Ingredients (~6-8 servings)
- 3 lbs fresh spinach leaves, cleaned
- 3 cups half and half
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Blanch the Spinach in Batches
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
Working in 3-4 batches, blanch the spinach just until the leaves wilt – about 30-40 seconds per batch.
Immediately transfer the spinach to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
The spinach will look like a ton at first but it shrinks way down once blanched.
Squeeze Out Every Drop of Water
Drain the spinach well, then press it in a fine mesh sieve or wrap it in a clean kitchen towel.
Squeeze hard to get as much water out as possible – this step makes or breaks the dish.
If you skip this, your cream sauce will be thin and watery instead of rich and thick.
Roughly chop the squeezed spinach if you want smaller pieces.
Start the Cream Sauce Base
In a large pot or deep skillet, melt the butter until the foaming stops.
Add the chopped onions with 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper.
Cook until the onions start to soften, ~4-5 minutes – they don’t need to be fully caramelized.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
Make the Roux and Add the Cream
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
This cooks out the raw flour taste and creates your thickening base.
While stirring, slowly pour in the half and half in a steady stream – don’t dump it all at once or you’ll get lumps.
Add another 1/2 tsp kosher salt, the nutmeg, and cayenne if using.
Simmer Until Thickened
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, ~3-4 minutes.
You’ll know it’s ready when you can draw a line through the sauce on the spoon with your finger and it stays put.
Fold in the Spinach
Add all the spinach to the pot and stir well – it takes some work to get every leaf coated with the cream sauce.
If the mixture seems too thick, add a splash more half and half until you reach the consistency you want.
Taste and adjust with more salt and pepper as needed.
The spinach should be creamy and rich, not soupy or dry.
Steakhouse Creamed Spinach
Ingredients
Ingredients (~6-8 servings)
- 3 lbs fresh spinach leaves cleaned
- 3 cups half and half
- 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- Pinch cayenne pepper optional
- Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- Blanch spinach in batches for 30-40 seconds until wilted, then transfer to ice water immediately.
- Drain spinach and squeeze out all water using a kitchen towel or fine mesh sieve.
- Roughly chop the squeezed spinach if desired.
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.
- Add onions with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper and cook 4-5 minutes until softened.
- Add garlic and cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Stir in flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
- Slowly pour in half and half while stirring continuously.
- Add 1/2 tsp salt, nutmeg, and cayenne if using.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 3-4 minutes until sauce coats the back of a spoon.
- Fold in spinach and stir until all leaves are coated.
- Add more half and half if mixture is too thick.
- Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
