THIS TRIED AND TRUE FAMILY FAVORITE CREAMED SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS WILL HAVE GROWNUPS AND EVEN THE PICKIEST KIDDOS COMING BACK FOR SECONDS THANKS TO ITS CLASSIC CREAMY TASTE AND SURPRISE BUTTERY BREADCRUMB TOPPING.
Easy Creamed Spinach and Mushrooms
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Hey Eazy Peazy readers! This is Jessica from Coffee & Crayons and I am back to share one of my all time favorite side dishes- Creamed Spinach and Mushrooms.
Truth be told, I didn’t always love this dish. Ok, not this exact dish, but the creamed spinach my parents always served when I was little. They tried, really they did, but even with the cream it was bland and boring. As a result, I had pretty much given up on spinach until my college years where I learned about all the amazing health benefits of this leafy green.
So what makes Spinach so super?
- Spinach contains high levels of beta carotene, lutein and xanthene, all of which are beneficial for eyesight. Beta Carotene is supplied to the eyes via cooked spinach and helps with Vitamin A deficiency, itching eyes or dry eyes.
- Spinach is high in potassium and low in sodium; this is especially beneficial for individuals who have high blood pressure.
- Spinach helps strengthen muscles and aids in bone mineralization. Translation- spinach may help treat and prevent several cardiovascular diseases (after all, the heart is a muscle) and osteoporosis.
- More than a dozen anti-inflammatory compounds are found in spinach.
- Spinach is an affordable and easy to find leafy green that can be cooked and prepared in a variety of recipes.
Given all these amazing health benefits (and the reality that my toddler would never eat raw spinach), I decided it was time to make my very own version of the classic creamed spinach.
This Easy Creamed Spinach and Mushrooms is still rich, still creamy and yes, so super easy to prepare.
What makes this creamed spinach so special? For starters, there’s mushrooms in there, too. We’re a mushroom-loving family, so this seemed like an obvious addition. If you’re not a fan, that’s ok, too. Just double up on the spinach and you’re good to go. Aside from the mushrooms, the most obvious addition is the crunchy, buttery almond breadcrumb topping. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with a little added buttery crunch when it’s paired with something super creamy. It’s one extra super easy step that is so worth it. Finally, cheese. This creamed spinach has both Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese. I add mini mozzarella balls because I think they’re fun and super cute, but regular mozzarella would work just fine, too.
Do you have any favorite creamy spinach recipes? I would love to hear about them!
Other easy and delicious spinach recipes:
More side dishes you might like to try:
- Easy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes
- Roasted Corn with Bacon and Caramelized Onion
- Mashed Loaded Sweet Potatoes
- Honey Braised Carrots
- Honey Balsamic Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts
Easy Creamed Spinach and Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 3 16 ounce bags frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 2 Tbs butter
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 16 ounces mushrooms sliced
- salt + pepper
- 6 ounces cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups half and half or cream I used half and half
- 1/4 cup parmesan shredded
- 8 ounces mini mozzarella balls OR 1 cup shredded mozzarella
For the Breadcrumb Topping
- 2 Tbs salted butter melted
- 1 cup panko Japanese style breadcrumbs
- 1/4 cup roasted crushed almonds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- Remove excess water from the thawed spinach; you can do this using a mesh wire strainer, cheesecloth, or tea cloth. Set spinach aside.
- Melt butter in large (oven safe) skillet or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for an additional 30 seconds before adding the sliced mushrooms and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Allow the mushrooms to cook for 6-7 minutes, allowing them to release their water and enough time for part of the water to boil off.
- Push the onions and mushrooms to one side of the skillet and add the cream cheese to the other side. Use a whisk to break it apart and slowly incorporate it with any remaining liquid in the pan. Reduce heat to medium low and whisk the half and half or cream in with the cream cheese and mushrooms. Continue to cook until fully combined and the half and half is heated through (NOT boiling!).
- Add the thawed spinach and parmesan to the skillet and mix to combine with the cream and mushrooms. Continue to cook until heated through, approximately 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl melt two tablespoons of butter. Stir the panko breadcrumbs and crushed almonds in with the butter. Set aside.
- Remove the skillet with the creamy spinach and mushrooms from the heat and carefully top with the mini mozzarella balls or shredded mozzarella cheese (alternatively, you can stir this in with the spinach if you prefer). Sprinkle the top with the panko almond breadcrumb mixture and bake at 425 degrees for approximately 8-10 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the spinach is starting to bubble at the sides.
- Remove from the oven and serve!
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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