This is a detailed recipe for creamed spinach thickened with béchamel that can be made quickly and easily. The main ingredient in this tasty dish is frozen spinach, which is always readily available at grocery stores.
Just so you know, I come from the Czech Republic, where I was born and raised. We Czechs love spinach as the ultimate cozy side dish, often served with pork roast and potato dumplings.
Because of this, the skill of making delicious spinach should be a fundamental component of any Czech housewife's bag of tricks. That is why I am delighted to present you with a classic creamed spinach based on a tried and true Czech recipe!
Wondering how to say creamed spinach in Czech? Here you are: "Špenát se smetanou."
MY TIP: Spinach as a side dish pairs perfectly with this garlic roasted rabbit!
➜ Ingredient list
To make homemade creamed spinach from scratch, you will need:
- Frozen spinach; I always keep a bag in my freezer
- Yellow onion and fresh garlic
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour
- Full-fat milk and heavy cream; to make béchamel
- Salt and black pepper; to taste
- Fresh nutmeg; I always use the whole nutmeg, which I grate on a hand grater before using
✅ You’ll find the exact amount of ingredients below in the recipe card, which you can also print out.
➜ Instructions with photos
STEP 1: Let the frozen spinach thaw first.
Fill a large bowl with hot water and place the unwrapped packet of frozen spinach in it. After a while, the water in the bowl will be cold. Drain it and pour another hot water back into the bowl. Within half an hour, you will be able to defrost the whole spinach packet gently.
Take the thawed spinach out of the packet and transfer it to a colander you placed on a bowl. Let the excess water drain off.
STEP 2: Make béchamel base.
Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic and cut the cloves into small pieces with a knife. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic to the butter and sauté while stirring for about five minutes until soft. Add the flour and stir carefully for about a minute.
Remove the pot from the heat source and start pouring in the milk mixed with the heavy cream. Add the liquid only gradually, whisking carefully so that no lumps form.
STEP 3: Turn the heat down to low, return the pot to the stove, and let the béchamel mass simmer for 15 minutes, occasionally stirring.
STEP 4: Add the squeezed spinach into bechamel cream sauce, stir, and let warm for about five minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
STEP 5: Mix the spinach with an immersion blender until it is silky smooth. Finally, add a pinch of grated nutmeg, and you're done!
➜ Serving
The most common way Czechs eat spinach is as a side dish that goes well with meat and dumplings, such as pork belly bites baked in the oven, braised beef cubes, or with a slice of smoked meat.
As a lighter dish, spinach with cooked potatoes and hard-boiled egg appears on the table of Czech diners.
➜ What is béchamel
Bechamel is a white sauce made of butter, flour, and milk that originated in French cuisine. Bechamel is used as a base for many other dishes in the kitchen. You can easily transform it into a variety of other well-known sauces, which will turn out beautifully creamy.
My note: Your creamed spinach will never be runny again, thanks to the béchamel. The béchamel cream mixture perfectly thickens and softens the spinach, and there will be no more water separation when you serve it. The heavy cream and milk will add a subtle flavor to the spinach.
The béchamel should be simmered for at least 15 minutes to allow all of the sauce's ingredients to combine and the floury taste to disappear.
➜ Useful tips
- Storage: Let the spinach cool completely, and store it in a covered container in the fridge. Here it will keep for up to five days.
- The recipe can also be prepared with fresh spinach, but in this case, you need to boil and cool the spinach leaves briefly. This cooking technique is called blanching.
More delicious dishes:
Tried this recipe?
Leave a review down in the comments! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Best Creamed Spinach Recipe (from Frozen)
Ingredients
- 20 ounces frozen spinach (560 g) 2 packages
- ½ stick unsalted butter (60 g)
- ½ onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cups whole milk
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper ground
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Let the frozen spinach thaw first. Fill a large bowl with hot water and place the unwrapped packet of frozen spinach in it. After a while, the water in the bowl will be cold. Drain it and pour another hot water back into the bowl. Within half an hour, you will be able to defrost the whole spinach packet gently. Take the thawed spinach out of the packet and transfer it to a colander you placed on a bowl. Let the excess water drain off.
- Make béchamel base. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel the garlic and cut the cloves into small pieces with a knife. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic to the butter and sauté while stirring for about five minutes until soft. Add the flour and stir carefully for about a minute. Remove the pot from the heat source and start pouring in the milk mixed with the heavy cream. Add the liquid only gradually, whisking carefully so that no lumps form. Turn the heat down to low, return the pot to the stove, and let the béchamel mass simmer for 15 minutes, occasionally stirring.
- Remove the pot from the heat source and start pouring in the milk mixed with the heavy cream. Add the liquid only gradually, whisking carefully so that no lumps form. Turn the heat down to low, return the pot to the stove, and let the béchamel mass simmer for 15 minutes, occasionally stirring.
- Add the drained off spinach into bechamel cream sauce, stir, and let warm for about five minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Mix the spinach with an immersion blender until it is silky smooth. Finally, add a pinch of grated nutmeg, and you're done!
Notes
- Makes 4-6 portions as a side dish.
- SERVING: Serve hot as a side dish to pork roast, a slice of smoked meat, braised beef cubes and similar meals.
- Storage: Let the spinach cool completely, and store it in a covered container in the fridge. Here it will keep for up to five days.
- Béchamel sauce: This recipe is based on béchamel, a white sauce originally from French cuisine. The basic ingredients for making béchamel are butter, flour, and whole milk. If you're wondering why your spinach is runny and how to thicken the spinach, béchamel is the answer you're looking for!
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
CARMELA DAVANO
could you provide the recipe for the potatoes posted upon the photo of the creamed spinach are they yko golds
Petra Kupská
You mean the potato dumplings which are on the plate? These are Czech potato dumplings cooked in whole, then sliced. Here is the recipe: Potato dumplings
Ken
This is great recipe. My son has a Czech girlfriend so I initially made this for her. We all loved it, it is now the only way I cook spinach. Very few internet recipes have found their way into my (not very big!) collection of standard recipes - this is one. Enjoy.
Petra Kupská
Ahoj Ken, thank you for your nice words, and I am honored that you liked the spinach recipe! Although preparation requires some effort, the outcome is worthwhile.