Wilted Spinach - How to wilt spinach?

If you are looking for some tips on how to wilt the spinach greens, you are in the right place. Wilted spinach is the easiest spinach recipe. This is a quick recipe that takes only 5 minutes to make.

Spinach is a dark green leafy vegetable. I would say this is one of the healthiest vegetables on this planet. I love spinach and love to incorporate it into any of my recipes. Here, read spinach's health benefits and a collection of vegetarian spinach recipes on the blog. Also, I have a roundup of some great vegan spinach recipes for other blogs.

This is an infographic on the nutrition and health benefits of this healthy leafy vegetable, spinach.

Spinach is also versatile; you can add it to any of your dishes, like rice, soups, mains, sides, smoothies, and more. Raw spinach is also edible and preferably added to salads. But I don't like raw ones. So the best one for me is wilted spinach or sauteed spinach. Sauteed spinach is perfect for any salad, as a side, as the main course, etc.

What is wilted spinach?

Wilted spinach is briefly cooked until it just shrinks, so it's not soggy and mushy. This is the best way to eat a leafy vegetable like spinach, as it maximizes the nutrients of the leaves. Overcooking makes it look dull and causes the loss of many essential nutrients.

Spinach is a leafy vegetable that has more water content. It releases its water as soon as it's heated and starts to wilt. So, any additional water will take more time to evaporate. This will result in overcooking of the leaves. Overcooking spinach makes it dull and causes a loss of essential nutrients. So we need to cook the spinach till it's just shrinking.

How to wilt spinach leaves?

Wilting the spinach leaves is one of the easiest and quickest tasks. It takes only 5 minutes if you are using packed baby spinach. These leaves are generally pre-washed, so they are clean, and you can directly add them to the pan.

Otherwise, you have to wash and clean the leaves to remove any grits. But those come with some extra water while cooking, so you need to dry them before adding them to the pan. A salad spinner works best for this purpose. Otherwise, you can air dry them for some time to ensure we are not adding any water when we add the spinach leaves to the pan.

How to cook spinach - 2 ways

In fact, there are two ways to wilt spinach: blanching and sauteing.

Blanching/ Steaming-

Place the spinach leaves in boiling water and blanch for 2 - 3 minutes until they start to shrink and just wilt. You can also place them in a steamer basket and steam them in the steamer pot for 3 minutes. Then, toss with a bit of salt and a pinch of salt. Add any seasoning to give the wilted spinach salad a flavor.

Sautéing Spinach-

This is another easy method for wilting spinach greens. Just three ingredients and your quick wilted spinach is ready in 5 minutes. Here, I have added a good amount of garlic, as garlic adds lots of flavor to the recipe. These two are heavenly combinations, in fact. The other ingredients are oil and salt. That's it.

Instructions to make wilted spinach

Heat oil in a skillet. Add roughly diced garlic and saute on low flame for about a minute. Now add spinach greens and season with salt. If you have a slightly larger quantity of spinach to add, then do that in batches.

I'll tell you how. Add a bunch of leaves to the pan. Once they come in contact with heat, they will start to shrink. It just takes 15 - 20 seconds. Then, add the next batch of leaves and toss them so that they can come in contact with the pan.

After adding all the leaves, season with a pinch of salt; the spinach will shrink, releasing some water. Keep the flame on medium to high and sauté for 2 - 3 minutes until all the water evaporates. A delicious, healthy side is ready in just 5 minutes.

How to serve wilted spinach?

As I said, this is a versatile dish that can be used in many ways. You can add it as a side dish or to your soups, lentils, and rice recipes (in the end) as well.

How to store the wilted spinach?

If packed properly, these can be stored for a long time. You can also freeze them, and they stay good for up to 9 - 12 months. Place the wilted spinach in the freezer pouches or bags. Remove air as much as possible. Now roll the bag, making sure it's well closed.

Even in the refrigerator, it stays good for up to a week. If you are planning to add this to your soups, curry, make gravies, purees, you may love to make ahead of your wilted spinach. Store in an air-tight box (with lid) and refrigerate for 5 - 7 days.

More Spinach Recipes here - vegan spinach recipes, vegetarian spinach recipes.

Recipe Card for Wilted Spinach

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