Fresh Creamed Spinach
This creamed spinach recipe is made with fresh baby spinach and cream cheese. It's rich and creamy, but not over the top. Easy to make, too!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on September 5, 2024
Creamed spinach can go right or wrong, and this creamed spinach recipe is just right. The creaminess comes from cream cheese rather than heavy cream, which offers some delectable tanginess. Fresh baby spinach cooks down in mere minutes, no chopping required, so this recipe is ready in roughly twenty minutes.
Creamed spinach will never be the prettiest menu item on your Thanksgiving table, but the verdant color of freshly cooked spinach will liven up otherwise beige plates. The more greens the better, I say.
I didn’t grow up with creamed spinach at our Thanksgiving suppers. I’ve found it on steakhouse menus while searching for vegetarian options. The name “creamed spinach” doesn’t sound terribly enticing, does it?
I wasn’t sold on the general concept until I realized that it’s almost like spinach dip in side dish form. Creamed spinach earned my full attention in that moment.
After some trial and error, I’m sharing this recipe because I think it’s worthy of your attention, too. It’s delicious, creamy, comforting and just so nice!
How to Make the Best Creamed Spinach
Creamed spinach is easy to make with basic ingredients, yet the end result tastes like more than the sum of its parts. It’s rich and creamy but not over the top. Here’s why this recipe works so well (keep scrolling for the full recipe):
- First, sauté mellow yellow onion in butter and simple seasonings—salt, pepper and an optional pinch of cayenne. This step smells amazing and forms the backbone of flavor for this dish.
- Then, add fresh baby spinach in handfuls, stirring after each. Sometimes I’ll suggest using frozen spinach, but fresh spinach is superior in flavor and texture in this case.
- Once the spinach is wilted, add garlic. We’re adding the garlic later on so it doesn’t have a chance to burn, and we’ll cook it just until it’s fragrant. As always, please use fresh garlic, not store-bought minced garlic.
- Finally, stir in cream cheese until it’s creamy and melted, followed by some Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper until the flavors really sing. You’re done!
Watch How to Make Creamed Spinach
Please let me know how your creamed spinach turns out in the comments. I love hearing from you and hope this recipe makes an appearance at your Thanksgiving meal. For more Thanksgiving-worthy recipes, check out my Thanksgiving roundup.
Fresh Creamed Spinach
This creamed spinach recipe is made with fresh baby spinach and cream cheese. It’s deliciously rich and creamy, but not over the top. Recipe yields 4 to 6 side servings.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Tiny pinch of cayenne pepper (optional, for subtle heat)
- 16 ounces baby spinach
- 4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cut into 1-inch chunks
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a medium Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, salt, pepper and optional cayenne. Cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
- Add the spinach in big handfuls, stirring after each one. Cook until all of the spinach is wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 more minute.
- Add the cream cheese to the pot. Continue cooking and stirring until the cream cheese has completely melted and the mixture is creamy. Add the Parmesan and stir to combine.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Carefully taste, and season with additional salt and pepper, if you’d like. Serve warm.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Just made this creamed spinach. Delicious!!!
Very good. I would use a little less salt. Also didn’t have enough spinach so I added some chopped artichoke hearts and it was delicious.
That’s great to hear, Andy! Thank you for your review.
I made this last night with grilled, marinated flank steak. I rarely make something for the first time when we’re hosting company, but the recipe looked interesting and the reviews were great. Add this to the latter. It was fantastic and got rave reviews from our guests! Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys Creamed Spinach.
Great i never had creamed spinach before. The cream cheese sounded good and so was the Cayenne pepper .
I was wondering how I can save the recipes?❣️
Hi Janice! I’m glad you loved it. You can save recipes by creating a Relish account or save them on Pinterest.
OMG !!! Absolutely No Words are adequate !!! Super Easy, Super Tasty !! I followed the recipe, to the letter. I usually do this the 1st time around…then try different things, the next time. THIS Does Not need Adjustments !!! PERFECT, As Is !!
Thank you!
This was delicious!! Though the recipe says 6 servings, there was barely enough for 3 people. My grandson threatened to eat the whole dish by himself! I will definitely be making this again. Also, I used regular spinach as that was what I had in the fridge. We like spicy, so also added more than a pinch of cayenne. Thank you for this special recipe.
Thank you for sharing, GG!
I always add a dash of nutmeg. Yum!
I made this last night. It was the best Creamed Spinach that I have has. I used fresh baby spinach. I can’t wait to try it again.
Wonderful to hear, Debbie! Thank you for your review.
Excellent!!! Love this recipe anf so easy to make
This creamed spinach was so good. I made for dinner tonight and it was very easy. Printed and will be saved in our favorites file.
Hooray! Thank you for your review, Brenda.
So delicious! I even added kale. Thanks
for sharing Kate!
You’re welcome, Tanesha! I appreciate your review.
Decided to make the bag spinach into creamed spinach at the last minute and I had everything on hand. It is really good, but I would leave the salt out until the final taste since the cream cheese can add some saltiness. Also might try a pinch of nutmeg next time. Overall, very good. Also, I made it in a 12 inch skillet, and it worked fine.
Thank you for sharing your feedback, Roland! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
I love how light it tastes compared to restaurant or pre-bagged versions. Will add to my holiday greens list this year as it will be great for my dad who has to eat GF (though this is a great side any time really once a chill hits the air)
I made this on a whim to use up a bunch of spinach, and it was SO GOOD! Better than any I’ve had in a restaurant.
Made this last night for a dinner side. OMG!! Followed this recipe to the T. Amazing. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Oliver! I’m glad you enjoyed it.
I am making cream spinach for the first time as I was asked to for Thanksgiving dinner. It’s going to be 11 to 15 people. How many people does this serve?
Hi! This yields 6 side serverings.
My granddaughter made this spinach dish for Thanksgiving. It was deeelishous! I had two helpings! I’d give it five stars!
Yummy! Great flavor
I’m excited you enjoyed it, Kathy! Thank you for your review.
So easy and yummy. Thank you.
This is great but I did not have enough spinach! Made the mistake of using a regular 5 ounce pack of baby spinach and it shrunk… I reduced the amount of cream cheese when I caught my mistake and used it as a “garnish”for our grilled pork chops… was just two of us so not a disaster! 16 ounces is ALOT raw I will know next time :-)
Simply easy to prepare. No fussy prep & grocery list. I LOVE cooked spinach. Thanks cookieandkate
You’re welcome, Linda! Thank you for your review.
Awesome! My family scraped their plates and asked for seconds! Easy and very flavorful. Fine matchsticks of water chestnuts gave a little texture to the recipe. Thank you for this fine new addition to my side dish repertoire.
I’m glad you loved it, Kay! Thank you or your review.
Why was my ‘sauce’ too runny?.I followed the instructions. I used fresh spinach
Hi Maria! It sounds like you may have not cooked out enough of the moisture form the spinach.
Great recipe, I used Gruyere – that’s what I had.
Cut it in half for wifey and I.
We loved it, thanks!
Great to hear, Tom!
Delicious! I added another clove of garlic since my family loves garlic, and they ate the entire bowl!
Hooray! That’s great, Kym.
Boy was this good. I grated nutmeg in it of course and followed the recipe adding a little more cream cheese because I had a whole container of fresh spinach. Oh and while watching TV I took time to cut most of the stems off. It made a big difference. I hope I get to add a pic. I served on sliced French baguettes with a bit of fresh Parmesan cheese on top. Oh man oh man! Thanks for the recipe. I had always made it with heavy cream and next time I will try it with low fat good quality cream cheese.
I’m excited you enjoyed it, Marie! I appreciate your review.
This is delicious I made it for my son and myself this will be on our family menu Thank you!!
Best recipe for cream spinach I’ve ever made. Everyone loved it! I will only make this recipe moving forward.
Made one small change by using red pepper flakes.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Mellora!
Fabulous. You can eat a humongous helping and not feel like you are eating a vegetable at all!
I’m glad you loved it, Patti!
Made this tonight with fresh spinach because I wanted something a little more interesting than steamed. This was terrific! I didn’t think there would be enough flavor given the ingredients but it was just right! My husband just said “delish”!
Most delicious creamed spinach I have ever tasted! Thanks for the recipe: Loved it!
Great to hear, Nona! I appreciate your review.
This recipe for creamed spinach is missing some liquid to make it work. I added 8 oz. of chicken broth or it would have been a ball of cement. OOOO stars
I’m sorry you didn’t love this recipe as written. I’m glad you were able to make it work for you!
This recipe was perfect — I had all the ingredients on hand, and it came together so nicely and made the house smell wonderful. It tastes just the way I hoped it would, and I can see this being a side for all sorts of meals. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome, Beth! I appreciate you sharing.
Easy to make and sooo delicious! Will definitely be making again!
Wonderful to hear, Claudia! Thank you for sharing.
I’m a pretty good cook, actually, I’ve been told I’m an amazing cook…I was born and raised in the deep south, so it’s kind of a requirement! That being said, as much as I love creamed spinach, I have always been turned off from making it because of all of the steps that I’ve seen in other recipes; Sautee the spinach, set aside, Sautee onions and garlic, set aside…make a roux. Umm, no. Way too many steps for this ADHD woman! lol So I came across your recipe, decided it was doable and quick! Did I make it? Why yes I did and loved it! Thank you so much for quickie version of an all time favorite of mine! It was delicious!
I usually struggle to use up fresh spinach, but after trying this recipe, I don’t think that will be a problem any more! Absolutely delicious and so easy! Using the dutch oven made it a breeze, and I wouldn’t have thought of that myself. This one goes under family favorites for sure!
That’s great to hear, Veronica! I appreciate your review.
I cooked the spinach until soft which was a longer than the suggested time. Love this recipe. It turned out delicious.
Happy to hear that, Sonya!
The best creamed spinach recipe!! I highly recommend this!
Definitely the best spinach ever, thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome, Krystyna!
I made this recipe. I added the fresh garlic to the onions after 4 minutes so they sauteed, instead of adding after the spinach. Alao added some black pepper and more parmesan. Added some Nutmeg as well. Very good.
This was so easy and so delicious. I took a few creative liberties, using about a half stick of butter to prevent burning when adding spinach, and added 1T cream cheese, about 1/4 cup of heavy cream, and simmered for about 30 min. A dash of nutmeg at the beginning really brought a new dimension of warmth
Made it! It was delicious! Super creamy with the cream cheese! Made mine without parmesan cuz I didn’t have any. This will be my go to creamed spinach recipe.
Nutmeg in my creamed spinach mandatory….btw you are wonderful
This recipe is outstanding!
I’m excited you loved it, Susan! Thank you for your review.
This is the best creamed spinach recipe ever! Steakhouse quality, and so easy to make…
Absolutely delicious and easy to make! I ate it as a spread and as dressing on chickpeas!
Great to hear, Danny!
Ah-mazing!!! So good. Thank you
You’re welcome, Sarah!
This was so delicious my husband even ate his veggies. Lol. I made extra sauce to use on something else later this week.
I made this recipe last night. The flavor is nice however I only used 1 bag of spinach which was not enough for the recipe. Please put how much spinach we should be using to make this recipe.
Great recipe. I did add toasted slivered almonds at the end. I like a bit of crunch and the almonds seem to compliment the dish. Will definitely add this to my veggies rotation.