My version of Spinach Maria – this creamed spinach – is smooth, savory, and has a light spicy kick from the red peppers. It’s an easy recipe that’s ready in 30 minutes, making it the perfect side dish for any day of the week. No need to go to Calhoun’s for this Spinach Maria-inspired recipe!
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💭Why you’ll love this recipe
- Hints of spice. I use mustard and red pepper flakes along with yellow onions and garlic to add some nice aromatics and break the richness of the heavy cream and cheese.
- Fresh cheese to keep things light. The traditional recipe uses cream cheese, which adds a sour note. I use mozzarella and cheddar jack in my recipe for extra cheesiness.
- Make-ahead and freezer-friendly dish. This dish can be made ahead of time (up to 3 days) and can also be easily frozen.
📋 Ingredients and notes
This easy creamed spinach recipe is inspired by Spinach Maria from Calhoun’s, an east Tennessee steakhouse. It’s a spicy creamed spinach casserole.
To make this recipe, you’ll need spinach, butter, heavy cream, yellow onion, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, Dijon mustard, mozzarella, and cheddar jack cheese.
Variations and substitutions
- Spinach. Use fresh or frozen spinach. Frozen spinach makes it easy to throw this dish together, but fresh spinach typically has a more vibrant green color finish. You can also use baby spinach.
- Heavy cream. You can also use half and half or whole milk for a less creamy version. But don’t go any less fatty than whole milk!
- Cheese. I used a combination of mozzarella and cheddar jack cheese. Make sure to grate or shred them fresh, for the best flavor. You can also add parmesan cheese for a depth of flavor.
- Garlic. You can also use minced garlic cloves, but saute them with the onions.
- Spices. I only used Dijon mustard and red pepper flakes but you can also use other warm spices like nutmeg or cayenne pepper to adjust it to your taste preference.
- Salt. I find that additional salt is not necessary for this recipe, but if you prefer, you can add a pinch to the cream mixture.
👩🏽🍳 How to make creamed spinach from scratch
I like to use a cast iron skillet for this recipe because it allows me to throw it straight into the oven for the last step. However, if you don’t want to bake the top, you are welcome to use a regular pan or any large skillet and transfer to an oven-proof container for the last step.
Step 1:
If using fresh spinach, blanch in a pot of hot water, drain the water and set aside – you can use an ice bath to preserve the color as desired. You can also chop up the blanched spinach if you want smaller bites (but I prefer not to do this!)
Step 2:
If you do the optional baking step at the end, preheat oven to 350°F.
Step 3:
In a cast iron skillet (or oven safe skillet) melt butter on medium heat and then sauté the onions until they are fully sweated (about 3 to 4 minutes).
Step 4:
Add heavy cream and stir to combine until bubbles start to appear. Reduce the heat to low and then add Dijon mustard, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer.
Step 4:
Next, add the Mozzarella and 4 oz of the Cheddar Jack cheese and whisk to create a thick gooey cheese sauce. If you’re not planning to bake in the last step, add all the cheese at this step!
Step 5:
Squeeze all possible excess water out of the spinach and then add to the cheese sauce. Give everything a good mix until combined.
Step 6:
Add the 2 oz of Cheddar jack on top and bake in the oven for about 3-4 minutes until the top layer melts really well. Top with a bit more red pepper flakes and black pepper and serve hot!
Shruthi’s Top Tip
To thaw frozen spinach, place it in a colander and run cold water over it until it’s completely thawed. This helps prevent the spinach from becoming soggy. Once thawed, press down on the spinach with a clean kitchen towel or paper towels to remove excess moisture.
- When adding the heavy cream, stir continuously to prevent it from scorching. Let it come to a gentle simmer to help the flavors meld together.
- If the cheese sauce seems too thick after adding the spinach, you can add a splash of milk or additional cream to achieve your desired consistency.
- If you choose to bake it, keep an eye on it to avoid burning the cheese. You want it to melt and bubble, not brown too much.
👩🏽🍳 Troubleshooting FAQs
Absolutely. I use 24 oz of fresh spinach in this recipe, but you can just cut that in half if using frozen spinach – so, about 1 lb of frozen spinach will work just fine. You can also skip the blanching step if using frozen.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil (cover the pot for the first few minutes). Then, once it’s at a rolling boil, drop the spinach in for about 1 minute. Drain the spinach using a colander and wash with cold water. Finally, squeeze any excess water and pat dry using a kitchen towel. I prefer doing this instead of adding fresh spinach straight to the skillet so I can reduce the volume (blanching helps keep vibrant green color of fresh spinach!)
I suggest using heavy cream (because, well, it’s creamed spinach). However, you can also use half and half or whole milk if you want to lighten the recipe a bit. I don’t recommend using 2% milk since the resulting creaminess is not ideal for this recipe.
🍴 How to serve creamed spinach
Creamed spinach can be served as a side all year long, though it’s also a fantastic side for any Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday meal. After all, who doesn’t love creamy goodness? It’s also a great way to get your kids to eat spinach if they don’t love it normally.
I like to serve it as a side dish alongside my vegan turkey roast, mushroom wellington, or stuffed acorn squash. You can also use it as a dip for tortilla chips, crackers, or vegetable sticks.
🍴Storage and reheating suggestions
This creamed spinach casserole is a great make ahead side dish. You can make it 3 days before you need it and just store it in the fridge in an airtight container. Skip the last step when you make it ahead. Then, when you’re ready to eat, reheat the spinach on the stove top, add the topping and bake for 10 minutes.
It’s also freezer friendly. Again, skip the last step. Then store the spinach in an airtight container in the freezer – it can last as long as three months! I love making a big batch of this spinach casserole (as large as my skillet will accommodate usually) and then freezing leftovers in individual portions for dinners.
To thaw frozen creamed spinach, throw in a microwave safe container, add a spoonful of water, and then heat in a microwave for around 2 minutes. I typically increase in 30 second intervals and watch the spinach as it thaws. Alternatively, you can move it from the freezer to the fridge the night before.
🍴 More casserole recipes
If you like cheesy recipes, try these casserole dishes:
Cheesy Green Bean Casserole
Spaghetti Squash Casserole
3 Ingredient Broccoli Cheese Casserole
Corn Casserole with Cream Cheese
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to comment and rate! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Creamed Spinach (Spinach Maria)
Ingredients
- 24 oz fresh spinach, Substitute with 12 oz frozen spinach
- ⅓ cup butter, unsalted
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups heavy cream, can substitute with half and half or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1.5 teaspoon red pepper flakes, divided, 1/2 teaspoon for garnish
- 4 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 6 oz shredded Cheddar Jack cheese , divided; use half Monterrey Jack and half Sharp Cheddar if buying separate
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, for garnish
Instructions
- If using fresh spinach, blanch in a pot of hot water, drain the water and set aside – you can use an ice bath to preserve the color as desired. You can also chop up the blanched spinach if you want smaller bites (but I prefer not to do this!)
- If you do the optional baking step at the end, preheat oven to 350°F
- In a cast iron skillet (or oven safe skillet) melt butter on medium heat and then sauté the onions until they are fully sweated (about 3 to 4 minutes)
- Add heavy cream and stir to combine until bubbles start to appear. Reduce the heat to low and then add Dijon mustard, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer.
- Next, add the Mozzarella and 4 oz of the Cheddar Jack cheese and whisk to create a thick gooey cheese sauce. If you're not planning to bake in the last step, add all the cheese at this step!
- Squeeze all possible excess water out of the spinach and then add to the cheese sauce. Give everything a good mix until combined.
- Add the 2 oz of Cheddar jack on top and bake in the oven for about 3-4 minutes until the top layer melts really well. Top with a bit more red pepper flakes and black pepper and serve hot!
Notes
- If you use frozen spinach, you don’t need to blanch it. Just make sure to thaw it before you start this recipe and drain excess water before adding in.
- You can also just use Cheddar instead of Cheddar Jack or vary the proportions of the cheese to your liking!
- I find that additional salt is not necessary for this recipe, but if you prefer, you can add a teaspoon to the cream mixture.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Another way to make it spicy is to use jalapeño cream cheese…
You had me at three types of cheese ahahaha it was so delicious and easy to make!! Served with chicken and it was such a perfect simple dinner and the leftovers were even better!!! I love this recipe!!! Thank you!
I tried this spinach and cheese dish with some added diced bacon for extra flavor. It turned out so creamy and perfect!
De-friggin-licious. I changed up the method (and used variations on the ingredients) a little because I wanted to sauté the fresh spinach instead of blanching. I added it to the skillet after the onions and just left it in. Kinda pushed it to the side to let some of the liquid boil off. Then proceeded with the recipe, using half & half, pepper Jack cheese, sharp cheddar, and instead of garlic powder I used a garlic & onion blend. Also left out the red pepper since I used pepper Jack cheese. Not exactly the same recipe in the end because of my changes but boy was it good!
Thank you so much! So glad you liked it.
I loved the combination of different cheese and the red pepper flakes. It was so much better than my normal creamed spinach. PLUS it was low carb, I’m all about that.
Thank you so much! So glad you loved it.
This creamed spinach looks really tasty. I am going to try out this recipe. Thank you for sharing.
My friend, who doesn’t like spinach, actually loved this so I think it is a keeper! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank you so much! That’s really lovely to know.
One of my favorite ways to sneak some extra greens into my diet. So yummy. Thank you for sharing.
This was perfectly cheesy and very flavorful. I served it as a side with ham and my family gobbled it up!
I grew up on the stuff from Calhoun’s and have repeatedly failed at making their recipe. This is far easier and just as tasty. There’s a slight difference but it’s a near duplicate. I don’t live near a Calhoun’s now so this is great. Thank you!
This makes me so happy, thank you for taking the time to share back!
Is canned cream(evaporated milk) okay to use in this recipe?
You can use an equal amount of evaporated milk in place of heavy cream!