Fresh spinach can be easily sautéed in a couple of minutes on the stovetop. The spinach must be moved constantly to avoid burning the leaves.
- In a medium frying pan on low-medium heat, place all of the spinach you would like to cook. Make sure your spinach has been washed, there is no need to dry it off before cooking. The water from the spinach will steam off in the cooking process.
- Using a pair of tongs, grab sections of spinach and turn them over. Constantly move the spinach this way to cook the leaves at all angles.
- It should take about 5-10 minutes to cook ~3-4 cups of spinach. You’ll know when it’s finished, because it will be completely wilted and a dark green color.
How to use freshly sautéed spinach for a recipe
Spinach, even when using it frozen, needs to have the water removed before using it.
To drain the water out of your freshly sautéed spinach, you’ll want to cool it for a few minutes before touching it.
- Wrap small bunches of spinach in paper towel.
- Hold the wrapped spinach over a bowl and squeeze the water out.
- Remove the spinach from the paper towel and place in a fresh bowl to use for your recipe.
When making a recipe with cooked spinach, the water needs to be removed because it can interfere with the liquid to solid ratio.
For example, if you’re making spinach dip, the water will not be absorbed by the dip, therefore it will ruin the spinach dip.
If you’re making lasagna with ricotta and spinach, the water will not be absorbed by the ricotta cheese, and will make the lasagna runny.
For these reasons, it’s important to remove the water from the spinach after cooking it down.
What recipes can you use sautéed spinach for
