Wilted Spinach - How to wilt spinach?

If you are looking for some tips on how to wilt the spinach greens, you are in 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. This is one of the healthiest vegetables on this planet I would say. I love spinach and love to incorporate these into any of my recipes. Here read the health benefits of spinach along with a collection of vegetarian spinach recipes on the blog. Also, I have a roundup of some great vegan spinach recipes for other blogs as well.

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

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

What is wilted spinach?

Wilted spinach is briefly cooked spinach until it just shrinks. So it's not soggy and mushy. These are the best form to eat this leafy vegetable like spinach as in this way we can maximize the nutrients of the leaves. Overcooking not only makes it look dull but also 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. And 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?

To wilt 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 these are clean leaves and you can directly add them to the pan.

Otherwise, you have to wash and clean the leaves to clean any grits. But those come with some extra water while cooking. So you need to dry it before adding it to the pan. A salad spinner works best for this purpose. Otherwise, you can air dry it 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

There are 2 ways to wilt the spinach in fact. One is blanching, and the second one is sauteing.

Blanching/ Steaming-

Place the spinach leaves in boiling water and blanch for 2 - 3 minutes till it starts to shrink and just wilted. Also, you can place them in a steamer basket and steam them in the steamer pot for 3 minutes. Then toss it with a little salt and a pinch of salt. You can add any seasoning to give the wilted spinach salad a particular flavor.

Sautéing Spinach-

This is another easy method to wilt the spinach greens. Just 3 ingredients and your quick wilted spinach are 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 into it and saute on low flame for about a minute. Now add spinach greens and season with salt. If you have a little larger quantity of spinach to add, then do that in batches.

I'll tell you how. Add a bunch of leaves to the pan. It will start to shrink once it comes in contact with heat. 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 leaves, season it with a pinch of salt. Spinach will start to shrink releasing some water. Keep the flame on medium to high and sauté for 2 - 3 minutes till all water evaporates. And a delicious, healthy side is ready in just 5 minutes.

How to serve wilted spinach?

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

How to store the wilted spinach?

These can be stored for a long if packed properly. You can also freeze them and it stays 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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