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Spruce up your greens with my easy sautéed spinach recipe! With 5 ingredients and 5 minutes, you can have the perfect healthy side or add some color to your favorite dishes!
Craving more sauteed recipes? You’ve got to try my sautéed broccolini, sautéed arugula, and sautéed asparagus.
I’m convinced anyone can learn to love spinach–even if your name isn’t Popeye.
When lightly sautéed for a few minutes at high heat, you get tender, wilted spinach that retains its leafy texture. Plus, a little butter never hurt anyone!
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- So darn fast. From prep to plate, it’s done in about 5 minutes.
- Healthy. Spinach is so good for you because it’s low in calories but high in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
- An easy way to sneak in more greens. I love a spinach salad as much as anyone, but you can get triple the amount of spinach in the same volume if you sauté it!
- Versatile. Serve this as a side or add it to other dishes for a health boost.
- No limp, mushy spinach! If you grew up with liquidy, mushy spinach and thought that’s what it’s supposed to taste like, I will convince you otherwise.
Ingredients needed
- Fresh spinach. The star ingredient. I used baby spinach leaves, which are usually pre-washed. If you use mature spinach, you’ll want to wash, dry, and de-stem it, as there tends to be dirt in the stems.
- Butter. Just a dash helps add tons of flavor.
- Olive oil. To keep the spinach and garlic from sticking to the pan.
- Garlic. Spinach and garlic are a dream team. Definitely use fresh garlic for this recipe!
- Kosher salt and black pepper. For flavor.
- Lemon slices. Optional, for garnish.
How to sauté spinach
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Melt butter. Add butter and oil to a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the spinach.
Step 2- Sauté. Once hot, add garlic, salt, and pepper. Sauté for 2-3 minutes or until wilted.
Step 3- Garnish. Remove the spinach from the pan and serve with lemon slices.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Extra aromatics. Sauté shallots, onion, ginger, or scallions with the garlic.
- Bacon. Spinach and bacon go hand in hand, so cook bacon in the skillet, then use the bacon fat in place of oil to wilt the spinach.
- Cheese. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the spinach, or for a vegan option, use nutritional yeast.
- Garnish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Ways to serve sautéed spinach
The beauty of this spinach recipe is that it makes a great side or addition to all sorts of dishes. Here are some ideas:
- Add it to pumpkin curry soup, stuffed pepper soup, or no bean chili
- Mix it into scrambled eggs, an egg white omelet, or my cottage cheese eggs
- Fold it into a spinach frittata
- Stir it into cottage cheese alfredo
- Add it to wraps, like my copycat Starbucks spinach feta wraps or salad wraps
- Stuff it into my stuffed salmon, stuffed chicken breast, or stuffed pork chops
Storage instructions
To store: Store leftover spinach in an airtight container in the fridge for 1-2 days.
To freeze: Transfer leftovers to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to three months.
Reheating: Reheat in a large skillet or microwave in 20-second intervals until warm.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can use frozen spinach if that’s all you have at home. Add it to the pan with the garlic and cook until it’s thawed, wilted, and warmed through.
Yes! Your body better absorbs the nutrients from spinach when it’s cooked compared to when it’s fresh (source). Despite the dash of butter and oil, this is still a very healthy side dish.
The best way to reduce bitterness is to cook it at a high temperature with other ingredients to balance the bitter flavor, like oil, butter, and an acid, like fresh lemon juice.
More healthy side dishes to try
Sautéed Spinach
Video
Ingredients
Instructions
- Add the butter and olive oil to a large non-stick skillet or pan.
- Once hot, add the garlic, then the spinach, salt, and pepper, and saute for 2-3 minutes, or until wilted.
- Remove the spinach from the pan and serve with lemon slices.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally published March 2023, updated and republished September 2024
Spinach is amazing dish. I bought today and prepared this way. Very tasty.
Yesterday I made this and it was amazing!
Thanks!
This could be so change for me! In my country spinach is eaten only mixed with cream/heavy cream. This sounds much healthier.
Excellent idea for an easy side dish.