This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...
To find out more...
How to prepare spinach
For most people (and me most of all), spinach brings back bad memories of canteens... But, well prepared, it's a fine and delicate vegetable which goes remarkably well with scrambled eggs, fish, and many another things. Here are two ways of preparing it.
3.39 M 3.8/5 (981 reviews)
1 hour 9 min.
Easy
500 g
5 IngredientsLast modified on: June 5th 2015
For 500 g, you will need:
- 1
2 lb + 3.2 oz fresh spinach - 2
0.7 oz butter - 3
coarse salt - 4
salt - 5
pepper
Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 55 min.
Cooking: 20 min.
All in all: 1 hour 9 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 10 min.
Start by washing 2 lb + 3.2 oz fresh spinach in several changes of lukewarm water (not too cold, like for all earthy vegetables).
Stage 2 - 2 min.
Drain.
Stage 3
To prepare the leaves, you need to remove the central vein, for that there are two methods:
Fold the leaf in two along the central vein.
Fold the leaf in two along the central vein.
Stage 4
Then with a knife, remove the central vein.
Stage 5
You should keep only the green and tender part of the leaf.
Stage 6
Second method: fold the leaf in half along the central vein.
Stage 7
Then detach the vein by pulling on the stalk, from the base towards the top (in the direction of the arrow), until it's completely detached.
Stage 8 - 30 min.
Do this for all the leaves.
If you don't want to blanch the spinach, but just wilt it with a little butter, dry thoroughly in a salad spinner and go on to the following stage.
If you don't want to blanch the spinach, but just wilt it with a little butter, dry thoroughly in a salad spinner and go on to the following stage.
Stage 9 - 10 min.
To blanch spinach
If you wish to blanch before cooking, which brings out the flavour, boil a large pan of water, then salt using 1 tablespoon of salt per litre of water.Also prepare a large container, or your sink, full of water as cold as possible (ice-cold).
Stage 10
Tip in spinach leaves.
Stage 11 - 1 min.
Plunge the leaves down under the water, while waiting for it to come back to the boil.
Stage 12
As soon as it boils again, remove spinach from pan with a skimmer, and transfer to ice-cold water.
Stage 13 - 5 min.
As soon as spinach is completely cooled, drain thoroughly.
Stage 14 - 5 min.
Then use a salad spinner to remove as much water as possible.
Note: you will sometimes read in other recipes that you should squeeze spinach in your hands to remove water. I don't think this is a good idea because it gives you hard blocks of spinach, with the leaves all stuck together, not so easy to use.
Note: you will sometimes read in other recipes that you should squeeze spinach in your hands to remove water. I don't think this is a good idea because it gives you hard blocks of spinach, with the leaves all stuck together, not so easy to use.
Stage 15
And finally set aside on absorbant paper to collect any remaining water.
The spinach is ready to be used in your recipe.
The spinach is ready to be used in your recipe.
Stage 16
See how to in this video.
Stage 17
If you wish to eat it like this (and it is already excellent), you just need to heat it through in a frying pan with a knob of butter.
Stage 18 - 1 min.
Spinach "wilted" in butter
If you have not blanched you spinach, take a high-sided pan, and melt 0.7 oz butter in it.Stage 19 - 5 min.
As soon as it's fairly hot, add the spinach. If it won't all fit in the pan, wait until the first batch wilts, then add the rest.
Stage 20
As soon as spinach wilts, salt and pepper, taste to check, it's ready.
Remarks
There is a a huge task of "spinach rehabilitation" to be done with children: "spinach is not inevitably the horrible green mush which you ate in the canteen"...
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 20 RDI=8 % | 30 RDI=3 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 350 RDI=20 % | 1,470 RDI: 20 % |
| Per 100 g | 1 RDI=1 % | 2 RDI=0 % | 1 RDI=0 % | 30 RDI=2 % | 140 RDI: 2 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 500 g : 3.35 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 37
Gratin-style spinach and chicken omelette
A simple omelette treated more like a gratin: the omelette forms the bottom layer in the dish, topped with chicken and spinach in a cream sauce and browned in the oven.
43 K 45 min.
Langres-style spinach
Spinach in a creamy sauce with Langres cheese and lardons, served with hard-boiled eggs.
25 K 35 min.
Salmon and spinach quiche
This quiche recipe uses a traditional filling mixture, but adds slices of smoked salmon and blanched spinach.
414 K 14 1 hour 15 min.
Spinach Mornay
This gratin is made with a layer of pre-cooked spinach, then sliced hard-boiled eggs and a Mornay sauce (an enriched bechamel with cheese).
71 K4 40 min.
Spinach and chick peas "à la milanaise"
An Italian-style combination of spinach, chick peas and tomatoes, flavoured with thyme and Parmesan.
25 K 20 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Fresh spinach
Like these other recipes: Creamy spinach à la Lombarde, Late Winter Soup with Fresh Spinach, Tex-Mex chicken burger, Mixed vegetable curry, Chilli chicken and spinach gratin, ... See them all 10
Butter
Like these other recipes: Nantes Tourton, Arizona cupcakes, Pilau rice, Brioche dough, Prune Far, ... See them all 472
Pepper
Like these other recipes: Turban of sole with langoustines, Rice with spring greens, Harvest Gratin, Stuffed Mushrooms, Pan con tomate, ... See them all 629
Coarse salt
Like these other recipes: How to cook pasta properly, How to prepare white beans, How to prepare broccoli, How to prepare Jerusalem artichokes, Salmon marinated like herring, ... See them all 16
Other recipes you may also like
Fresh fruit in sabayon
Fresh grapefruit and / or pears, covered with a sabayon and a pinch of citrus crunch.February 21th 2011292 K4.7 55 min.
How to succeed in making sabayon (syllabub)
A sabayon is a delicious and delicate preparation based on egg yolks and sugar, with a liquid added (wine, alcohol, fruit juice, etc), which is then whipped in a bain-marie until it is both light and smooth. Usually sabayon is sweet (syllabub), but you can make it savoury, in which case there is...November 12th 2017941 K 54 20 min.
Four-tier glasses
This starter recipe, served in a glass, consists of four tiers of different vegetable preparations. Each can be made the day before, and it's only the assembly that is tricky.June 2nd 2015267 K5 1 hour 40 min.
African style chicken
This is a sort of smoked chicken, cooked in a tomato-coconut sauce, and served with kidney beans and plain rice. It's quite a simple recipe, with ready-made ingredients, but which needs a long cooking time on low heat (one hour).February 21th 2011416 K5 2 hours 4 min.
You should not soak strawberries in water
When using strawberries in a recipe, the usual way is to soak in water, which is actually a very bad idea. Just look at how to preserve them here.February 21th 2011173 K3 10 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com
Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-07-13)
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Follow this recipe (as 47 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.