Our Favorite Spinach Pasta Recipes Will Help You Add More Greens to Your Weeknight Dinners
Much as we love a spinach salad, we firmly believe that the best vehicle for spinach is pasta. The green leaves wilt down and heat up in mere minutes, providing bright color, a smooth texture, and an abundance of nutrients that will truly level up your pasta game. How does spinach improve your dish's nutritional value? It's an extremely nutrient-dense ingredient, meaning it's low in calories but high in beneficial nutrients, including iron, calcium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, K, and B9 (otherwise known as folate). And if all that isn't enough to make you see that spinach is a powerhouse, don't forget that this leafy green vegetable provides tons of fiber and antioxidants, too. Spinach is also an accessible ingredient—it's available frozen, fresh, and canned—so you can always keep some on hand. And you can easily use it in one of our spinach pasta recipes for dinner tonight.
Easy Creamed Spinach
Our take on the classic creamed spinach side dish uses fresh spinach and cream cheese as a thickener. It's a crowd pleasing recipe that's popular with both young and old.
Creamy Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes
Like your favorite dip reinvented as a meal, and made healthier to boot! Sauteed chicken cutlets cook fast, and cream cheese provides a little richness with less fat than heavy cream.
Chicken and Spinach Casserole
Use the supermarket staple of rotisserie chicken in this comforting casserole. Combine shredded chicken with sauteed spinach in a cream sauce, pour into a baking dish, and top with torn bread. Serve your family this creamy, bubbling casserole for a cozy dinner.
Stracciatella Soup
There are many versions of this favorite Italian soup that's quick to make and oh so soothing. It’s an egg drop soup made with chicken broth and Parmesan cheese. In Lucinda Scala Quinns’s stracciatella soup, she adds baby spinach right before serving.
Cheesy Spinach-Potato Egg Casserole
A fantastic one-dish meal, our egg casserole with spinach and potatoes is naturally gluten-free and vegetarian, making it perfect for a gathering with mixed dietary needs. And while it is special enough to serve at a holiday brunch, the fact that you can prep it all the night before means that it is easy enough for everyday mornings, too.
Steamed Spinach in the Microwave
This recipe uses a microwave to steam the remaining fresh spinach from Meaghan's Lasagna just before serving.
Bacon and Spinach Quiche
Can't decide between a quiche Lorraine or Florentine for your next brunch? Add bacon and spinach to the basic filling for the best of both worlds.
Spinach and Gruyere Quiches
An outstanding quiche relies on a few simple elements: a creamy egg custard, buttery homemade crust, and flavorful cheese and vegetables. This family-friendly brunch recipe delivers all three.
Lemony Pasta with Goat Cheese and Spinach
This is one of the quickest, most efficient suppers on the planet. Creamy goat cheese makes its own sauce, but it needs the fresh brightness of lemon to really pop.
Steamed Spinach
Spinach greens will become tender in a few minutes after steaming, so don't walk away from them.From the book "Mad Hungry," by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books).
Dan Dan Noodles
Making chili oil from scratch is easy and adds a delicious complex flavor to this dish, but you can use regular hot chili oil instead in a pinch.