Sautéed Spinach, Mushrooms, and Caramelized Onions - a delicious side dish recipe that will go great with lots of main dishes. Serve it with pasta, grilled meats, or seafood. You can also make it instead of gravy for the holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas).
The flavors of mushrooms, spinach, caramelized onions, garlic, and Parmesan cheese mingle really well in this meatless recipe. It's quite versatile: you can eat it as-is, especially if you're craving some good-tasting, creamy vegetables. You can serve it alongside some pasta, ravioli, or tortellini. It is also great with grilled steak, pork, or chicken.
For me, personally, this delicious Sautéed Spinach with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions is a favorite side dish for grilled meats. The recipe is flexible: you can exclude the creamy sauce and Parmesan cheese if you're trying to eat a little bit healthier (even though the recipe doesn't use much of either). You can also omit onions if you don't like them, or, if you don't have time to caramelize them, saute them.
Sautéed Spinach, Mushrooms, and Caramelized Onions
Ingredients
Caramelized onions
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 yellow onions , large, sliced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Other ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 10 oz mushrooms , sliced (I used button mushrooms)
- 6 oz spinach
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese , shredded
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
How to caramelize onions:
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil on medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add sliced onions and cook on high heat for about 10 minutes, constantly stirring with the spatula.
- The onions should start to brown, but without burning.
- Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking onions for 10 more minutes, continuing to stir, as onions brown even more without burning. At this point add a pinch of salt over onions.
- Continue cooking for 10 more minutes on medium or low heat, stirring occasionally to make sure onions don’t stick to the bottom of the pan or burn.
- In total, you should have cooked onions for 30 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from heat and sprinkle the onions with a small amount of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan.
- Using a spatula, stir the onions, scraping the bottom of the pan and coating onions with a pinch of balsamic vinegar you just added. Remove caramelized onions to a plate.
How to cook mushrooms and spinach:
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same skillet on medium heat. Add sliced mushrooms. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.
- Cook mushrooms for about 5 minutes, occasionally stirring, until mushrooms are soft.
- Add fresh spinach to the skillet and stir on low heat just until spinach starts to wilt.
How to make a creamy sauce
- Add half-and-half to the mushroom and spinach mixture and bring to a quick boil. Immediately reduce to simmer.
- Add ⅔ cup of shredded Parmesan cheese and ¼ teaspoon salt. Keep stirring while the sauce simmers until the cheese melts.
- Add caramelized onions back to the skillet with the pasta sauce.
- If the sauce is too thick, add a small amount of half-and-half to thin it out. If it is too thin, add a small amount of shredded Parmesan cheese, and stir it in, while the sauce simmers.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This was very good as prepared. Next time, I'll add garlic and a bit more balsamic. I served this with mushroom ravioli.
Hi Melanie! Garlic and a little extra balsamic sound like great additions—I'm sure it'll make it even more flavorful next time. Mushroom ravioli is a perfect pairing too!
GREAT RECIPE and flexible. I added uncooked gnocchi after sauté of mushrooms and before spinach. used 1/2 cup of broth instead of milk and used 1/2 cup heavy cream as directed. Lovely and one pan! Thank you
Hi Carole! I love your tweaks and the addition of gnocchi - so yummy! 🙂
Tried this and put it over chicken thighs and mashed potatoes. Excellent
That's a great way to serve this sauce, Vincent!
Julia, I learned a trick from Cook's Ilustrated on cooking mushrooms. Cook them without oil! When you add oil it gets soaked up quickly. If you cook them without oil they will release moisture that they cook in and cause a wonderful aroma in your kitchen.
Hi David! That's a great tip; I'll have to try that! 🙂
If you don’t have fresh spinach, could you substitute with canned spinach?
You could. Just make sure to drain it really well, so that it doesn't have an excess moisture.
In the context of your writing you mentioned garlic but there is no garlic in the recipe? Should garlic be added and if so at what point?
What is half and half please ?
Hi Hilary! 1 cup of half-and-half is 1/2 cup of heavy cream (about 35% fat content) + 1/2 cup whole milk.
Hi Julia.
Thank you for the amazing recipe. It was the first time I browned onions for 30 minutes, wow, it was worth it. The taste was fantastic.
Added some roast chicken pieces to the meal. Worked very well.
One of my favorite pasta recipes.
Looking forward to cooking many more of your scrumptious recipes.
Thank you so much for the 5-star review, Carlo! Glad you enjoyed the caramelized onions. Adding chicken is such a great idea—it’s a fantastic way to boost the protein! 🙂