Portuguese-Style Garlic Sauteed Spinach with Onions

This is one of my favorite side dishes, super simple to make and delicious, sauteing spinach with garlic and onion creates some really tasty greens that go perfectly with just about anything. Not only that, it’s incredibly easy to make it. In this case I had a big bag of spinach on hand, so I went with fresh, but you can absolutely make this recipe with frozen spinach too, no problem at all.

As a sidenote, fresh spinach is one of those ingredients that tricks everyone the first time they cook it. You throw what looks like a mountain of leaves into the pan, and a few minutes later you’re left wondering where it all went. That’s just how it works, spinach is mostly water, so don’t be surprised when your giant bag shrinks down to a couple of modest spoonfuls. Its just less to share hahahahaah, lets check the recipe! 😀

Portuguese-Style Garlic Sauteed Spinach with Onions

Servings: 2
Time: 15mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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Sometimes you want a fancy dinner, sometimes you just want a yummy, easy, delicious, super easy to make side, it isn’t fancy, but fancy is overrated ;D

Ingredients

Spinach – 300g
Onion – 1/2
Garlic – 2 Cloves
Olive Oil – A Drizzle
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Start by sautéing the finely chopped onion and garlic in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil, let the onion become translucent.

Then add the spinach, if you are using fresh bagged spinach, it is likely already washed; otherwise, wash and dry it (drying is important). Add the spinach to the pan; you will notice it wilts quickly. If you can’t fit it all in at once, add it in batches.
After the spinach cooks for 3 or 4 minutes, season with salt and pepper, stir, and let the spinach release some of its water.

Finally, taste and adjust the salt and pepper. It’s ready to serve, bon appétit!

Notes & Tips: Fresh spinach doesn’t yield much, so it’s often better to use frozen, 1kg of frozen spinach is roughly the equivalent of about 2kg of fresh spinach, but frozen spinach is usually chopped and blanched before freezing, which gives it a slightly different texture than fresh spinach, not to mention fresh spinach will always have a lighter, fresher flavor since it’s less processed.

keep the heat at medium to medium-high (around 175 to 190°C, or 350 to 375°F), too low and the spinach will stew in its own liquid instead of wilting quickly. Season near the end. Yeah, i said it, don’t salt the spinach before it hits the pan, salting early draws out even more water and leaves you with soggier greens.

A squeeze some lemon juice or a light grating of nutmeg at the end to also brighten this up nicely if you want to dress it up a bit.

This recipe for Portuguese-Style Garlic Sauteed Spinach with Onions was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Espinafres com Alho foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.