My
Shop Sugar-Free
Wholesome Yum
Free: Healthy Freezer Meals Recipe Ebook
Get It NowThis post may contain affiliate links, which help keep this content free. (Full disclosure)
Creamed spinach is one of those love-it-or-hate-it foods. I always thought I fell into the latter category, but when I figured out how to make creamed spinach at home, I discovered it’s absolutely delicious. Although it tastes similar to the creamy stuffing and sauce in spinach stuffed chicken breast or chicken florentine, this easy side also makes a perfect addition to steak dinners, Thanksgiving menus, or Christmas meals. If you or your family are on the fence about it, I hope this easy creamed spinach recipe with cream cheese will convert you, too!
Why This Is My Best Creamed Spinach Recipe
- Rich, savory flavor
- Creamy texture with tender leaves
- 6 simple ingredients (plus salt & pepper)
- 15 minutes from stove to table
- Low carb, keto, and gluten free
- Healthy side dish for holiday dinners or weeknight meals
What Is Creamed Spinach?
Creamed spinach is a classic steakhouse side dish that’s also popular for the holidays. The basic ingredients to make easy creamed spinach are spinach and either milk or cream. Other popular additions for creamy spinach include garlic, Parmesan, cream cheese, nutmeg, and various herbs.
What Does Creamed Spinach Taste Like?
The best creamed spinach recipe should taste rich, creamy, and cheesy! Even if you are not a huge fan of spinach, these aspects make it totally delicious.
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the ingredients for the best creamed spinach recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Butter – I prefer grass-fed butter, but any unsalted one works.
- Garlic – Mince it fresh for best flavor, or use jarred minced garlic.
- Baby Spinach – Any fresh spinach will work, but baby spinach leaves will have a more mild flavor and is less bitter than full grown spinach.
- Heavy Cream – Makes up the bulk of the sauce, while keeping it creamy and easy to whisk. Coconut cream can work as a substitute.
- Cream Cheese – Helps thicken the cream sauce. Cut into small pieces and let it come to room temperature for easier blending with the vegetables.
- Italian Seasoning – I prefer to make my own Italian seasoning (takes just a few minutes!), but you can also get a store-bought mix.
- Sea Salt & Black Pepper
- Parmesan Cheese – It’s optional, but adds another savory element for topping. Grate it fresh for the best taste.
VARIATIONS: Add cayenne pepper or onions!
You can saute diced onion before adding the spinach, or add a pinch of cayenne at the end if you like some heat.
How To Make Creamed Spinach
This section shows how to make creamed spinach with cream cheese, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Saute. Melt butter in a large skillet with tall sides (I used this one). Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
- Wilt. Add spinach and saute until just barely wilted. If you have more spinach than the pan can fit, cover to wilt before stirring and adding more.
- Mix. Add cream, cream cheese, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.
- Cook. Continue cooking until the sauce thickens. Garnish with parmesan cheese (if using) before serving.
How To Make Creamed Spinach From Frozen?
To make creamed spinach using frozen spinach, use 6 ounces of frozen spinach in place of 10 ounces fresh. Thaw and drain well first, and squeeze to get rid of as much water as possible. After that, the saute time after adding the spinach will be shorter, but the time after adding cream will be the same.
Is Creamed Spinach Keto? Healthy?
Yes, the natural ingredients and low carbs in this creamed spinach recipe make it a healthy and keto dish, though it’s definitely not low fat if that’s what you are looking for.
Unlike versions that rely on high-carb thickeners like flour or cornstarch, creamed spinach with cream cheese gets thick simply from simmering heavy cream. The cream cheese also acts as a thickener and natural cornstarch substitute.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep creamed spinach in a covered container up to 5 days. It will lose some of its bright color over time, so try to enjoy it sooner than that.
- Meal prep: Make it 1-2 days ahead and keep covered in the refrigerator.
- Reheat: Warm in a pan over low heat, stirring occasionally.
- Freeze: I wouldn’t recommend freezing, as the sauce may separate and become watery, but you can still safely freeze this dish for up to 4 months. Cover tightly and store in a freezer-safe container. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
What To Serve With Creamed Spinach Recipes
Just about anything goes with this easy creamed spinach recipe! Here are some everyday and holiday-inspired recipes to try:
- Holiday Mains – Serve with Thanksgiving turkey, filet mignon, roasted turkey legs, sirloin tip roast, or prime rib roast for a festive meal.
- Easy Chicken Dinners – Try spinach with bacon wrapped chicken breasts, spatchcock chicken, baked chicken thighs, or slow cooker chicken wings.
- Steak – Make sirloin steak in the oven, one-pan steak and potatoes, reverse sear steak, or chuck eye steak to serve with this recipe.
- Homestyle meals – This spinach pairs perfectly with slow cooker pot roast, smothered pork chops from your Dutch oven, or eggplant lasagna.
More Easy Healthy Spinach Recipes
So many ways to enjoy this healthy veggie! Here are some of my favorites:
Recommended Tools
- Large Cast Iron Skillet – I love making my creamed spinach recipes in cast iron because it heats quickly and evenly, and goes from stovetop to table beautifully. This one ensures lots of room for sauteing the leaves.
- White Serving Platter – Clean and simple for serving creamed spinach and other holiday dishes.
The Best Creamed Spinach Recipe
Creamed Spinach Recipe (Easy In 15 Minutes!)
Learn how to make creamed spinach with cream cheese in minutes! This easy creamed spinach recipe is rich and creamy, with simple ingredients.
Go Ad-FreeRecipe Video
Tap on the image below to watch the video.Like this video? Subscribe to my YouTube cooking channel for healthy recipes weekly! (Click the bell icon to be notified when I post a new video.)
Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
-
Heat butter in a large skillet with tall sides over medium heat. Add minced garlic and saute until fragrant.
-
Add spinach. Saute for 2 to 4 minutes, until wilted. If the pan is too full to stir or you can't fit all the spinach, add what you can and cover for 1-2 minutes, which will let the spinach at the bottom wilt. Then you can start to stir in a folding motion and add more as needed.
-
Add heavy cream, cream cheese, sea salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning. Stir constantly until the cream cheese melts, then cook a few minutes until thickened. (Sauce will thicken more as it cools from hot to warm.)
-
If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese for serving.
Last Step: Leave A Rating!
Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram – I’d love to see it!
Related Easy Recipes
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1/2 cup
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
Want to save this recipe?
Create a free account to save your favorite recipes!
Sign Up To Save Recipes© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
215 Comments
Tricia
1Can leftovers be frozen?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Tricia, I don’t recommend freezing this dish.
Sarah
0Hi Maya! Just so I better understand, can you please explain why freezing isn’t recommended since spinach, cream cheese and heavy cream all freeze really well? ❄
Thank you for ALL you do!! You are the most fabulous resource, and I’m so thankful to have found you!! 🙌🥰
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sarah, The texture of cream sauce can change after freezing (mainly due to the heavy cream) and may not be enjoyable to eat.
Sarah
0Thanks! However, in the Keto Freezer System that I just bought through y’all, cream cheese is listed as one of the best foods to freeze. I’m wondering which information is correct? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Sorry about that, I corrected my comment. The cream cheese will be fine but the sauce texture will change because of the heavy cream.
An Bese
0LOVE IT! You made a creamed spinach fan out of me. I love spinach but get tired of eating it raw in a salad or steamed with butter. I was always leery of creamed spinach because I was introduced to canned creamed spinach – gross stuff. Thank you for this recipe!
Jeff
0Potential to be great to me, but the Italian seasoning did not taste right with creamed spinach. It looked delicious and creamy when it cooled some, and we were so excited to have it with our leftover turkey. We will definitely make it again but omit the Italian seasoning, and it should be more like a classic steakhouse creamed spinach.
Eleanor
0It was ..thru the roof Delicious!!!!! I loved it and it was really easy to make…didn’t know vegetables tasted so gooooooood on keto!
Thank u for the lovely recipe.
Beverly
0Awesome, easy and tasty.
Christine
1Love it…… This was fantastic!! Super easy, that is what I love. I don’t want anything complicated or time consuming. I think it took me 10 minutes beginning to eating 😊😊 enjoy!!
Pamela Turner
0I am a giant fan of creamed spinach. Imagine my absolute delight to discover this recipe!!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for sharing! My doctor put me on the Keto diet to fight cancer and I must admit I am not a fan of all the “FAT” I am consuming. However, this creamed spinach is divine and I look forward to dinner like never before! I even cooked it on the balcony of my hotel with a pot and a single burner!
Susan Aslett
0I made this recipe using frozen spinach and it has become my favourite keto vegetable in spite of the fact that I don’t like spinach!! I just keep making it. Thank you.
Lorrie Jo
0I call this Spinach Alfredo! Delicious!!
Maurice
0This recipe is easy and so delicious!!
Cherise
0The best creamed spinach I’ve ever had.
Melanie
0I dont know how you got 4 servings out of this at 1/2 cup each. I got 5 servings at 1/4 cup
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Melanie, I just divide the recipe into 4 equal servings.
Sherry
0This is one of the best spinach recipe I’ve tried! Very easy to make and delicious!
Judy
0This was excellent as a dairy, free side dish! I used Tofutti cream cheese, which is vegan. I used coconut milk instead of heavy cream. I didn’t put the Parmesan cheese on top. We just loved it! Thank you very much. A definite 10! Thank you very much, Maya.
stephen coe
0We love it. We often use 2 bags of frozen spinach and double the ingredients. Multiple days are wonderful for this. We add artichoke hearts and mushrooms and cayenne pepper to it. If needed to make a dip out of it just cut with a little chicken stock or almond milk.
Rachel
0I have never written a review before in my entire life I’m 53 years old! This was the best creamed spinach ever better than any restaurant I’ve ever had maybe it was just all the love I put in it I did leave the Italian seasoning out though it was delicious thank you so much!
Carla
0I thought this was easy to make and I really liked it. My first time of eating creamed spinach and I felt it made a great side dish. Even hubby liked it and he’s not Keto.
Madeline
0I didn’t have heavy cream so I added mozerlla and heated parmesean. (I also sauted half a brown onion. I put it all over pork chops and baked at 350 for 30min delicious!!
Cynthia Gilbreth
0Delicious recipe! But since I’m actually of Italian descent, I never use Italian seasoning. Instead I grated some fresh nutmeg into it. There were some comments about freezing, I’ve tried freezing dishes with cream cheese with disastrous results. I’ve also tried freezing cream cheese, it doesn’t work at all. The texture gets very crumbly and it doesn’t incorporate well into other ingredients. Don’t freeze anything with cream cheese, it just doesn’t work.
Myra
0I’ve made this recipe several times, and it’s my favorite way to eat spinach. When I need a quick vegetable dish, I use a 10 oz. bag (not block) of frozen spinach – so easy. Fixing spinach this way also seems to eliminate that indescribable feeling in/on your teeth from eating cooked spinach. Very yummy!
Sigi
0It’s true, I had it twice now and didn’t get “long teeth”. I didn’t realise before, thanks for making this even more desirable
carolyn
0I normally don’t like spinach, but I gave this recipe a try and it was really good.