Creamy spinach with a hint of nutmeg is baked in the oven topped with melted cheese for guiltless decadent Holiday side dish. Yes, spinach gratin just got a makeover!
I brought this to my mom's last year for Thanksgiving and everyone loved it. I never did get around to posting it so I knew I had to re-make this once again for all of you to try. This is a must for the holidays but if you want to make this for a smaller gathering, you can easily halve this recipe.
Makeover Spinach Gratin
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 13 • Serving Size: 1/2 cup • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 3 pts
Calories: 111.1 • Fat: 5.5 g • Protein: 7.7 g • Carb: 9.2 g • Fiber: 2 g • Sugar: 2.6 g
Sodium: 287.1 g
Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp light butter (I used Land O Lakes)
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
- 3 cups 2% milk
- 3 lbs (3 16-oz packages) frozen chopped spinach, defrosted
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup shredded Swiss Gruyere cheese (I used Sargento)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425°.
In a heavy-bottomed saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until translucent, about 10 - 12 minutes.
Add the flour and nutmeg; cook 2 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the milk and cook until thickened, about 5 - 7 minutes.
Squeeze as much liquid as possible from the spinach and add the spinach to the sauce. Add 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Season to taste, with salt and pepper.
Transfer the spinach to a large baking dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and the Swiss cheese on top.
Bake for 20 minutes until hot and bubbly. Serve hot. Makes a little over 6 1/2 cups.
Adapted from Ina Garten


























That looks SO GOOD!
ReplyDeleteIt is!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Gina, This looks delish just like always! I can't wait to try it... I was wondering what size of baking dish you used?
ReplyDeleteThis looks amazing! Can't wait to try it....Do you think the result would be the same with fresh spinach? Would I need a different amount? Thanks :D
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Do you mind sharing your 2011 Thanksgiving menu..? I'm sure I'm not the only curious person.... Thanks
ReplyDeleteI always have so much trouble squeezing the liquid out of frozen spinach. Do you have any tips?
ReplyDeletei use a potatoe ricer and it works great!
DeleteWhat would you recommend to make it gluten free?
ReplyDeleteI used gluten free baking mix (Bob's Red Mill) and it came out perfectly.
DeleteWhat about fresh spinach? or would I need to use waaay too many bags of fresh once it cooked down?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Usually this isn't something I would usually go for but this looks too good not to try!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I love your whisk! So colorful!
Looks really good. The hubby will love this one. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Gina. Another great recipe! Thanks so much. Quick question - could you use fresh spinach? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIf you say good-n-skinny~ I'm giving it a try!
ReplyDeleteTo the person who has trouble squeezing the water out of frozen spinach.
ReplyDeleteSimple solution that is amazing: buy a potato ricer (contraption for making mashed potatoes). Once the spinach has defrosted, place in the ricer, press the handles together, and like magic, all the water comes out without any effort.
This sounds lovely! I love how you made this calorie induced dish skinny!!
ReplyDeleteTo squeeze water from the frozen spinach: place spinach in the center of a kitchen towel, with the long side of towel facing you. Fold long side of towel closest to you up and over spinach, fold opposite long side of towel down over spinach. Grab the towel with your hands, one directly on each side of the "folded in" spinach and start twisting the towel in opposite directions. Do this over a sink of bowl to catch all the liquid! =)
ReplyDeleteI love creamed spinach and this looks like a great go-to recipe - thanks for posting it!
ReplyDeleteYou can use fresh spinach anytime a recipe calls for frozen, but you would have to make a lot!! It really cooks down, I'm not sure off the top of my head how much fresh spinach would yield the same amount of frozen.
ReplyDeleteTo squeeze the liquid, I usually squeeze it with my hands, then place it in paper towels and squeeze it some more as Sylvia mentioned (thanks Sylvia!)
Rancholyn, I am dedicated thi whole week and next week to Thanksgiving recipes only. I am also adding Thanksgiving Recipes to my Index.
Kelli, you can use a 9 x 12 or similar, I usually use one of my oval dishes, not sure how much they hold.
Gina this looks delicious! My fiance's grandmother is allergic to parmesan cheese, but I'd like to take this to our holiday meals. Can you suggest a substitute for me?
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting such wonderful recipes. This site is my go-to reference each week before I go to the grocery store!
I suppose you could leave it out and add more salt to taste. It will still be great.
ReplyDeleteThe cheese looks anaemic but I may try this. I absolutely the combination of spinach and cheese.
ReplyDeleteYou could also do this with swiss chard! Fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThats yummy....the photos look lovely :)
ReplyDeleteI've never been a fan of swiss cheese. Can you recommend a substitute (though I know it will change the flavor) - maybe jack? thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am on the same lines as Tracy what could we sub for swiss cheese?
ReplyDeleteHi Gina: we have swiss chard in our freezer (from our garden) - could we use this in place of the spinach? Hope so, it sounds great. Thx, Lee
ReplyDeleteIf you are going to use a kitchen towel to wring out the water from the spinach (as I do), make sure it is a linen towel. Terry cloth might shed.
ReplyDeleteSwiss chard I bet would be wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI guess if I was to use a different cheese I would use mozzarella.
Hi Gina makes this recipes and is very god we like s a lot even my little Nana
ReplyDeleteMade this last night with a pork tenderloin, mmmmm. SO good! I didn't have any parm left so I used a strong cheddar
ReplyDeleteso cheesy and good!
oooh, a way you can make me eat spinach without a word of disgruntle!
ReplyDeletePerfect! I could eat the whole casserole!!!! Thanks!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust found your blog on Tastespotting and I love it! It's so great that you include nutrition facts for your recipes. I can't wait to try some out! This will be a nice not-quite-as-heavy dish for Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI always have a hard time when the recipe says use a 1.5 quart pan or anything like that, so I have bookmarked this page to help. Maybe one of you can use it too :) http://www.ellenskitchen.com/cooktalk/pansmeas.html
ReplyDeleteAnd Gina, your recipes are AWESOME! Thank you :-)
This recipe looks amazing! I'm putting it on my Thanksgiving menu this year. Thanks for sharing, Gina!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm super excited to make this recipe. However, I'm wondering if it would work to use skim milk rather than 2%. We have whole milk and skim in our house and I'd love to not have to buy a third kind. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it would work with skim, it would just be less creamy. I didn't want to use skim since I was using the milk to replace the heavy cream but completely up to you.
ReplyDeleteI just made it with skim milk & subbed part skim mozzarella for the Swiss cheese, only because it's all I had. So delicious! Probably would be better with 2%, so I'd use that for a special occasion.
DeleteAnother easy way to squeeze moisture from spinach is to buy it frozen in the small square boxs, thaw in microwave and then wring the moisture whie still in the boxs.
ReplyDeleteMy father in law can't eat spinach. do you think I could make this with chopped broccoli and cheddar cheese?
ReplyDeleteIn theory is sounds like it would work. Or maybe kale or chard?
ReplyDeleteDo you think I could make this a day ahead of time and just throw it in the oven the day of? Or would it get too soggy? Trying to simplify my Thanksgiving DAY. LOL Can't wait to try it! It looks delish!
ReplyDeleteYes, you can make this ahead!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks, Gina!!
ReplyDeleteHi Gina,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this recipe! It looks delicious. I am going to bring it over to Mom's as a side dish on Thanksgiving.
Wade
If I were to make it ahead as you suggested, should I cook the entire thing and then reheat the next day or stop at a certain point?
ReplyDeleteWe love your recipes at our house. The family doesn't even know they are "skinny-fied" Thanks!
You can put it all together, then bake it the next day.
ReplyDeletethis looks so yummy! I hope to make my picky family to eat it. Do you think it would be the same cooked in the crockpot? we are limited on oven space.
ReplyDeleteI don't see why not! Comment back if u do!
ReplyDeleteI made a little batch of this recipe to try it out first, and it was great! I used fresh spinach, but it's a lot of work to cook it beforehand. I'm contributing this dish to my sister in laws' Thanksgiving meal. Thanks!
ReplyDeletethis is AMAZING! my husband and I just got finished making it together to put in the fridge tomorrow for thanksgiving. didnt add the cheese to the top yet but will do that tomorrow before we bake it, but its so amazing right now after just being mixed together, its heavenly! cannot tell its "skinny" at all! thanks for such a great recipe!
ReplyDeleteMade this for the first time for Thanksgiving Dinner last night - huge hit! Will be making again - soon!
ReplyDelete-Catherine
I made this for Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit! Soooo delicious!! Thanks for sharing the recipe! :-)
ReplyDeleteGina,
ReplyDeletei made this for thanksgiving, using fresh broccoli and cheddar cheese and it was so great. I steamed the veggies first, and then rinsed them with cold water to stop the cooking, then continued with the recipe as stated. It was great. no one could tell it was a lite recipe! thanks so much.
made this for thanksgiving using fresh spinach. it was yummy but a bit liquidy. i used two whole spinach bunches and that may be a little short. tonight- i used the leftovers and stuffed it into chicken breasts, baked in the oven. SO GOOD! made it with the mashed potato patties! such a good dinner and great way to use up my leftovers! thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHello All, I made this recipe for Thanksgiving and it was awesome, except it was WAY too salty. 1 tbsp of kosher salt is way too much. I'm thinking the recipe actually called for 1 tsp of salt.
ReplyDeleteI brought this to the in-laws for dinner last night. My father in law who claims he isn't much of a spinach eater had 2 helpings and asked to keep some for his lunch today. Needless to say it was DELICIOUS and I will definitely be making it again soon. Thank you so much for sharing with us!
ReplyDeleteWould really love to try this. Could it be made and then frozen for later use?
ReplyDeleteTook this to Christmas Dinner and it was cleaned out. Yum!
ReplyDeleteGina, this was fabulous! I used cornstarch to thicken since I have Celiac ... but just awesome! THANK YOU for all your wonderful recipes. I use them often but this is my first comment :) You are making such a difference in my cooking and waisteline!
ReplyDeleteI just went to Ruth's Chris last week for my husband's birthday and we had their spinach au gratin, which has 550 calories per serving! And you know what? I think this one tastes better! They use cheddar cheese and I think the Gruyere pairs better with the spinach. I am DEFINITELY making this again. The only thing to note was that mine came out to 7 servings. I forgot to buy a third box of frozen spinach, but even if I had added that I can't see how that adds another six servings and I measured each one out. Other than that, this is a fantastic recipe!
ReplyDeleteSO glad you thought so!!
DeleteWhat a delicious recipe!! I just ate 10 P+ worth as my dinner and I'm so satisfied. My 4 year old thinks I'm nuts, but another meal of leftover turkey (Canadian Thanksgiving) was not for me!!
ReplyDeleteI made this for my church potluck yesterday, and everyone loved it! Thanks, and this will definitely be a keeper in my recipes :)
ReplyDeletei have lactose intolerant family members, they can have cheese but milk is a no go. would soy milk work?
ReplyDeleteThe only thing you changed here was cutting down the amount of onions used, cutting 1tb of butter, and swapping a cup of cream for an extra cup of milk instead. For being a simple receipe already I guess you couldnt have done better with this one. Still...2% milk wont be good enough texture wise to be as good as the orginial. Using whole milk (2cups 2%, 1 cup whole) would make a big difference, while still cutting calories.
ReplyDeletesoy milk is fine, as long as you can find something thicker. The original receipe calls for 2 cups milk and 1 cup cream. She changed it to 3 cups 2% milk so the consistency would work. Using less fatty milk only makes the texture soupier. Thicker the milk = thicker and more decadent veggies. So soy milk is fine, just make sure you use something to bind it all together; Im not sure what's out there to use. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteperfect! worked great for thanksgiving dinner :]
ReplyDeleteThis recipe was well-received yesterday and I will be making it again for sure!
ReplyDeleteRecipe is delicious! Just a tip...I mixed some of the leftovers in a vege eggwhite omlet the next day and it was great! Because of the cheese in the spinach I didn't even have to add extra...healthy and delicious!
ReplyDelete