There are many things to love about this frozen spinach recipe.
First, it’s super versatile:
- Dice garlic, use the kind in a jar or grab garlic powder from your pantry.
- Use frozen spinach or fresh.
- Add wine or chicken broth.
It’s all up to you.
I also love this frozen spinach recipe because it’s vaguely Italian. That reminds me of our best times living in Rome, where three of our kids were born.
What you need for this Frozen Spinach Recipe
This frozen spinach recipe only requires a few ingredients, all of which are easy to keep on hand at any time.
1. FROZEN SPINACH
I use cut leaf spinach in a 16 or 10-ounce bag.
2. WHITE WINE
I learned how to make this dish when we lived in Italy and they use wine. It is not required, though I think it’s delicious and so do our kids. If you feel weird about cooking with wine for kids, or you already drank all the wine, you don’t need it. Use water, use lemon juice or use 1/2 cup of chicken stock.
3. GARLIC OR GARLIC POWDER
However, the garlic (or garlic powder) and olive oil are not negotiable. Do not make this without them. (And if you do, do not mention my name.)
4. SALT.
That’s it. In 10 minutes, you’ll have a great spinach little side dish you can make once a week.
Believe me. I’ve fed it to four kids many, many times.
RECIPE
Simple Sides: Frozen Spinach + Garlic + Olive Oil
I like cut-leaf spinach for this frozen spinach recipe but even chopped spinach works. And if you don’t have a 16-ounce bag, the 10-ounce bag will be fine. Just use less liquid.
Also, don’t thaw the spinach. Believe it or not, your frozen spinach cooks quickly in a hot pan.
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 16-ounce bag frozen cut-leaf spinach
- 2 garlic cloves, diced or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 cup white wine, chicken broth or water plus juice of a lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3–4 cracks of fresh pepper
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet, then add spinach and garlic or garlic powder. Stir for 2 minutes, then add your liquid of choice.
- Add salt and pepper then bring to a simmer and allow liquid to evaporate a bit, about 5 minutes.
- Serve when you’re ready. This one can wait a while on the stove, and even be made ahead of time and warmed in the microwave.
- Too much liquid? Just drain it off OR sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs plus a bit of cream cheese for a rich variation: creamed spinach in minutes!
There you go! As a mom of four small kids, I’m big on simple spinach recipes of almost any kind but a frozen spinach recipe is even better. But this is is my go-to. Especially when I’m in a hurry or exhausted, two states that often come as a pair.
As a bonus, you can also use the same technique for fresh spinach too.
Would your kids eat this spinach? Find out how to help picky eaters here, with a free 6-part email series!
Tools to make this Frozen Spinach with Garlic Recipe
Big sauté pan. I’ve used mine almost every single day, and it looks brand new after 15 years.
Flat bottomed wooden spoon. Unlike regular spoons, these scrape the bottom perfectly. And because I use them almost daily, I love a set like this one.
Get Kids Excited
One of our goals at Foodlets is making fresh, wholesome food easy and fun for your whole family. This part’s just for the rascals.
Fun Facts
- Spinach is an easy crop to grow in the garden. It doesn’t grow well in hot weather, but grows best during cool, rainy spring weather.
- During World War I, spinach juice was added to wine and given to soldiers who had been injured. The reason is that spinach is good for building blood.
- Spinach was probably first cultivated in Persia (now called Iran). It spread to Europe during the Middle Ages (about 400 AD to 1200 AD) and has always been known for its health benefits.
Just for laughs
What kind of veggies do dancers love most?
Spin-ach
Wow! Did you know?
You can grow spinach without any dirt at all. Instead the spinach grows in water. Find out how.
Want more easy veggie dishes kids love?
Try a few of our rascals’ favorites or browse all of our vegetable recipes here!
I’ve never heard of a poopcup before so when I saw the first line on Fooderific I HAD to click. My kids are grown but I still remember the poopcup years. Likes and dislikes changed like the weather. “I TOLD you I don’t like that,” was heard more often than not
Your spinach sounds great – all garlicky and winey.
Garlicky and winey is probably my favorite combination. Thanks for coming from Fooderific, Maureen!
PS. I looked at your site and even though 2 out of my 3 say they don’t like pad thai–so far–I just may try to make yours.
The southern woman I am, I just had to add onion and butter to saute along with garlic. I used chicken broth and had a little left over Parmesan. It was a hit. Thank you for this easy quick recipe
I just made this with my 3 year old twins. Although I added a bit of flour mixed in with milk ( that’s how we do spinach in Serbia) and my green hating girls said: that was deeeelicious, can we make it again mummy 🙂 x
That sounds delicious Milena! No wonder your girls loved it. Thanks so much for the great idea!
I may have to try this for the 4 men/boys in the house. None of them cared for the recipe, but us 3 women/girls enjoyed it as is. lol!
Ha! Isn’t that the way it goes? If you try it again, do report back!
I am going to try this tonight. I’ve made a similar version but it wasn’t quite as easy. I chopped fresh spinach and sautéed it with a bit of salt and fresh garlic. 1 out of 3 liked it at my home but I vowed to try again, and again. This version sounds tastier… wine and lemon, oh my!
Right? It’s hard to go wrong with that combo. I hope your crowd likes it and even if they don’t, this can be an acquired taste so if you dare, try again! (And maybe again after that. :)) Thanks for your note!
I came across this recipe when I was doing a hasty search for a quick, easy frozen spinach recipe. Love it. My family, including a picky teenager, loved it too. Great way to make use of that last bit of chardonnay that has been sitting in the fridge. I even tossed in a splash of white vermouth to provide a little more depth of flavor. I didn’t have onions handy, so I used freeze-dried shallots, and they worked well. Only thing is I gotta get that POOPCUP imagery out of my head. Otherwise, five stars for a great recipe. Thank you, Charity!
Awesome, Melissa!
And you are in luck because I took out the whole POOPCUP story. You are not alone in this feedback. 🙂
Thank YOU for trying it and even more, for letting me know how it went!
Very bitter..finally doused a little in cream cheese for dinner…deep six’ed the rest.
I am going to make this, but what SIZE bag of spinach?
Thanks!
Hi Susan! I’m sorry I wasn’t more specific. I’ll add the notes to the recipe, which is actually very flexible. Either a 10 ounce or 16 ounce bag will work perfectly. Let me know if you try it!
I really enjoyed this. This was a great spinach recipe for those who like spinach to begin with. I didn’t have powdered garlic so I added minced garlic from a jar and the only wine I had was Chardonnay.
As far as the family goes, I would say this is not really a kid friendly dish.
My 18 y.o. daughter didn’t complain (but she was distracted by a college assignment), and my 11 y.o. daughter said it tasted like seaweed. However, both my daughters and I love seaweed. =D My husband has never really cared for spinach so it was no surprise that he didn’t care for it. My three boys (ages 18 down to 3) who all enjoy veggies and salads, didn’t care for it but they each finished a small portion.
I’ve made this for DH and myself and we loved it! Thank you! Do you by any chance know what size your “bag of spinach” was? (I could eyeball it for the two of us, but now I’d like to scale it up.)
Yes! Sorry to be so vague. Not a great quality in a recipe. 🙂
This recipe is pretty flexible. You could go with as little as 10 ounces or as much as 16 ounces. My photos are from a 16 ounce bag.
Let me know if you try it!
I’m gonna admit: I’m not a mom. However, I am trying to eat healthier as I continue working out. I’ve made some great improvements on my physique but I’d like to work more internally, too. As a naturally picky eater and a fresh college student, this is fantastic – thank you!
Awesome, Justin! What a great thing to hear. Good for you and THANK YOU!
My two toddlers (my daughter, who is 2, and her father, lol) did not care for the spinach. Trying to get either one to eat leafy greens is like pulling teeth though. However, my mother and I loved it. It made for a good change.
I’m a bit embarrassed to ask this, but do I need to thaw the spinach before cooking?
Thanks!
Hi Mary! NEVER be embarrassed to ask questions here! You don’t need to thaw the spinach. I like to break it up in the bag before adding to the pan (bang it on the counter like a bag of ice) . But don’t worry, it’ll thaw quickly.
Loved it! Added some nutritional yeast too.
Yum. Good idea! I’ll try that too.
Delicious every time…and so simple to make. Thank you!
It may have been a mistake on my part, but I thawed the spinach and squeezed out the water. At the end, I stirred in two beaten eggs and a bit of parmesan butter. I was careful not to overcook the eggs. It tasted great, but the spinach was kinda tough. It took a long time to chew up and swallow each bite. Where did I go wrong?
I had some frozen spinach in my freezer – it had been there for a while and I wanted to use it up. I came across this recipe – it didn’t look very exciting, just a few simple ingredients – I didn’t hold out much hope, but it did help me use up the spinach. Don’t let the simplicity of this recipe put you off. It was amazing and is so quick and easy. (I also added a little nutmeg and some crispy onions for crunch.)
Glad you like it, Rosie!
My frozen chopped spinach is tough to chew. Any ideas?
I agree with the person who tasted seaweed with this recipe. I added a lot more garlic, butter, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese to make it more palatable for me. Then I popped it into the oven to bake and brown the top. I still didn’t like it with my additions, but I ate it. My husband thought it was fine.
I really liked this recipe! Made a simple bay scallop dish over brushetta and needed an easy veggie. Didn’t want to have plain frozen spinach. Your recipe was simple, interesting, and very tasty! I’ll make it again!
Thank you. Simple. Delicious. Easy way to use frozen veggies.
I needed a quick recipe tonight with frozen spinach. It was a BIG hit! Thanks for the simplicity and giving us another way to enjoy spinach!
this was pretty bad. Could absolutely taste the frozen spinach. Put in more garlic, more salt, more butter, didn’t help at all. Just bad 🙁
I subbed salt pepper and wine for a 1/2 cup water and 2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning (because it has salt already) And it was amazing! Thx!! Even The picky kid loves it!
I made this today ,it was quick and easy although I will add more seasonings next time,I believe some lemon pepper would do it justice. I Thank you for the recipe, will definitely make again!
i’ve always had spinach with tomato paste + chicken bouillons +water & i guess ghee as my mom always made it (and salt and pepper) and i wanted to make it another way myself using olive oil for health, so i found this – its quite nice! im not sure what a cup measurment is so i literally used a small mug of water and a chicken bouillon! plus i added more salt, i also added cumin powder, onion powder and ground coriander! really adds more flavour
I wish I would have found this recipe sooner. It was so simple to make. All I added was minced onion. It is the best tasting spinach I’ve ever made and it was a big hit! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Absolutely delicious. I’m cooking for two , my husband and I and I only had half the ingredients but it was delicious and I did put panko breadcrumbs due to my husband’s diet restrictions. I can’t send a picture because we ate it all. Delicious