This easy sautéed spinach with garlic cooks in minutes and pairs well with everything from pasta to grilled mains.
A simple garlic spinach dish prepared in the skillet within minutes. This is a side dish that pairs well with most main course meals.
The garlic and olive oil accentuate the beautiful green earthy spinach flavors, and it’s one of our all-time favorite side dishes at home.
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Ingredient Notes
- Spinach — I use regular fresh large leaf spinach because that’s what I get at times from our farmer’s market, but I like to use baby spinach too. Baby spinach is much smaller, and the leaves are tender and not as intensely flavored as normal-sized spinach leaves. If you use fresh baby spinach leaves, you won’t need to chop them up.
- Garlic, fresh.
- Olive Oil — I like to use a flavorful extra virgin olive oil.
- Salt & Black Pepper — Because this is a simple dish, I recommend using high-quality salt, such as Fleur de Sel, and freshly crushed black pepper. The latter adds fruitiness.
Process Overview
Step 1
Prep fresh ingredients. Rinse and pat dry spinach, remove bad pieces.
Roughly chop the spinach into larger pieces. Chop garlic small.
Step 2
Heat a skillet with oil and sauté first garlic for a minute or so. Stir in the fresh spinach. Sauté until the spinach has reduced in size.
Season with salt and black pepper, sauté until cooked through and serve up hot.
📖 Recipe
10-Minute Garlic Spinach Skillet
This easy sautéed spinach with garlic cooks in minutes and pairs well with everything from pasta to grilled mains.
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Servings: 2 servings
Calories: 161kcal
Instructions
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Rinse your spinach leaves well. I keep them in a bowl with fresh water and a dash of vinegar for 2 minutes. The vinegar removes impurities and trapped tiny insects. Pat dry the clean spinach between two clean towels or kitchen paper towels.
10 Ounces Spinach
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Remove the bad parts from the spinach and cut off ends a bit (avoid wasting but discard stringy parts). Roughly chop the spinach. If you are using baby spinach, you might not even need to chop the leaves because they are tiny already.
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Chop peeled garlic roughly.
2 Cloves Garlic
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Heat a skillet with the olive oil and sauté the garlic first for a minute or two.
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
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Stir in spinach and sauté over a medium heat setting. The spinach will decrease in size in just a few minutes. Stir occasionally so that the spinach leaves cook thoroughly.
10 Ounces Spinach
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Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Serve up hot when cooked through.
Salt, Black Pepper
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
10-Minute Garlic Spinach Skillet
Amount Per Serving
Calories 161
Calories from Fat 135
% Daily Value*
Fat 15g23%
Saturated Fat 2g10%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 10g
Sodium 113mg5%
Potassium 803mg23%
Carbohydrates 6g2%
Fiber 3g12%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 13292IU266%
Vitamin C 41mg50%
Calcium 146mg15%
Iron 4mg22%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Serving
This garlic infused spinach side dish pairs well with most main course meals. That can be a grilled steak, a pork roast, a pan-fried fish, roasted chicken, vegetarian cabbage rolls or my all-time favorite, pan-fried egg.
I like fried eggs for dinner with a vegetable side dish. It’s simple and nutritious. I’m tired most evenings, and I bet you can relate to that. A quick, no-fuss meal is everything!
You could try different egg types with your spinach, such as pan-fried quail eggs or duck eggs (so yummy!).
A small quality of this sautéed spinach can be added to a Buddha rice bowl too or to an Indian meal, such as in combination with a lentil dish (e.g., masoor dal).
Storing
This dish freezes well. Just place the cooked garlic spinach into a freezer container. Thaw gradually overnight in your fridge or defrost in a microwave or oven.
Leftovers are good for at least 5 days refrigerated. So, you can add it to your meal prepping plan.
