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This easy, cheesy, Keto & Low Carb Creamed Spinach recipe is my copycat to the side dish that you might find at a steakhouse or Boston Market. In this post, I share how to make creamed spinach and give you ideas for proteins to eat with this delicious side dish. While this dish is perfect for those living a high fat, low carb lifestyle, it is also ideal for those who want to enjoy this dish without flour or added grains.
What is Creamed Spinach?
Creamed spinach is the way to get non-veggie, non-spinach loving fans to eat their greens.
It combines the creamy goodness of heavy whipping cream, cream cheese, and butter with the rich flavor of shallots and garlic to make a delectable sauce to serve spinach in.
My Keto Creamed Spinach is very similar to classic versions of this dish. It just contains fewer carbs compared to some other recipes out there.
This is one of my absolute favorite keto side dish recipes, and it goes perfectly with chicken, ribs, or steak (especially, my Beef Top Sirloin)
Easy Beef Top Sirloin Steak recipe with Ranch Dressing Mix
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Ingredients in Keto Creamed Spinach
You’ll notice that this recipe doesn’t have a lot of ingredients and it is so easy to make at home.
For the creamy texture, you need:
- Butter
- Heavy whipping cream
- Cream cheese
And to give it a rich, savory flavor, you’ll need:
- Shallots
- Garlic Cloves
- Black Pepper
- Grated parmesan cheese
You can add additional salt if you want to, but the parmesan cheese adds some salty flavor naturally. Like most dishes, I’d only add salt to this recipe at the very end after tasting it.
The final ingredient is fresh or frozen spinach. Fresh spinach is a bit easier to work with because you don’t need to thaw and remove the extra liquid first. But either one will taste the same in the creamed spinach.
How this recipe compares to Boston Market or Steakhouse Creamed Spinach
Like other creamed spinach recipes, my keto-friendly version has a creamy sauce, garlic and shallots, parmesan cheese, and, of course, spinach. Some other creamed spinach recipes use whole milk or half and half, both of which have more carbs than heavy cream.
Many other creamed spinach recipes call for flour as a thickening agent, but between the whipping cream, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese, it really does not require the flour and carbs. They add nothing to the overall flavor of the creamed spinach so I omit them.
Boston Market offers creamed spinach as one of their sides. Though Boston Market does not list all its ingredients on their site, they claim their version has 10 grams of carbs.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse also offers this side. And, while they do not disclose their nutrition content, Carb Manager indicates that Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse’s version has 14 grams of net carbs.
And if you follow other recipes, there are some that call for flour. Flour adds to the total carbs in the dish and makes the creamed spinach not keto-friendly.
How to Make this Keto Creamed Spinach Recipe
Saute the shallots & Garlic
Keto creamed spinach does not take a lot of prep work. You need to thinly slice up the shallots and mince the garlic. To save some time, you could use a garlic press which makes mincing garlic very easy.
Otherwise, the prep work is heating up the butter over medium heat in your preferred skillet (I love my 360 Cookware Pan).
Once the butter is melted, add the sliced shallots and garlic. Let them saute for about 2 minutes or until the shallots become translucent.
Make the Cream Sauce
When the shallots are a nice translucent color, reduce heat to medium-low and add the heavy cream, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and black pepper to the skillet.
To help the ingredients come together, stir it occasionally using a silicone spatula. You need to heat the mixture until the cream cheese is fully melted in the skillet.
Add in the spinach & cook until wilted
When the sauce is a creamy consistency, add in the fresh or thawed and drained frozen spinach. Gently mix the spinach into the sauce. When the spinach is slightly wilted, it’s done.
You want to serve the creamed spinach immediately when it is done.
Note about Using Frozen Spinach:
If you are using frozen spinach, you want to make sure you thaw and drain it first.
Frozen spinach is naturally wilted because the freezing process has a similar effect on plants in that it softens them. You want to cook the frozen spinach in the cream sauce for about 3 minutes to heat it through.
Once the spinach is added and wilted, you can add a little extra salt. Only add a small pinch at a time to help avoid making the creamed spinach over salty.
Reheating & Storage
I store my Creamed Spinach in a glass container for up to 3 days. When I’m ready to enjoy the dish, I simply pop it in the microwave for 1 minute.
Fresh or Frozen Spinach: Which is Best?
You can use either fresh or frozen spinach. But, I find fresh spinach works best.
Flavorwise, they are pretty much the same. It really comes down to prep time. For frozen spinach, you need to thaw and drain the spinach first. You want to remove as much of the moisture as possible to make the cream as thick as possible.
Carbs & Calories in Creamed Spinach
My low carb creamed spinach recipe does not contain many carbs. In fact, it only contains 2 net carbs per serving.
In terms of calories, each serving has 238 calories. But, the majority of the calories come from fat and some come from protein, which makes the creamed spinach keto-friendly.
Recipes to have with Low Carb Parmesan Creamed Spinach
This Creamed Spinach pairs well with several entrees. If you are stuck on ideas, here are a few of my favorite dishes to pair it with:
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1/3 cup shallots sliced thinly
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 oz cream cheese
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 10 oz Spinach I used fresh and 10 oz was 2 bags
- 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Salt to taste optional
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add minced garlic and shallots to the skillet. Saute until they are translucent (~2 minutes).
- Turn the pan heat to medium low. Then, add the heavy cream, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, and black pepper to the pan. Use a silicone spatula to incorporate the ingredients. You want the cream cheese fully melted.
- Add the spinach to the pan and mix it with the sauce. You want to cook this until it is slightly wilted.
- Taste the Creamed Spinach and decide if you'd like to add a pinch of salt (~1/8 tsp). Serve immediately.
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