The easiest keto creamed spinach recipe you will ever make. It only needs a few simple ingredients and takes less than 10 minutes. Even your picky eaters will ask for seconds.
Serve as a side dish, as the main dish, or even puree it into soup. It also makes a great keto dip for vegetable sticks.
Made with fresh spinach, cream cheese, and bacon and only 2.6 grams of net carbs per serving.
It's such a versatile recipe, it can be made with any leafy green. Spinach, kale, swiss chard, and silverbeet all work beautifully
Whether you call it keto creamed spinach or keto spinach carbonara, it's a great way to increase your intake of leafy greens.
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Is spinach keto?
Nutrition facts: 1 cup of fresh spinach only yields 1 gram of protein.
Nutritional values from cronometer.com
Yes, spinach is a very low-carb vegetable that is commonly eaten on a low-carb diet or keto diet.
Spinach has wonderful health properties and is high in fiber, low in carbs, and contains vitamin c. But contrary to popular belief, spinach is not high-protein.
It can be tricky to get enough protein if you are a vegetarian or vegan and watching your daily carb intake, so you need to know which are the best high-protein vegetables and high-protein fruits to choose.
Ingredients
This keto creamed spinach recipe is very easy to put together and requires just a few simple ingredients.
- spinach - fresh baby spinach or any other leafy green of your choice. You can also use defrosted and drained frozen spinach.
- spring onion - I prefer the more mild flavor this provides over a typical onion, but you could use either in a pinch.
- cream cheese - look for a variety that is plain and full fat.
- butter - you can use salted butter or unsalted butter. Adjust seasoning to your tastes.
- bacon - this ingredient adds so much flavor to the fresh spinach! You can use whatever cut you have, but I prefer to enjoy crispy bacon so I go with a thinner cut.
- minced garlic - crushed fresh garlic or garlic powder.
See the recipe card below for exact quantities. Season the dish to your liking with salt and pepper.
Instructions
Let me show you how easy it is to make this keto creamed spinach recipe.
STEP 1: First, melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Then, add the sliced spring onion, minced garlic, and diced bacon. Fry until the bacon is cooked.
STEP 2: Next, add finely chopped fresh spinach to the frying pan. I usually use fresh baby spinach, but if you can find frozen spinach that's chopped, that works too! You'll just want to microwave it separately, then squeeze it in paper towels to remove the excess water before you add it to the pan.
STEP 3: Cook the spinach for a few minutes until it's wilted.
STEP 4: Add the cream cheese. Stir until the spinach cooks, the cream cheese is melted and everything is mixed together. Serve immediately.
That's it! You've made easy low-carb creamed spinach.
This recipe sounds amazing, right?
Serving
This is one of my favorite keto side dish recipes because this dish is incredibly fast and incredibly versatile. Whether you follow low-carb keto or not, there are so many ways you can enjoy this keto creamed spinach!
- Side dish - I often serve this as a side dish to meat such as keto garlic pork chops, a roasted whole chicken, or air-fried pork chops. The creamy flavor pairs very well with roasted meats.
- Cream sauce - I've also thinned this out a bit with a bit of heavy cream (see below) and made this into a lovely sauce that can be poured right over meats or other veggies.
- Soup - toss this keto creamed spinach in the blender and you are left with a lovely hearty soup that fits into any low carb lifestyle.
- Dip - make this an appetizer and serve it with raw low-carb vegetable sticks such as sliced radishes, celery, peppers, cauliflower, and broccoli. People won't be able to get enough of this creamed spinach keto dip!
Storage
Keto creamed spinach is a great make-ahead meal if you don't want to serve it immediately. You can store this dip in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.
You can also freeze this recipe too. Allow it to cool completely and freeze in an airtight container and enjoy it within 3 months.
Variations
Craving something a little different? Here are a few ideas for how to mix up this easy creamed spinach recipe.
- Make it even more cheesy - add some parmesan cheese into the pan as you are melting the cream cheese. While you can add any cheese you like, I enjoy this dish best with parmesan cheese.
- Thin it out - want to create a thinner cream sauce? Add a splash of heavy whipping cream, or heavy cream to the dish.
- Make it spicy - add some red pepper flakes or diced jalapeno to this keto spinach dip to turn up the heat. It's delicious!
However you serve this creamed spinach, your family is sure to love it. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQ
You can use fresh spinach, frozen spinach, kale, silverbeet, Swiss chard, or any other favorite leafy vegetable.
Yes, simply defrost and squeeze out any water from your spinach before adding it to your frying pan.
yes, you can make it and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To defrost a bag of frozen spinach, leave it on the countertop at room temperature for a few hours, or remove it from the packaging and place it in a microwave-safe bowl and use the defrost function. Once thawed, squeeze out as much water as you can to make sure you end up with a delicious creamed spinach.
You need to make sure you have squeezed out all the water as you can when you use frozen spinach and allow the creamy sauce to simmer until thick. You may also add xanthan gum for a really extra creamy sauce.
No, you need the yummy healthy fats in cream cheese to help the sauce thicken. Almond milk will be too watery to use.
More favorite keto recipes
If you love this easy keto creamed spinach recipe and want more way easy keto vegetable side dishes or main dishes that use spinach, these are all perfect for your low-carb keto diet.
There are also some amazing recipe roundups so you can quickly see the best keto side dishes for pork, best keto side dishes for chicken, easy keto side dishes for salmon, and quick keto side dishes for beef.
- Keto spinach pie (gluten-free pastry)
- Keto creamed leeks (with garlic)
- Keto creamed Brussels sprouts
- Spinach stuffed chicken (baked keto chicken)
📖 Recipe
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Keto Creamed Spinach Recipe
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Ingredients
- 1 spring onion (scallion) finely diced
- 2 slices bacon diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced crushed
- 55 g (½ stick) butter
- 500 g (1.1 lb) spinach washed and finely diced
- 50 g (1.8 oz) cream cheese
Equipment
Instructions
- Fry the spring onion, garlic, and bacon in the butter until bacon is cooked but still soft.
- Add the spinach and continue to cook for a few minutes, continuously stirring.
- Once the spinach is cooked and wilted, stir the cream cheese through until it is melted and coating all the leafy greens.
- Serve keto creamed spinach as a side dish or in a bowl for a main dish.
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Approximate nutrition information is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. For the most accurate nutritional data, use the actual ingredients and brands you used in your preferred nutrition calculator.
Claudia
Really nice. As I don't like the chunky texture, I used my stick blender for nice smooth texture.
Libby Jenkinson
Brilliant, Claudia! I love creamed spinach used as a dip. Yummo.
sandy
i i cant find the print button
Libby Jenkinson
There is a list of icons, and one of them is a printer with PRINT next to it. This is a direct link for you.
Pam
I love your recipes, but I do have one comment. When printing the recipes, could you add in the size of the serving unless it's obvious like the Scotch Eggs. For myself, and possibly others, I think it would be super helpful to know this. Otherwise, I love your recipes and the ones I've tried and absolutely awesome. Thanks.
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Hi Pam, all recipes show how many serving each recipe makes. For some recipes that will be 6 slices of pizza for example, or 12 cupcakes. The nutrir=tion shown is per serving, per slice, per cupcake ... Hope that helps 🙂
djnikkik
I LOVE this recipe! What a tasty way to get in some fantastic, nutritious leafy greens! Will become a favourite I think and goes great paired with your Keto Spinach Stuffed Chicken 🙂 Just one question, is the weight of the leafy greens in the recipe before they've been trimmed, or while the heavy stems are still attached?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
It's with the heavy stems and all for the spinach carbonara..
michaelac
Not sure that calling it Carbonara is right, since the carbonara sauce is egg and parm. cheese. Sounds good, just need to give it a different name.
loedi20
What the heck is silverbeet..? Is it low carb?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I think it's what others may call swiss chard. Any leafy green is fabulous in this recipe.
Kaye
Also, but incorrectly, called spinach in Australia. Not the English spinach.
Amanda Wright
Made this for lunch because I had all the ingredients, was so delicious! Husband said it was "trucking great" too...hahaha ☺