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.
Never cut the stem off from a shiitake! According to recent valid researsch, it has more beta-glucan than other parts!!! I buy a lot of shiitake with big stems only because of the beta-glucan content.
loved it, I added white wine and shredded carrots, really fantastic
I tossed this with fettuccine for a meatless main dish. It was delicious! The only drawback was the time involved. Next time, I’m going to try starting the mushrooms first so that they can cook while I caramelize the onions.
I used the Mom U Instant Pot method for carmelizing the onions and I was gobsmacked by how good and easy they were!
https://youtu.be/rmFchbicyHk
I'm making this today. Make your carmalized onions ahead and freeze. I buy a bag off onions and carmalize, cool and put in sandwich bags 1/2 cup each and freeze. It takes a few minutes to thaw the onions and speeds up making any recipe calling for carmalized onions
Jan, this is such a great time-saving tip - thank you! 🙂
Delicious! Wouldn’t change a thing. Family loved it!
Can I use half and half? I don't have any heavy cream.
I did and then I added a little cream cheese to help thicken it.
Simply amazing!
Definitely the best spinach dish I have ever had, I used a mix of shiitake and baby Bella mushrooms and made the cream sauce version. It was so luscious. Already looking forward to making it again.
So glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! Love the combination of shiitake and baby bella mushrooms.
We had this (cream sauce version) with our steak dinner last night and it was good. However, the leftovers were put in an omelette this morning with a blend of mozzarella and cheddar and it was so delicious! Thanks for the savory idea!
You are very welcome! I am glad you tried this recipe and enjoyed it! What a great idea to use the leftovers in an omelette!
How is this recipe without the cream or have you tried it with almond milk. I need non- dairy?
If you can eat coconut milk, use coconut milk instead. Add in small amounts to the vegetables until the sauce reaches the desired consistency and exclude the cheese.
I want to use this in rolled 10lb pork tenderloin I think it would b incredible plz feel free to give me advice
This was seriously amazing! We made it with the Cream Sauce and highly recommend it! Our guests loved it, too!
Jennifer, I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comment! 🙂
Great dish, easy to make ! Yum! Made the cream sauce and served it all over pasta.
Thank you! I am so glad you liked it! I love this dish with the cream sauce.
Would this be enough for 6 adults as a side or should I double?
Love this! I alter it for my husband who is on a no sugar Diet. I use regular distilled vinegar instead of balsamic, and I use heavy whipping cream and no milk.
Fabulous and filling!
I wanna do a no sugar diet..how is he doing it
Try "SOS Diet" by James A. Surrell, M.D.
It's tough!! But I'm a believer that sugar is the problem.
This looks so wonderful.....but I'm wondering what type of onions should be used......white or yellow, or does that not matter??
Thanks so much
Susan