blows my mind!
now, just to get my metabolism to catch up with my desire….
Egg yolk in the baby’s hair is entirely forgiveable when you wind up with a dish like that… Creamed spinach with runny poached egg and baguette??? Yes please!!!!
I used to carry my now 9 month child in a moby wrap and eat — and her hair would have crumbles of whatever I ate. So, comments regarding egg on your baby’s hair made me think fondly to that moment. Enjoy your baby as he will grow so quickly!
Love creamed spinach, but cannot use regular spinach…too much hassle. Good alternative is of course, using frzen spinach.
Thank you for your blog…I enjoy every entry ;-)
WEll I just kissed that sweet head right through my monitor!!!! Yummm
Now about the spinich, looks delish and the egg and the baguette make it look like a meal, which is probably all you had time for right?? Bravo for cranking out delights while the “monkey” is tethered to your chest. This could become some kind of Olympic event or at the least, a Food Network Challenge!
V
Precious little baby hair!
Now you have ME craving creamed spinach — and no pregnancy to blame it on!
God bless you woman for posting this recipe. I’m planning on making creamed spinach to go with prime rib etc for my baby’s first birthday party Saturday and I’ve been scanning recipes deciding which to use, You’ve never posted a recipe I haven’t liked so I will use yours….probably while wearing said baby in her bjorn :) Baby wearing makes like so much easier!
I think I’m going to have to try this for Thanksgiving. My darling boy was born in October of ’01 and was in the Snugli for all of my holiday cooking that year. I miss it, but it’s even more fun now that he can help, which he loves to do.
For some reason the creamed spinach with egg makes me think of quiche lorraine (pardon me if I have my quiches mixed up…). Is that how that combination mostly tastes?
This was fun to read! The baby is adorable. Creamed spinach looks good enough to eat as a main dish to me.
yum! that looks delicious, I just may have to request that for Thanksgiving. I love baby bjorns they are truly wonderful for being able to do things while snuggling your baby close by. I used one for two different babies while I was a nanny and it amazed me just how much I was still able to do!
Creamed spinach is one of my favourite foods! I’ve never tried it with bread and an egg though… looks yum :)
Don’t forget putting the baby in the carrier when teething starts! even though the baby is so much older and looks too big for the carrier, there is nothing that works as well with a baby, no matter what the age, as putting them in the carrier and just going about your business, cooking or otherwise. Your activity and lack of focus on the baby relaxes them and they fall off into a wonderful sleep. I had four babies and I swear by it. So much better than just letting them cry or getting so focussed on them that they feel your great stress! And cooking is one of the greatest things to do while you’re carrying them! I actually used to put a napkin on their head to keep the crumbs off!
I love this – can’t eat it, but love it. Maybe I’ll try it with coconut milk. About the baby carrier, that was the only way my family ever got homemade food after the birth of my daughter. Thank goodnees for it…
That is so sweet. And so how we cook around here.
I’m craving runny eggs like nobody’s business now. You always do that to me!
This looks like a fabulous recipe! I think the nutmeg ties together the cream and spinach very well. Great idea to pair it with a runny egg and baguette!
Here I am pregnant and searching the web for vegetable recipes and you have delivered!! (Of course, this was my first stop!) The ingredients are going on my list. The egg looks SO good too! I have two cravings at the moment – fresh cooked vegetable and peppermint ice cream, I felt it better to try and feed the first. That’s not saying peppermint ice cream won’t end up in my cart while I’m shopping for the vegetables, but at least it won’t be the only thing that ends up in my cart! ;-)
You failed to mention that you also pause here and there to (set up and) shoot your gorgeous pictures while your son is strapped in during the creamed spinach making and egg poaching. Not that I’m the least bit surprised… you’re our hero.
Last spring I helped care for my grandmother which included making lunch and sometimes dinner. Creamed spinach on toast was one of our favorite lunches. Runny eggs and spinach also just go together!
oh love this recipe cool combo nutmeg and spinach
God Bless You. This is JUST what I needed today (and for dinner tonight)!!! And that sweet pic of the wee little man is just as delicious as your recipe looks.
It’s funny that you posted this today, I bought spinach last night at the grocery store so I could have creamed spinach and a ribeye steak for dinner tonight. I dont have any nutmeg though. I will have to try that next time.
The last time I made creamed spinach, my husband ate it but did not know it was spinach… ate a lot of it for someone who does not like spinach.
Can this be made with other, more “assertive” greens? My CSA has dumped upon me mustard greens, collards, something merely called “braising greens” and kale too! (I craved spinach and steak while pregnant too. And celery (!?)
I am going to make this tonight. As I kid, I dreaded creamed spinach and now I love it. My husband and I are both vegetarians so by added the egg and a baguette we could make a nice meal out of this. Thanks for the post. You truly do have the best food blog out there and I look forward to your posts. Congrats on the baby!
I have joined the baby wearing cooks club lately as well as baby M made her first sweet potato biscuits with Mama last week:) Good fun!
This looks SO amazing~I’m a sucker for anything creamed and runny eggs too! And I am also a baby wearing cook (so far no scorched toes, but he does occasionally wear a little of my lunch in his hair!) But my electric baby swing is a blessing when I’m doing any dangerous kitchen work~if you don’t have one I’d definitely recommend it!
Oh my yum! I’ll be taking this recipe and adding it to my spinach and artichoke dip. It originally calls for frozen creamed spinach, but I don’t know that I can buy it again now that I know how to make it! Unfortunately fresh spinach is not available… do you think I could use arugula?
Aw…I just wanna kiss that lil’ top of his head.
My baby that was that same just snuck up on me and is as tall as I am and he’s only 13 yrs old! They get so big sooo fast! Enjoy the meal and the Bjorn. My son won’t let me talk him into one..haha…although he does still like to cuddle. Bless his lil’ (er .. big) heart.
The spinach looks really amazing, but I have an unrelated question. You mention in your homage to pie crust that you used it for a pecan pie. My online search left me bewildered by the limitless combinations of sugars and syrups. Any chance you’ll divulge which recipe has won favor in the Smitten Kitchen?
Such a sweet boy! An angel.
Back to the food. Yum. If you want REALLY decadent creamed spinach, try steeping some real uncooked virginia country ham in that cream before making your bechamel. Strain the cream and discard the ham. Then, take a toasted english muffin, mound some of that leftover Thanksgiving turkey (thinly sliced) on it, some of the creamed spinach, and finally your poached egg. Truely heaven on a plate!
Oh man you had me drooling with the creamed spinach since I know for a fact that homemade is better. I too get a craving for it but you’re killing me with the poached egg and now I must.make.this.tomorrow.
I’ve been waiting for a creamed spinach recipe from you! We’ve been feeding the boys spinach since they were about 5 months old- they LOVE IT. I figure they’ll love it even more with a little cream and nutmeg.
I just love creamed spinach-I just started throwing in some asiago-dee-lish
Now I’m craving creamed spinach!
I just made this for dinner. I used frozen spinach and 2% milk (what I had in fridge) and it still turned out delicious. I added a little dry sherry while I was making the roux, it adds a little something and the smell while it’s cooking is my favorite.
I was just thinking about creamed spinach during my run on Monday! And low and behold – here it is! Happy day! I haven’t had it for nearly four years. I am drooling as I type…
I can sure relate to the food in the baby’s hair comment. My daughter’s 3 now, but she had many a foodbit in her hair back in our “bjorn-cooking” days.
Love your blog and love your photos – yum!
this looks so delicious!! and look at that head of hair! …not on the spinach, obviously. :)
Cute story, love the green spinach – green being my favorite color! Love the bitsy baby photo too! Keep the photos coming!
I love reading your posts, not just for the food, but for the laughs. As a mother of an 18 mos old “wild” boy, I feel I must warn you that you will look back and laugh even harder at thinking that your hands were occupied at this point. As I tried to cook the sweet potato chard gratin yesterday and stopped a dog from inserting its tongue into a happily receiving (and encouraging) mouth, two removals from the dining room table and MANY other incidents, the gratin got put to the side and finished after bedtime, an then was put into the oven tonight. Last night it was a California Kitchen frozen pizza split between my husband and I. You will never believe the exhaustion coming your way. (All worth it mind you!) Also if I can make one recommendation get yourself an Ergo carrier. We used the bjorn and a sling and they are great but not for too long. The ergo goes up to 40 lbs anyway. We borrowed one for our trip to Paris in September and oh how I wish I had gotten that! So snugli and you can keep him on you even longer. Which believe me at 18mos you’ll be wishing for that little man to cuddle up to you like that again. Good luck with the next craving!
I just made this! My farm share sent pounds of spinach yesterday…perfect timing!
Delicious!
p.s. that little man is just too cute for words!
O.k., doing it tonight. Not pregnant, but must be craving iron because I can’t stop thinking about this since I read your lovely post. As always, a pleasure to read!
holy moly! if you show one more freakin picture of that beautiful baby boy, i’m gonna up and have one of my own!
the spinach looks awesome, of course. i’m all about greens and eggs.
Your posts just make me smile, keep up the good work, and ps you baby is beautiful.
Definitely one of my favorite comfort foods..this is one I’ll need to make soon..
Jacob is just darling, and what a lucky boy to have such a talented mommy…..
I just made your buttermilk sweet potato pie (without lemon!) and it was the best sweet potato pie I’ve ever had! I can’t wait to make this spinach! Thanks for sharing your recipes and pictures of that beautiful baby.
My husband and I were sitting at the dinner table tonight lamenting over the fact that I make the same old side dishes with everything. No lie, I thought to myself, ‘I need to find a really good creamed spinach recipe.’ And wha-la! Here is is!
Geez! Didn’t know I was even craving iron till now! At just 9 weeks pregnant, one must give into her cravings…..The thought of creamed spinach with a sizzler and a side of baked potatoe has me drooling for dinner tomorow night….and thats oh so far away! I’ve read your posts for years and felt high time a leave a comment if nothing else to say thanks for always inspiring my cooking and keeping things fun and fresh in the kitchen:) And those pics of your babe makes me so excited to have a newborn again….heaven here on earth!
Oh wow. I thought I could resist the call of the spinach, but that last shot did me in – runny egg, crusty bread, AND creamed spinach… its too much!
Also, the baby and the brussell sprout pic on flickr is practically worth a post in and of itself. TOO CUTE!
Love the baby-wearing cooking. I have loads of pictures with children strapped to hips and waists and, dare I say it, I have even stirred a sauce or two while nursing. The sauce cannot burn, no matter how hungry that baby is. Now? I have reached the point where the older ones actually make wonderful pot stirrers.
Regarding poached eggs, adore. I have the eggs. I need the spinach. like a little bowl of anemic heaven.
Thanks for the great recipe… and the great post that comes with it…
I could not use the B-Bjorn for too long with my children because of a poor back… so I would put them in a swing and move my “kitchen” to the floor to be at their eye level and talked them through whatever I was doing, including the mess(!). It worked.
And because I have this theory that “if they cook it, they’ll eat it”, they are now my little sous-chefs… but sous-chef 2 (2yr), did not really enjoy slicing the onions today either.
Can I just say – that my favorite part of your posts, is the pics of your son? I’ve been reading your blog for years now. Still love the food pics, the great recipes, the writing. Fantastic all as usual. But those baby shots – those are the icing on the cake. Thanks for including him!
yummers! at the restaurant/deli where i work we just made creamed spinach with broccoli. it was so good!
creamed spinach was one of this first dishes my mom taught me how to cook. my dad says that he was SSSOOOOOOO sick of it the first year of their marriage because it was the ONLY side dish my mom knew how to make. fish…with creamed spinach. steak….with creamed spinach. chicken burritos….yes, creamed spinach. her version uses the shortcut of cream cheese, which i still use because it tastes like my childhood! might have to give your recipe a go though…
also, the Ergo back carriers – – UH-MAZING & no back pain, like the Bjorn.
It is good when the little ones still like to be carried. Now that my daughter is 13 months old she doesn’t like me cooking at all – makes getting dinner ready very difficult!
I’ve been a long-time lurker of smitten but an even longer-time lover of creamed spinach. So I MUST post. Thanks so much for your wonderful website, Deb, and especially for this post. PS. Have you ever tried baking the creamed spinach in a shallow baking dish with breadcrumbs on top? My absolute favorite.
Hah! Welcome to the oceans of time reduced to eyedroppers. Meanwhile, Mazel Tov!
P.S. about 16 years from now the water will start coming under the door again.
I was so so so excited about this recipe I had to eat it immediately! I’ve never even had creamed spinach, or poached an egg before, and I did both tonight. Thanks Deb! You’re amazing.
Looks wonderful! I love both creamed spinach and poached eggs with runny centers. Babywearing and cooking are tough jobs, but somebody has to do it!
Re; 101/Rosa,
Yes! Creamed Spinach casserole topped with seasoned bread crumbs or my favorite, crushed Onion or Barbecue potato chips. Think I will include that for and unusual T-Day side dish. Yummmy!
PS! For a meal, add layers of caramelized onions, and sauteed Chicken or Turkey sausage, and crushed chips
You need a wrap! Or a Mei Tai. Then you can put the baby on your back and he can peer over your shoulder and learn everything you know by osmosis.
PLus you’ll get to use it for longer than a Bjorn.
Nice recipe – will try it this weekend. Yum.
i wanna be a baby-wearer:P
Ooooh baby. That’s my kind of spinach!
i was scrolling down franticly! where is the baby?..or hidden link?… oh there cuuutie
OMG ! I am from Macedonia and this is the way my mom has always made spinach. Except we add a bit more milk to make it thinner, and we too always, always eat it with bread and a fried egg on top, sunny side up, as a complete meal ! Yours looks fantastic !
I have Morton’s Steakhouse cookbook and their recipe is so good. Love spinach. My DD is 40, but I cooked and nursed from day one, long before fancy carriers. Just tuck them under your arm and peel potatoes, stir, read, nurse. No wonder she and DS grew up loving their vegetables and cooking.
If you will allow me to say so, while your recipes are nice, they are a terrible overload of fat and / or sugar…. you must be having a tough time keeping the pounds off…. i mean, fancy turning spinach – the most delicate of greens, with a barely there flavour, into this fat and cholestrol overload!
we who visit “love” deb’s recipes &…
lila…you do not have to visit sk if you feel that way…did you check out the recipe archives to find wonderful vegetarian creations as well as recipes that are low in sugar & fat content.
i will speak for myself…everything in moderation & i am not putting the lbs. on…
& i recreate alot of deb’s “cookin”….
how would you know about deb/pounds? what a very unfair & unkind comment.
sk was the 2009 foodbuzz blog award winner for “what blogger would you most like to cook a meal for you?”
Yum. This looks absolutely perfect the way it is. Sorry that you have people that are envious of a great site. Your posts are perfect and I have made many amazing foods from it…..Jealousy.
I love creamed spinach and the best I’ve ever had was in New Orleans. My husband had lunch and an Indian restaurant yesterday and he said they had the best creamed spinach he had ever had. hmmmmm …wondering what their secret it.
Oh – amazing! I love creamed spinach, and for whatever reason, never make it. And with that poached egg? What a delicious complete meal! Sorry not everyone shares my love for your recipes – not quite sure why they visit if they aren’t fans. (and lila – fat and cholesterol are not always the enemy. Moderation is the key to anything we eat anyway!) But let me just say that I love to incorporate your recipes into my cooking – everything you make, from salads to creamed spinach to delectable cakes, is absolutely wonderful.
Lila — I’m sorry that you are having a bad day and feel the need to be cranky with strangers. Perhaps some tea? A little nap?
Everyone else — Apologies. I missed her comment coming through (the baby let me sleep in today! clap-clap-clap) and generally swiftly remove nasty or gunning-for-attention comments before they can cause a ripple of response. Carry on!
Carrier suggestions — Thank you. We do have an Ergo and look forward to using it when the Wee one can hold his head up (couldn’t get into the infant insert) but for now are finding the Bjorn with the extra back support panel to be a comfortable solution. Someone took a nap all the way from Brooklyn via the subway all the way back home in it yesterday! (P.S. Wasn’t me, but boy was I jealous.)
Such a beautiful baby! and what a heart stopping thing it must be to say “my son..” for you. I remember….
i LOVE spinach but have never had it creamed. if it’s anywhere near as comforting and yummy as creamed onions, well, i’m on my way to the store for spinach. i agree with Aya- if you’re in a hurry frozen spinach is just as good but very watery-
* a potato ricer is a great tool for squeezing water from greens!!!
and Deb, your boy is so gorgeous, to a cook the crumbs are just an added bonus of cuteness!
Trudie
as a fellow baby-wearing cook, though now my baby is a toddler and i am a carrying-a-toddler-on-the-hip cook, here is a pointer – put a thin baby blanket over his head while cooking. this helps keep his clothes, shoulders and wee head drip free when you are sampling the cooking :)
the lovely thing about wearing your baby while cooking is the exposure to all those wonderful smells will increase his appetite come solid food time and the constant dance partner you have.
love creamed spinach, though i am busy working my way through pan #3 of the salted brown butter crispie treats.
Forgive the tangential question, but does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can locate a CSA in my area? I’d love to get a package of veggies delivered to me on a regular basis but don’t know where to start looking. Thanks in advance.
I am not a huge fan of spinach, but with that amount of heavy cream I’m totally willing to convert. I love the dish you’ve put together with a crusty bread and poached egg. Aah, paoched eggs. Now that is something I need to learn as well.
Face it, Lila, no one wants to read a boring blog featuring the latest way to serve salad greens (or yet another dry chicken breast recipe) for long. Deb has had tremendous success featuring wonderful recipes and her writing style is such that I crave it as much as I do cheesecake. Unlike the cheesecake, which I eat rarely in moderation, I seek out this site frequently. Not once have I been disappointed.
Mary, check out localharvest.org for CSA’s and Farmers Markets in your area.
I loved my Bjorn when my Charlie was little. I tried the wrap things but could never get the hang of them, even though I really wanted to. They just threw my back out. And you bet your boots I cooked with him… Now that he’s 18mos., one of his favorite things to do is pull up a chair and cook with Mama.
I have been known to make creamed spinach out of frozen spinach. I know, blasphemy, but sometimes that’s all I have. Hubby calls it Spinach Alfredo– we had it a lot during our Atkins phase! Yours looks YUM.
lacrema — Not blasphemy! My mother always made creamed spinach with frozen. Rendering down fresh spinach is much more time-consuming but I like to do it when I can find time.
Yes, you should cook and store sweet potatoes, AND acorn squash, AND apples buzzed around in the food processor. I did, and my little one is gumming it up so fast I am going to have to freeze more! I used ice cube trays then popped them out into a freezer bag once solid. Perfect!
I adore creamed greens of any kind, but as prone as I am to putting an egg on top of darn near anything, it never occurred to me to pair one with creamed spinach! Brilliant.
Also, Lila, studies have shown that many nutrients are more easily absorbed by the body when they’re served with a little fat. Butter, cream, cheese, all of them can and should be part of a healthy, balanced diet.
This dish looks delicious and so does Jacob!! I was never a big fan of eggs, especially the runny kind. But when I was pregnant with my daughter last year, I couldn’t seem to get enough of poached eggs and all foods eggy. Now its still one of my favorite eats. Can’t wait to make this dish complete with bread and egg. Thank you!!!
You are an inspiration, I am having a baby in 2 months and dread not being able to cook those first few months. You’ve officially made it ok to strap the baby on and not fry anything that may splatter and burn the poor thing. Mmmmmm, can’t wait.
Last night surveying the fridge in desperation, came up with braised collard greens with bacon, red pepper flakes and onion, fried eggs on top- delicious. A little sherry vinegar to finish the greens. The spinach looks awesome.
I am jealous on behalf of my son. He’s two weeks older than your sweet little boy and doesn’t even come close to having the full head of hair than babysmitten. Yes my husband thinks I’m weird because of this (well partially because of this). ;-)
I will have to whip up some creamed spinach this week, the recipe looks delish.
“1 3/4 cups heavy cream or whole milk, or a mix thereof”
SO does this mean i can use the half and half i put in my coffee? I never have whole milk or heavy cream on hand but always have a little half and half around (and of course I have everything else in this recipe but the milk/cream). Maybe this recipe will make my husband a spinach convert. I love love love spinach, him not so much.
how timely! just had creamed spinach last night in the west village at perilla and mentioning how it must be made again at home.
Lila–a cup of whole milk has 149 calories. A tablespoon of butter has 103 calories. A quarter-cup of flour has about 100 calories.
So a serving of this dish has about a hundred calories from those ingredients, and the only other ingredients are vegetables and spices. It’s not particularly unhealthy…maybe not as nutritious as plain spinach, but it could definitely have a role in a well-balanced diet.
Weird! I just made creamed spinach last night for dinner. My recipe is almost identical to yours except I don’t use nutmeg or garlic. I’ve found that if I throw in a bay leaf and two whole cloves with the milk it tastes a little like Ruth’s Chris’ spinach, which my husband adores. Also, baby spinach is convenient, but makes the final product seem watered down. Manly, dirty, sandy spinach is the way to go! Excuse me, I must go poach an egg…
I love this recipe and never cared much for just plain spinach. If I’m really feeling sinful I add some creamed cheese and parmesan cheese too! Talk about good old comfort food!
I love the idea of making this the main part of the meal. I had a roommate in grad school who ate creamed spinach several times a week. I will be making this one.
Try using creamed spinach as a “sauce” over cooked cheese ravioli – divine! Might also be good with other kinds of ravioli or pasta, too.
This looks eons BETTER than high-end steakhouse creamed spinach.
This is something my mom fed me all the time as a baby! Looks delicious; we will definitely try this out in our little kitchen!
This looks great!
I was also a spinach-craver when pregnant!! I learned how to make spanakopita during my first tri-mester. This recipe is definitely going on my Turkey Day table next week. Yum!!
As a new-prego, this looked really good to me, so we stopped at the store last night and got the spinach to make it! Did not disappoint! With the poached egg it was just perfect– and darling hubby said to put it in the “make again” file! Thanks!
Yep the first time I made creamed spinach; the recipe came from Ina Garten. When a friend asked if I could make a reduced calorie version, I chided her saying, “I’ve never ever heard of it called nonfat-milked spinach.” I recommend readers use cream and enjoy every rich bite as it was meant to be!
This looks so good (and I craved spinach when I was pregnant, too)! Thanks for sharing the recipe, and the gorgeous photo of baby Jacob! :-)
Awww, he’s three months old already?! Where does the time go?
(and just as adorable as the day he was born — at least, the baby pictures from then!)
Janet — No, he is two months and three days! And he promises not to grow up any more. Ever. (Yay!)
Damn, girl! color me impressed. My son is a little over 6 months and I have never been able to do much cooking with him on me. Maybe if my arms were a bit longer or he were a more mellow baby? go you!
I had to come back and tell you that I made this tonight. Delicious!
Hello! I too am a baby wearing one handed cook :) and i too craved spinach both during pregnancy and still going strong with my baby girl 7 months old.
thanks for the recipe and love this blog! do you make your own baby food too?
I cooked while wearing my baby, too. Then it was called a Snuggli or something like that. Now she’s 38 and a mom and… a great cook. What goes around…
There’s a great restaurant near me in Minneapolis that does a jalapeno creamed spinach. To die for! I think I’ll make yours and then the second time (oh yes, there will be a second time!) try adding some jalapenos. Yum!
I adore creamed spinach. Yours looks so yummy.
After reading this early Friday morning, I had creamed spinach at Ted’s Montana Grill. I will have to make your recipe and see how it compares–theirs did not have cream cheese in it. A beautiful day in metro Atlanta, GA. I had lunch on the Patio. Today was a half day–furlough for teachers (you know–a half day off without pay)
These photos are lovely, especially the first of the spinach and the last of the post (of course). This creamed spinach sounds delectable.
Looks delish. As an aside, a potato ricer makes a great spinach squeezer!
I used to cook dinner on a regular basis with my daughter in the bjorn. I’ve also done it more recently with her in the Ergo on my back when she’s been particularly clingy. Enjoy! Oh yeah, I’m very much looking forward to trying the spinach. It looks so yummy!
creamed spinach looks so much like the norther indian delight, Palak Paneer, mashed spinach with cottage cheese.
good stuff, to go with naan bread.
Oh, I always put a poached egg as a side on my spinach….yummers!
All I can say is…yum! Oh and sweet baby Jacob is so cute in that picture.
Timely recipe as my Mother-in-law has requested it for Tgiving. A technique I have found works for blanching the spinach is to pile it in a large colander in the sink (or over a large bowl) and pour boiling water over top to wilt. While you still need to press out excess liquid from the leaves, it is a lot less work and I find the spinach releases less water.
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man! Just look at those biceps: “BOING!”
Ah, eggs and spinach, like peas and carrots. You wouldn’t believe the things I dropped in my my daughter’s hair when she was little enough for the Bjorn. Just a little extra conditioner for that fine baby hair of yours, my love.
Stopped by to grab a short ribs recipe for tonight, but got totally sidetracked by this. The short ribs will have to wait!
I have a huge amount of collards in my fridge right now… wondering how nuts it would be to try to make creamed collards…?
Also thinking that a coupld of strips of crispy bacon alongside my creamed greens + poached egg + toast combo might not be a bad thing.
Yum! I knew I bought spinach today for a reason! I love creamed veggies – my fav is creamed onions but this may be a new fav. My little guy wasn’t too co-operative when I tried the cooking/baby wearing combo when he was tiny but once he was 4 mos he would bounce in his exersaucer for ages and so I could cook again. Now he “heps” me with stirring, adding ingredients and slicing veggies with his “special” knife.
I recently found a really fast way to make creamed spinach from Nigel Slater, a British cookery writer. It has converted me back to a dish I hated as a child. Nigel’s recipe is much less involved than this. Maybe more baby-friendly? Although certainly less impressive. :)
Deb,
You’ve got to write a post about baby food and all the creative things you make for your son.
Addicted to your healthy, delicious adult food lifestyle, I would love to know what’s your specialities for kids!!
Thanks!
You know what I just realized? You are the luckiest lady ever because you will have gorgeous photos of your little one to look back on later and think of how his soft little head smelled (divine) and how the baby hairs lay on his forehead. These are things you will want to go back to again and again as he gets older (or so my mom says and I listen) and you’ll be able to in this photos. What I mean is bravo! Your photos inspire me and make me coo and wish I had a baby strapped to me while I bake all day. God, so dangerous. I take it back. :)
Guess what I made for lunch today? It was DEE LICIOUS!. I didn’t feel like going over 4 bunches of spinach, so only did about 2 lbs (3 bundles) and made about 2/3 of the sauce. And I poached 2 eggs (from my csa box-yes, fresh organic eggs! I made mayonnaise, too!). Awesome. Thanks for a great and simple recipe.
This looks absolutely delicious. Now I am craving creamed spinach with a runny egg….YUM. I love eating runny eggs with greens, its the best.
Omg, this looks delicious. Thanks for sharing! I’ll be back.
My kind of comfort food, will def try it. I wanted to drop a quick note, I have been (invisibly) reading your blog for the past year or so and love it. I almost wrote when you had the baby to say congrats but left the pleasure to regular commenters. Yours was one of the 1st blogs I stumbled upon–literally–and I have never left. Yum!
Very impressive, Deb! Alice and I made our first cheesecake together when she was just six weeks old. Thank you, sling!
Lovely simple dish! But I’ll serve it as a main course… Grazie e ciao!
Sabrine d’Aubergine
YUM. I needed something warm and delicious to eat for breakfast tomorrow. This is perfect!
I stumbled across your blog today and wow, I am sure glad I did :). This one looks delicious, spinach is one of my favorite vegetables and I like your take on it.
This has to be the most comments I’ve ever seen on a blog. I have to add to them. I ADORE creamed spinach and will definitely make some this way the next time. Spinach is so yummy; I also crave it so much. I love the idea of a soft egg on top. Magnificent!
You really must try palusami, of which the easy version is spinach with coconut milk… (divine)… and then you add a can of corned beef. Before you run away, it is so green, sweet, and salty, and satisfying. (and easy.)
Yeah, so I started this recipe and misread it, so I added the flour to the cream/milk on the stove (um, because I was drinking a glass of wine when I was cooking!!) Anyway, added some chicken broth and a couple potatoes, and voila-cream of spinach and potato soup. Who knew? You’re turning me into such an inspired cook!
I LOVE spinach and I LOVE this article. And, as a new mother myself, I can totally identify with the juggling! :) Thanks for the recipe and good humor.
Jennifer :)
Wow. Spinach cravings during pregnancy? I will likely be craving all sorts of ridiculously unhealthy things like Slim Jims and Krispy Creme doughnuts (which I would never eat otherwise).
That poached egg and little piece of baguette really makes the dish!
Thanks for the inspiration! I had a huge bunch of kale and a husband gone at a conference. I turned it into creamed kale and it was delicious with the drippy egg and baguette on the side. Made me very happy for dinner and lunch the next day. I’m sure without your grand idea I would have eaten junk food instead!
Nice smackdowns of the nasty commenter! My husband adores creamed spinach and will definitely be getting this soon. It looks SO good with the egg. As for the time problem, we tried to warn you but you were all happy and zen. I can’t tell you how much housework and (safe) cooking I got done with a baby strapped to me. BTW, I have made the sweet potato gratin twice and it is a huge hit. Thanks for the continuing inspiration.
TY! Will be trying out this turkey day.
when i looked at the first photo of the solo creamed spinach i thought “that would be so good with poached eggs” and then, scroll down, you did it! amazing. the creamed spinach itself looks awesome but you sold me with the poached eggs (i’d eat a poached egg on top of just about anything). just taking a break from making pie dough, trying out one of your recipes for pumpkin pie, with a competing old one from gourmet for pumpin-sour cream pie, interested to see how they compare.
My grandmother always made this (and creamed onions) on Thanksgiving. She didn’t use cream (I know, it sounds like it would be wrong to do that) but used the spinach cooking water to make the bechamel with plenty of butter, some grated onion and nutmeg. It was delicious. I think I’m going to have to bring back the tradition and try your version. Happy Thanksgiving!
Wait ’till the peanut gets too big to be worn while you’re cooking… then you’ll master cooking with one hand, as I have! So far, I have chopped potatoes and zucchini, cracked an egg or two for breakfast, rinsed greens in the colander and some other stuff I can’t remember, all with one hand. :D
I have added this recipe to my menu for Thanksgiving.I love Creamed Spinach…not sure that my family does but I’m the sole cook this year. They get what they get.
Thank you!!
Deb, just found your blog and am now an hour late for rounds at the hospital…go you, very few things do that for me. Was very fond of your blog and writing style and bookmarked you thinking i would enjoy reading this from time to time.
Then…read your response to snarky lila.
Sister, you are my new fave blog. Classy way to respond to a hater. Gosh I miss NY! Blog on sista. Blog on!
ps, your little boy is adorable.
yes! my favorite dish is creamed spinach, in fact, I need to go find some right now as I am in full crave mode and can’t reach into my monitor to try yours. thank you for warming my mornings with your delicious recipes and images!
Thanks for this delicious addition to our Thanksgiving table! Just finished cooking it and I have to honestly say it’s one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had! (Probably helped by the fact that I used the straight-up heavy cream).
thanks for all the great recipes. It will be a challenge for me not to finish this hot creamed spinach on the way to the out-laws!
Thank you for all the fabulous recipes. I have emailed links to your website more than any other. The recipes have always turned out as shown and described. The creamed spinach and Sweet potato gratin are no exception. I made them both for thanksgiving and everyone was very impressed. I did have to switch out the swiss chard with Kale due to availability but the dish was fabulous!!And this spinach was so wonderful. My family has been stuck on the heavy cream cheese version for decades. I was thrilled to provide a lighter delicious alternative!
This was a huge hit today! Thanks so much. I added a bit of chopped jalapeno and ancho chile powder for a spicier flavor…and the bowl was scraped clean in minutes.
So delicious! We had this with our Thanksgiving meal. Yum!
ya know, i think the contented baby asleep in the bjorn says it all. love the perfect soft focus!!
After reading your post, I made a variation of this recipe for Thanksgiving and my dad said we might have a new tradition! I added some parmesan cheese to the bechamel, put the whole thing in a buttered baking dish, covered it with more parmesan cheese and some bread crumbs and baked it until it was bubbly and the top was golden brown. It was delicious! Thanks!
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit! Thanks!
Im writing this note to rave about a recipe..and about your site. Im a very very busy single dad, with a great sense of taste and somewhat primitive cooking skills.I dread cooking for large groups ( more than two) because people end up waiting an extra three hours to eat dinner, and no matter how well it turns out, the memory of the wait always beats out the memorty of the food. anyway, I just cooked your sweet potato gratinee for my first big group..fifteen people for my mons 80th birthday lunch. The recipe wasnt good..it was lovely, delicious, fabulous. ( And I got it to the table on time!)
Your site is the most delicious food siteI know. Your joy of food, your joy of life, your pictures, all combine into a recipe for something very very wonderful. So, thank you for the sweet extra joy you bring me, my son, and sometimes, my friends, with your emails!
Ken
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was delicious although in mine the spinach to cream ratio was a little off. Next time, it needs about half again as much spinach.
Oh yum. This is just like my favorite creamed spinach recipe (which is, actually, a copy-cat Ruth’s Chris creamed spinach recipe) – simply, delicious, and so good. And, I totally don’t blame you for just eating it straight. In fact, I am amazed that you had the willpower to make the poached egg. I would have jumped into the creamed spinach before it came out of the pot.
Spinach= YUM, lusciously poached egg = YUM, baguette = YUM, baby =YUMMIEST! Newish reader, first time poster….I am overwhelmed by the gloriousness of this meal and the deliciousness of your little guy. My hub is going out of town tomorrow and guess what I’m having for dinner? The only thing to make this better would of course be my own little bundle (on fertility shots as we speak!) pj’s, flannel sheets and something great on TIVO–these I am currently in possession of so I’m set. I love your blog Deb, so amazing. And lucky me, I get to read all the old posts this winter. Thanks for such a beautiful and inspiring read–I’ll be cooking a ton. Eva
This is so good! I halved the recipe and used whole milk instead of cream. I thought I’d miss that extra fat but didn’t at all. Totally works as a do ahead dish since the left overs today are making quite a tasty lunch!
Awesome stuff. I too crave creamed spinach – especially around the holidays. I added a cup of Parmesan cheese to mine and it kicked it up a notch – can be used as a dip also.
I made this for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. I won’t lie the crispy prosciutto I crumbled on top definitely helped!!
Love the blog, thanks for all the amazing recipes & photographs.
Yes. I love this! I’m thinking it would also be nice with toasted pine nuts. YUM.
I’m pregnant and my doctor told me yesterday that I need more iron. Thanks for making it more bareable!
Yes! I am so excited to see this here. The first time I ever had creamed spinach was just 3 years ago – at Peter Luger’s Steakhouse. It was a memorable experience, to say the least, and I can’t wait to try and make this!
Hi! Thanks so much this was the hit of Christmas Eve dinner- my mother in law was telling me what a pain it was to make and to just buy the frozen. I greatly respect her opinion, but in this case, I’m glad I went for the home made! Thanks and congrats on the baby.
Have you tried Ina Garten’s Spinach Gratin – yummy.
Amazing. I wanted a simple recipe, no Parmesan or boiling milk or endless stirring. This hit the spot– it’s quite complex as is, what with the buttery caramelized onion and rich bechamel. This was ready in ten minutes (I cheated and used frozen spinach) and made a perfect side dish to ziti and meatballs. I’ll be using this recipe again.
Delicious! I just made a batch for us to have at dinner tonight with steak and fries. I threw in a couple ounces of asiago to this and it is fantastic. I can’t wait until dinner!
Comfort. Food. Absolutely delicious. Made it exactly the first time and it was great. The next time, I added a little pecorino romano to the cream, and then tossed it with toasted pine nuts before serving. Amazing. You can really swap out for any green too, as I’ve made it with kale, collards, and chard.
This on top of a square of parmesan flavored polenta that has been lightly crisped in butter = HEAVEN.
I’ve been trying to figure out an easy way to deal with a ton of spinach that won’t take up too much essay-writing time out of the day, and this is it! I’ve only had creamed spinach once and it was terrible watery stuff at an otherwise amazing trattoria, but this looks amazing!!
Thanks deb, I love your archives. It’s way more fun to bounce around on sk than to write a paper on the philosophy of memory (eerg).
Tasted great and came together beautifully, but I would prefer a higher spinach to cream ratio. Next time I will use the same amount of sauce with 3 lbs of spinach instead of two.
I made this with my roast chicken and baked sweet potatoes tonight for dinner. I didn’t have cream or whole milk so I added some shredded cheddar cheese to up the fat factor. It was very yummy! I was pleased as it was my first time making creamed spinach. You are right – no reason anyone should wait to make this!
Made this last night for our Valentine’s date at home. FABULOUS! Thank you!
Thanks so much for the cute story and great recipe!
I am in love with this stuff.The idea of creamed spinach concerned me, but I trust you, so I tried it. Oh, glory. My husband tweaked this recipe a bit, namely with the addition of a dash of worcestershire. It’s pretty awesome.
Yum. My boyfriend and I made this tonight with BBQ grilled chicken, peppers and onions. I will definitely make this again (with garlic again). Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
This looks incredible, and I love that you cooked with the baby on you! Ah.
I know you say that this is best eaten the day it is made, but I had leftovers and decided to throw it over some ziti (with a little pasta water to thin it out, and a little parmesan because, why not) and it was AMAZINGLY good.
You probably aren’t reading comments on three-year-old posts, but I thought I would share and thank you for your wonderful site and thank you for your new book just in case .
Always looking for creamy spinach recipes as I love the texture and taste. This one looks yummy!
I have made this several times and love it. Last night I actually made it for dinner with a poached egg and it was heaven. I crumbled bacon in it and added some hot pepper flakes. YUM! Think I found my favorite way to eat this!
Super excited to try this with a poached egg.
For a spin on it, I like to dice up a little bit of jalepeno to add to the onions.
NUM!
OMG. OMG. OMG.
This is SO good. I had too much butter and caramelized my onion and garlic too much, so it is not that delicate pale color. But it is still so good. And SO easy. My 10yo is trying to convince me that the frozen stuff from a box is better!
Next time, (running to the grocery now to get more spinach), I’m making with just milk instead of cream.
Another recipe which hasn’t let me down. And you’ve taught me béchamel in the bargain. Thanks, Deb.
I make this with skim milk and it is perfect. No need to trim stems on true baby spinach. Made it last night with 11oz of spinach, subbed shallots for onions, and did 1/2 the recommended milk quantity, and had no salt in the house. Was still perfect. I may prefer shallots as they soften more easily and aren’t as tear-inducing.
Amazing. I wanted a simple recipe, no Parmesan or boiling milk or endless stirring. This hit the spot– it’s quite complex as is, what with the buttery caramelized onion and rich bechamel. This was ready in ten minutes (I cheated and used frozen spinach) and made a perfect side dish to ziti and meatballs. I’ll be using this recipe again
I just read through the posts for this recipe. I’m pretty shocked at Lila’s comments; if you do the math, as someone else did, the amount of cream and butter divided by 6 people is a modest amount. Now, my eldest son could sit and eat the entire 6 servings and that would be overkill.
But as an aside, I’ve found when making a roux–using butter and adding milk or other liquid, it really isn’t necessary to use a full-fat milk or cream. I use skim and it’s always rich enough.
And now I’m reading reports, that will our low-fat craze of the past decades hasn’t been helping us at all. We’re heavier because of all the stuff added to make the food appealing because the fat is gone. Moderation in all things!
Deb
I love the concept of side dish transformed or reclaimed as main. Sometimes those foods offered as sides have been shunted backstage when they really deserve centre stage treatment.
Turn on the lights, camera, action and let’s rearrange our dinner plates!
So I need some help with this one… Deb, I love your recipes because I always find them to be foolproof! However, I can’t seem to get this one exactly right. I’ve made it a few times, trying to follow the recipe exactly, but everytime it ends up being a little too liquidy. It’s still delicious, but doesn’t look nearly as good as your pictures. Do we think I’m not letting the cream mixture thicken enough? I’ve been thickening until it just coats a spoon. Or not draining the spinach enough? Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts/advice!
Sara — Usually too liquidy is about not wringing the spinach well enough, except for all I know, you might be getting all the moisture out? What kind of spinach do you use?
You might be right. I use fresh baby spinach, usually. Thanks for responding on thanksgiving! Those pies look to die for :)
Made this again for the first time in a while- mixed it with a mess of carmelized onions I made the other day- it was an amazing weekday breakfast with eggs on top :) probably will be an amazing lunch and dinner too!
Love creamed spinach, and you just reminded me of it. I will be making this soon, thanks. Everything looks amazing!
This looks amazing, but sadly my man is lactose intolerant (butter is fine, no cream or cheese or milk). Any ideas re substitute for cream? I thought of coconut milk, but the flavor is so distinctive. Cashew? Thanks
Soy milk would work well…or here in the states, we have lactose-free milk called Lactaid…
DELISH!!! Even better when you saute the spinach with a couple of rashers of bacon…TY for a super recipe!
I have made this several times with fresh spinach; today the market didn’t have any which looked good. Using frozen and I have to say, it’s pretty darn good. Used two boxes for the amount Deb suggests for fresh and it really is hard to tell the difference. It is always wonderful. Thanks, Deb.
Thanks for adding this comment about using frozen spinach. I was just wondering if that would be as good because frozen is all I have on hand. Going to make it now. :)
I’m eating a keto style of diet. This is the second one of your recipes that I’ve adapted for my keto (low carb). The other one was your chard gratin. Just subbed out a couple of items.
The poached egg on spinach is a great idea – perfect breakfast food for me.
Thank you..
(also like your endearing little baby quips)
Made this exactly as written for Christmas Eve dinner, alongside beef tenderloin. It was great, and will go into the regular rotation. I’m tempted to cream not heating the cream before adding, just because that was the only step that was a bit annoying (another pan), but not sure if it would cause the sauce to curdle.
I’ve made this several times; I used frozen spinach this last time (as I have before) and used heavy cream/half& half. In the past I used skim milk because that’s what I had. As good as this was, I thought it was richer and thicker than I liked. I will make again with a mixture of skim and half & half. The flavor is great, and as good as fresh spinach is, using frozen works well and convenient to have on hand.
How much salt? Am I missing this?
This is my new favorite topping for pizza, along with some thinnly sliced tomatoes and a smackling of grated gruyere and parm. Also as a topping for a baked potato. So good!
I use my ricer to squeeze the water from the spinach. Put about a quarter of a cup of spinach at a time and it is dry in no time, use as you suggested for your creamed spinach and top with chopped hard boiled eggs.
I’ve made this without the flour, garlic or onion. It’s simply heavy cream mixed into the heated up spinach with a dash of salt and pepper. Delicious and light. I loved my mother’s, but this is even better and yes, you can taste the spinach.
OMG!!! Soooooo good! My husband hates cream spinach. It causes childhood nightmares for him, so I never eat it, let alone, make it, but waking up this morning worrying about a bunch of spinach about to go bad in my frig, I made this at 7 am along with a fried egg over easy and thought I might just eat the entire bowl myself, it was so delish! Instead, I’ve saved some for my husband to try determined to help him overcome his childhood fear!
Made this for dinner tonight. It is hands down the best creamed spinach we’ve ever had. Will definitely be making it again. I cut the recipe in half using 1 pound of baby spinach since it was just two of us for dinner. Another Smitten Kitchen success!
The only place I have ever tasted creamed spinach was Boston Market. It was my favorite thing there. This is even better! I used half cream/half milk and it was amazing. Will be making this again and again. Thanks!
I pretty much crave this daily and often reserve myself enough for breakfast with a fried egg. LOVE
I used a large clove of garlic-too large, for my taste anyway. I balanced it out with a 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese. Can’t wait for the leftovers on toast. This was really nice.
Have to share this now:
I had some leftover creamed spinach and made a most delicious pizza topping with it. I just smeared about 1 or 11/2 cups (thinned with a little more milk and some parmesan) over the top of my (your Lahey) crust recipe, topped with grated mozz, thinly sliced tomato and cracked pepper..drizzled with some EVOO..baked 425 until crust browned..12-15 mins. I tossed some fresh chiff’d basil on it and served ..it’s become a favorite. …and while the best summer tomatoes are available now..try it soon!
I only have cake flour and it’s raining out. Can I use cake flour as a substitute. I used it in the weekday banana pancakes combined with flaxmeal (mostly cake flour) and soaked chia seeds for the egg and they turned out great! Also, I can’t really claim that the Il Leone is my website but I do work there and make their sauce and ball their pizza dough. And do all the necessary prep, everything except fire the pizzas. Come visit if you’re ever in Maine!
Do you think this could be made ahead and frozen?