Creamed spinach

Creamed spinach earned its spot in our keto side dish rotation. Mac absolutely loves spinach, so I keep an eye out for spinach recipes that aren’t salad. This is also a great way to use a package of spinach that may be a few days past its ideal salad freshness. It works well as a side for chicken, steak, and a lot of other meat entrees. If you are serving the creamed spinach as the only side, expect to get two larger servings from this recipe (you could squeeze more smaller servings if you have kids). You can also pair this with a baked potato recipe (like these loaded baked potatoes) or another veggie side if you’re feeding a larger family.

I found this particular creamed spinach recipe in my Junior League of Fayetteville cookbook. I tweaked the original recipe because I’m not a fan of horseradish, but I’ll include the amount in the notes section. You can also use frozen spinach; we use fresh because Mac prefers fresh to frozen. If you’re using fresh spinach, roughly chop it with a knife before cooking. And you’ll need to drain your fresh or frozen spinach very well once it’s cooked.

The recipe calls to cook the spinach in oil or butter, but you can take this recipe up about 10 notches by cooking the spinach in bacon grease. Fry the bacon and then immediately saute the spinach in the same pan. Having tried this, I would definitely recommend it if you have the time. If you’re vegetarian, just leave out the bacon.

You can also season this creamed spinach to your tastes (to a point). I tend to go a bit heavy-handed on the black pepper. Since the cheese is so salty, I don’t need to add as much. You could throw in some seasoned salt, some cayenne pepper, or obnoxious amounts of garlic. I like to add a tablespoon or so of minced garlic. And you can serve the creamed spinach without baking it if you’re pressed for time.