Healthy Vegan Creamed Spinach Recipe
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The best healthy vegan creamed spinach recipe ready in a few minutes but delivers in flavor like a boss. It definitely has to show up on your Thanksgiving and Christmas table.
Quickly sautéed baby spinach is mixed with a dreamy creamy sauce made with a rich, dairy free cashew milk for a comforting but healthy classic holiday side dish. Super quick and easy to make, (i made this without any oil), completely whole foods plant based and Plantricious compliant.
Tips on How to Make the Best Vegan Creamed Spinach
- Sautee a bunch of fresh baby spinach with just a tiny pinch of sea salt until wilted then drain well in a colander.
- Make a creamy pan sauce out of cashew milk seasoned well with nutritional yeast, flavorful onion and garlic powders. Alternatively you could saute 1/2 fresh diced onion and 3 cloves of minced garlic before adding the spinach, however I find this method to be more time consuming and the flavor the same. So I choose the easy way 😉
- Fold the wilted spinach into the silky cream sauce and simmer until warm through.
- To take it over the top you could use the wild mushroom cream sauce from this famous Thanksgiving green bean casserole and just fold in the wilted spinach. <— Absolutely out of this world!
How long does creamed spinach last in the fridge?
If you truly happen to have any leftovers you can store them in the refrigerator up to 5 days. It can be reheated over medium low heat until bubbly and hot.
Can I use frozen spinach in this recipe?
You can definitely take a shortcut here and use 1/2 pound of frozen spinach instead of fresh. Make sure to thaw it out completely and squeeze out as much of the water as possible before adding it to the cream sauce. If you feel adventurous you could even make it with half chopped kale and half spinach.
What goes well with creamed spinach?
Healthy Vegan Creamed Spinach
The best healthy vegan creamed spinach recipe ready in a few minutes but delivers in flavor like a boss. It definitely has to show up on your Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner table.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb fresh baby spinach
- 2 cups cashew milk plain unsweetened
- 2.5 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
- 1 pinch nutmeg optional
Instructions
- Preheat your largest skillet over medium low heat. Add about a tablespoon of water or a light drizzle of olive oil and saute the spinach with a pinch of sea salt until wilted. Toss often and as soon as the spinach releases its water transfer to a colander to drain well.
- Meanwhile in a medium sauce pan whisk together the cashew milk, flour, nutritional yeast, onion and garlic powders until combined. Season with the sea salt and bring to a simmer whisking continuously until thick and creamy, approximately 5 minutes or so.
- Remove the cream sauce from heat and gently fold in the sautéed spinach. Taste and adjust seasonings with more sea salt. Add a little pinch of freshly grated nutmeg to taste (you can totally skip this step but believe or not, nutmeg and spinach have a thing going on, use it).
- WFPB & Plantricious To make this recipe compliant make sure to use whole wheat pastry flour (not all purpose) and sautee in water or veggie stock instead of oil.
Video
Notes
- The fresh spinach can be replaced with 1/2 lb of frozen spinach, thawed out and squeezed very well.
- To keep this recipe WFPB & Plantricious compliant make sure to use whole wheat pastry flour (not all purpose) and sautee in water or veggie stock instead of oil.
Nutrition
Calories: 66kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 171mg | Potassium: 698mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 10633IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 118mg | Iron: 3mg
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 66kcal
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Prettiest creamed spinach I’ve ever seen and I’m in love with how simple this recipe is to throw together. The flavor is on point, I couldn’t help myself and added a little olive oil because my diet starts in January haha, but I really don’t think it needs it to be honest. I could literally eat the entire bowl with pita chips right now 😘
Agreed, Julie! This was easy and delicious. Love that it uses powdered onion and garlic rather than sautéing onion and garlic first. I used the cashew milk suggested, but I honestly think this would be fine with plain soy milk, then no need to dirty a blender. I used a package of chopped spinach in my freezer along with fresh chopped kale. Thanks for permission to do easy dairy subs!
I am blown away at how amazing this spinach turned out. I’m certain this was the best creamed spinach I’ve ever eaten and paired perfectly with your jackfruit ribs. Thank you for sharing and keep those recipes coming.
Looking forward to making this. Can I use soy milk in place of the cashew milk?
Sure you can, just make sure to use a plain one, not flavored nor sweetened.
Delicious and so easy to make. I did use soy milk and the nutmeg shouldn’t be optional. 🙂
Great recipe!
Incredible recipe, I used frozen spinach and it was delicious.
Can I use almond flour or gluten free flour instead ?
I have not tested the recipe with almond flour but yes a gluten free flour should work, I’m thinking brown rice flour or just tapioca which will give it a cheesier stretchy texture.
This was great! I used beet greens and spring mix, since that is what I had. I also used canned coconut milk as the milk. I subbed the regular flour with tapioca starch, too, since we are gluten free. Thanks for a yummy recipe!
The instructions say to “Season with “the” sea salt”, but the ingredients don’t list sea salt or how much to use.
Yes because everyone’s taste is different, so season to your own taste and If you are happy without salt even better.
Florentina – I made this recipe with almond milk and really enjoyed the ease and simplicity – and the creamy texture and overall yumminess was so on point. I feel no guilt indulging in such a wonderful dish. I paired this with some tofu shawarma, tomato and avocado salad, and kale salad. I look forward to trying more of your recipes! Thank you.
I used this as a ‘guideline’ as I didn’t have all of the exact ingredients but I was desperately craving some creamed spinach!
I used a 1/2 pound of frozen spinach and Oat milk instead of cashews. I didn’t have garlic or onion powder so instead i diced half of an onion and some garlic and sautéed that a bit before i added the frozen spinach to the pan and THIS TASTES SO GOOD. I have some vegan parmesan that I was going to sprinkle on top but ultimately decided against it because this is perfect as is, really doesn’t need anything else. Can’t wait to make this again!
This was fantastic and so easy. I stirred in some tempeh bacon I had made and WOW…OTT good. I am going to make this again but omit the garlic powder just because it is a heartburn trigger for my husband…probably just increase the onion powder, I guess. I’m sure it will still be delish. Thanks so much for sharing.