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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!

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.

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

Creamed spinach with cream cheese in a cast iron skillet with wooden spoon.

Easy Creamed Spinach Ingredients

This section explains how to choose the best 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 With Cream Cheese

This section shows how to make cream spinach, 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.

Finished spinach mixed with cream cheese sauce.

How To Make Creamed Spinach From Frozen?

Substitute 10 oz of fresh spinach with 10 oz frozen spinach instead. 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 in my book, 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 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:

Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

Spinach salad with hot bacon dressing plated with a fork.

Spinach Bacon Salad

Eggplant Rollatini

Tuscan Salmon

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

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Review

Ingredients

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3 tbsp Unsalted butter ▢
4 cloves Garlic (minced) ▢
10 oz Baby spinach ▢
1/2 cup Heavy cream ▢
4 oz Cream cheese (cut into small pieces) ▢
1 tsp Italian seasoning ▢
1/4 tsp Sea salt ▢
1/4 tsp Black pepper ▢
Parmesan cheese (optional, for serving) ▢

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!

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Share your recipe picture by tagging @wholesomeyum and hashtag it #wholesomeyum on Instagram, or in our Facebook support group, too – I’d love to see it!

Recipe Notes

Serving size: 1/2 cup

Nutrition Facts

Amount per serving. Serving size in recipe notes above.

Calories 274

Fat 27g

Protein 4g

Total Carbs 5g

Net Carbs 4g

Fiber 1g

Sugar 1g

Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keywords: creamed spinach, creamed spinach recipe, creamed spinach with cream cheese, easy creamed spinach, how to make creamed spinach

Calories: 274 kcal

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204 Comments

Tricia
1 May 17, 2022Reply

Can leftovers be frozen?
- Wholesome Yum D
  0 May 18, 2022Reply
  
  Hi Tricia, I don’t recommend freezing this dish.
  - Sarah
    0 October 22, 2022Reply
    
    Hi 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
      0 October 24, 2022Reply
      
      Hi Sarah, The texture of cream sauce can change after freezing (mainly due to the heavy cream) and may not be enjoyable to eat.
      - Sarah
        0 October 26, 2022
        
        Thanks! 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
        0 October 28, 2022
        
        Sorry 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
      0 January 16, 2023Reply
      
      LOVE 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
    0 November 27, 2022Reply
    
    Potential 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
      0 November 30, 2022Reply
      
      It 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
    0 January 18, 2023Reply
    
    Awesome, easy and tasty.
Christine
1 May 2, 2022Reply

Love 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!!
Carla
0 January 27, 2023Reply

I 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
0 January 25, 2023Reply

I 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
0 December 25, 2022Reply

Delicious 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
0 December 8, 2022Reply

I’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
  0 January 14, 2023Reply
  
  It’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
0 December 7, 2022Reply

I normally don’t like spinach, but I gave this recipe a try and it was really good.

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