34 Ways to Use Leftover Spinach
Spinach is one of my favorite ingredients because not only is it nutritious, but it is extremely versatile. In fact, I keep frozen spinach on hand at all times. That being said, I do like to use fresh spinach from time to time because of its delicate texture, or if I plan on making salads for the week. Fresh spinach can be a bit pricy, though, so when I do buy it I try to use up every last leaf before it goes bad. As I worked my way through a large tub of fresh spinach this week, I thought about all the ways one could use their leftover spinach and decided to write up a post about it, so you’ll never be stuck tossing it in the garbage.
As I mentioned earlier, I do use a lot of frozen spinach in my recipes. Any time you see a recipe with frozen spinach, fresh spinach can be substituted as long as you sauté it first to remove the excess moisture. Sautéing is fast, easy, and only requires a splash of oil and a pinch of salt to help draw out the moisture. Sauté the spinach in a skillet until the liquid that pools at the bottom of the skillet evaporates away. Then, make sure to press it to remove any excess moisture before adding it to your recipe.
34 Ways to Use Leftover Spinach
I’ve broken down the recipes into five main categories, with a few miscellaneous ideas at the end. I hope you enjoy!
Adding spinach to soups and stews is probably one of the easiest ways to use up leftover spinach. Because the spinach will be swimming in hot liquid, there is no need to sauté the spinach first (if substituting for frozen in a recipe). Simply toss your fresh spinach in, a handful at a time, and stir until the hot soup or stew wilts the spinach down. Super easy, right? Here are some of my favorite soups and stews that are perfect for your leftover spinach:
- Garden Vegetable Lasagna Soup
- Navy Bean Soup with Sausage & Spinach
- Upgrading Instant Ramen
- Easy Egg Drop Soup
- Swamp Soup
Fresh spinach is also prefect for incorporating into your favorite pasta dish. Just as with soups and stews, the hot pasta or sauce is usually enough to wilt the fresh spinach and the extra moisture is usually not a problem. So, just toss in a couple handfuls of fresh spinach to your easy weeknight pasta dish and get more flavor, color, and nutrients! Here are my favorite pasta dishes that use fresh spinach:
- Bacon and Spinach Pasta with Parmesan
- Spinach and Artichoke Wonderpot (if using fresh spinach, stir it in at the very end)
- Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta
- Creamy Spinach and Sausage Pasta
- Sesame Noodles with Wilted Greens
- Creamy Pesto Mac with Spinach
- Easy Spinach Ricotta Pasta
PIZZAAAAA! Spinach has always been one of my favorite pizza toppings (and not just because it makes me feel a little less guilty about eating pizza). For the most part, you want to sauté your fresh spinach before adding it to the pizza so that it doesn’t get crispy and turn into the texture of tissue paper in the hot oven. Your other option is to place the spinach under your cheese so that it doesn’t dry out during baking. Here are a few of my favorite pizza recipes that include spinach:
- Eggs Florentine Breakfast Pizza
- Freezer Ready Mini Pizzas
- Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza
- Mushroom Spinach and Swiss French Bread Pizzas
- Easy White Spinach Pizza
Spinach and eggs are a match made in heaven. I can’t even count how many dishes I have that pair the two together. I love to sauté spinach right into my scrambled eggs, add spinach to my breakfast quesadillas and breakfast bowls, or bake it the spinach right into a quiche. Eggs release quite a bit of moisture on their own when cooked, so it’s a good idea to sauté your spinach before adding it to you egg dish, otherwise you might end up some pooling water. Here are my favorite egg and spinach dishes:
- Creamed Spinach Baked Eggs
- Veggie Packed Freezer Ready Breakfast Sandwiches
- Baked Eggs with Spinach and Tomatoes
- Joe’s Special (my way)
- Spinach Mushroom and Feta Crustless Quiche
- Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowls
And when all else fails, just start stuffing that fresh spinach into every sandwich, wrap, quesadilla, or enchilada that you eat! Seriously, spinach can go in just about anything. ;) Here are my favorite recipes where I stuff spinach in for a little extra nutrition:
- Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Wrap
- Spinach Artichoke Grilled Cheese
- Spinach Feta Grilled Cheese
- Mediterranean Quesadillas
- Spinach White Bean Enchiladas
Still need more ideas??
- How about stirring some spinach into your mashed potatoes? Spinach and Feta Mashed Potatoes
- Freeze your fresh spinach in bags with fruit for fast Smoothie Packs.
- Sauté your leftover spinach and add it to your favorite bowl meal (my favorite is Bibimbap!)
- Chop it, sauté it, and add it to a rice pilaf. Spinach and Chickpea Rice Pilaf
- And don’t forget creamed spinach, which is highlyIndian Style Creamed Spinach underrated, IMHO. Try for an extra special twist.
I hope that gives you some ideas!!
I am a fan of simply microwaving spinach. It just takes a sprinkle of water (what’s left from washing), a (vented) cover, and very few minutes. It is so amazing how much it shrinks! Anyway, using this method before freezing doesn’t add any oil or salt (if eating rather than freezing spinach, add seasonings after cooking).
Oh, I’m definitely doing it this way tomorrow!!!!
Hi. Thanks for consistently providing great recipes. I like the new design, but the full posts are no longer showing up in Feedly. Could you please correct this?
I think I got that fixed now! Let me know if it’s still truncating it after today. :)
I just realized the posts were all there again, so I wanted to say thanks. Hope everything with the move goes well. I went to Nashville for a conference last year and thought it was a great town.
Am not loving the new site design. Kind of chaotic looking, seems to ‘shout’ at you, and lacks the charm of the last two designs. Sorry, don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but did want to give some honest feedback as a long-time lover of your site and recipes.
I’m feeling the same way as Lisa about the site changes. HOWEVER, I got to thinking – I’m a programmer but not a designer though I get involved in trying to think how layout/fonts/colors, etc. work for our user audience. I typically look at my small group of favorite food blogs on my very large monitor, but from comments it has seemed to me (no solid evidence) that many look via phone or tablet. I do use tablet for cooking from and phone when at the store and want to check an ingredient. I took a look via iPad and IPhone and it didn’t feel so chaotic/busy/loud on the smaller devices.
And, with all changes, sometimes it just takes getting used to :) I am aware there is a lot of work and thought in a redesign. I am also aware that you never please everyone and it gets increasingly challenging when “we” all use various sized devices so as the site adjusts for size, it looks and feels different.
LOVE the spinach roundup! My Northwest Montana CSA experimented with overwintered spinach which was a success. It is a variety with huge leaves so a bit different than most store spinach. It is always a challenge with the early CSA boxes to use all of the greens and this post is giving me some great inspiration – Thanks, Beth!
Thanks for all these awesome ideas! I love using leftover spinach in everyday cooking, and frozen spinach too.
And love the new site design!
A great tip I just learned from Martha Stewart– the loose baby spinach that comes in bags or tubs can be thrown in the freezer as-is, right in the container. It freezes the leaves separately, not in clumps, so you can just take out a handful at a time to throw in whatever you’re making. It’s a game-changer. I never comment on anything ever, but I want to spread the word.
Love it! Thank you!
Great tip. Thank you!
Super great roundup! Hope your Memorial Day Weekend is amazing =)
Love all these ideas! We often buy spinach to put in green juices but find it goes off quite quickly so these recipes will come in handy. We can use our leftovers and then freeze the meal for the future! Thanks for sharing – loved all your ideas!
This post reminds me of one of your recipes that I like to use for extra fresh spinach: https://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/01/avocado-breakfast-pita/
In fact, I haven’t made this for awhile, so I’ll have to break it out this week!