Spinach cooked with garlic and olive oil in a skillet on stove top, then sprinkled with freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest. Easy instructions on how to cook spinach the easy way, the natural way.
This is the recipe for the best cooked spinach. It’s cooked with a minimum of ingredients, with the addition of just olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Tasty, quick, healthy, and beautiful side dish! Scroll down to see how to cook spinach. Spinach goes great with pasta, grilled meats, steak, and chicken. It’s very easy to make, inexpensive, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free!
Cooking tips
If you have too much spinach, or want a steakhouse quality side dish for your grilled meats, this is the right recipe for you! The secret to how to cook fresh spinach properly is to not overcook it.
- Spinach really requires only a couple of minutes of cooking, and then you just let it wilt, off heat, in a covered pan. That’s pretty much all there is to it, plus you also sauté some garlic for flavor.
- When cooking the garlic, make sure it doesn’t burn so keep stirring at all times.
- Add just a touch of fresh lemon juice to your cooked spinach. Do not add a lot, only about a quarter of a small lemon. Do not use bottled lemon juice as it is too acidic!
- Finally, top the spinach with lemon zest! Again, not a lot of lemon zest, just a touch to add a subtle citrus flavor.
That’s how easy it is to cook spinach!
How to cook spinach on stove top
Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add 3 cloves of minced fresh garlic and saute the garlic for about 1 minute, constantly stirring.
Add spinach, a handful at a time, and adding another handful as spinach wilts, and cook, uncovered, on medium-high heat for only a minute or two
This is what the spinach looks like after being cooked only for 1 minute and having been sitting for 2-3 more minutes, off heat, in a covered pan (the photo right below). See how pretty it is, and it has that steakhouse beautiful texture to it?
Spinach doesn’t need more than 1 minute of cooking in a preheated skillet. If you cook it longer, the texture will suffer (it will be crumbly), and spinach can acquire some sort of bitterness to it.
Top the spinach with finely grated lemon zest which adds just the right amount of kick!
Easy main dishes to go with cooked spinach
- Pan-Fried Pork Chops with Honey Lime Glaze
- Cilantro Lime Honey Garlic Salmon
- Trout with Garlic Lemon Butter Herb Sauce
- Honey Lime Chicken Thighs
Similar side dishes
If you liked this freshly cooked spinach, you might also like these freshly cooked green veggies:
- Asiago Bacon Garlic Roasted Asparagus – baked in the oven.
- Oven Roasted Asiago Cheese Broccoli – crunchy and crispy broccoli baked in the oven.
- Garlic and Bacon Green Beans – sautéed on stove top in olive oil and butter.
Spinach is cooked with olive oil and garlic, made even better with freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook spinach the easy way! Easy to make - only about 10 minutes total cooking time! Healthy and beautiful side dish to grilled meats, steak, and chicken. Inexpensive, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free!
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 16 oz spinach fresh
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 whole lemon (freshly squeezed lemon juice)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest or peel
- salt and cracked pepper
- Sautee spinach uncovered - to really get best spinach results, you cook it just enough to wilt - don't overcook.
Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add 3 cloves of minced fresh garlic when the oil is hot, and saute the garlic for about 1 minute to release the flavor, constantly stirring to keep garlic from burning.
Add spinach, a handful at a time, and adding another handful as spinach wilts, and cook, uncovered, on medium-high heat for only 1 minute, constantly stirring, uncovered.
- Remove from heat and cover. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes. Uncover, and mix. Squeeze just a touch of fresh lemon juice right out of the lemon (using about a quarter of small lemon), and stir to combine. Do not use bottled lemon juice (it's too acidic).
- Taste the spinach, and add a pinch of salt, if needed (about 1/8 teaspoon), and fresh cracked pepper. It should be enough, add more salt and pepper if needed. Top with lemon zest.
Doesn’t the spinach release a lot of water and then weaken the flavors of the garlic.
That’s why you cook spinach uncovered. This way, the water evaporates, and the spinach wilts perfectly!
Spinach + garlic + olive oil is a match-made-in-heaven. Thank you so much for this wonderful post and recipe Julia.
You are very welcome! Enjoy!
Wow. This is the best spinach I ever made! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
So glad you liked it! Thank you for your kind comment!
You say in your ingredients 3 cloves of garlic. In the instructions you put 2 cloves in pan to saute. I’m missing the other clove? Love garlic. Thanks.
Yes, it should be 3 garlic cloves. Just corrected the recipe! I love garlic too!
Hi, i’m su yeun from South Korea. Your recipes are easy to follow. Thank you! I’ll come here often 🙂
Enjoy the recipes!
Can’t find how much olive oil to use.
Spinach – check
Garlic – Check
Lemon juice – check
Lemon zest – check
Olive oil…
Olive oil…
Bueller? Bueller?
2 tablespoons of olive oil – the amounts are listed in the ingredients section of the recipe card.
I HAVE AN AVERSION TO OLIVE OIL. CAN I USE PAM SPRAY INSTEAD. ALSO CAN YOU SUGGEST GOOD QUALITY OLIVE OIL WHERE THE TASTE ISNT OVERBEARING
Yes, you can use pam spray. You can also use vegetable oil. Also, try olive oil that’s labeled mild – it has a milder flavor.
Can I use Pam cooking spray instead of olive oil
Do you just turn off the heat and cover it for 2-3 minutes using the same pan that we sautéed it in (which is still hot)? Or use a separate pan that is not hot at all?
Yes, use the same pan. Just remove the pan from the heat and keep it covered to wilt the spinach. Don’t use a separate pan.