There are a lot of new folks coming around asking for advice on how to go No Sugar No Grains. I am here to help, my friends. I have been on this journey for many years now, and I’m beyond thrilled with the results. Over at The Fitness Confidential Podcast, we will be unrolling a lot of NSNG 101 podcasts to help get folks starting on what we hope will be a permanent lifestyle change in the way we all eat.
This creamed spinach dish is safe from all sugar and grains, in particular the pesky breadcrumb. One caveat with spinach, make sure you fully thaw the frozen spinach and squeeze the water out of it completely. If you don’t, you will have a watery, runny (albeit delicious) creamed spinach. This recipe yields enough for 8-10 servings, so it’s perfect for any holiday dinner or Sunday brunch. Make it, eat it guilt free, and celebrate your new beginnings.
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Creamed Spinach
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter, plus more to grease a 9x12 pan
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic (or 2 cloves, minced)
- 2 lbs. frozen spinach, thawed and thoroughly dried (this step is essential)
- 1 6 oz bag fresh spinach, chopped
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt, plus more for extra seasoning
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cups grated Gruyère cheese
Topping:
- 1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese
- 1/2 cup almond meal/almond flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat the butter on medium high heat in a wide, flat sauté pan and cook the onions until soft, about 7-9 minutes. Add the garlic, cook an additional 1-2 minutes.
- Whisk in the cream and half and half, nutmeg, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper, bring to boil then reduce the heat to medium low to simmer for 10 minutes, whisking every few minutes to make sure there is no sticking.
- Fold in the chopped fresh spinach, cook 2-3 minutes until wilted. Add in one more dash of salt and pepper. Fold in the frozen spinach, cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and fold in 2 cups of the grated Gruyère until melted.
- Pour the mixture into a well-greased 9x12 baking pan. Mix together the topping ingredients in a small bowl, then evenly top the spinach with the topping. Bake 20-30 minutes or until browned on top and bubbling.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Anna, I recently started NSNG so I made this for Easter this year, and it was a huge hit (along with the Brussels sprouts salad). Thanks!
That’s great to hear, so glad you liked them!!
XOXO
The wife and I both loved this recipe. Thanks! If I can offer one bit of advice to others making it… Don’t skimp on the grated Gruyere! Especially on the top. I didn’t pre-prepare all the ingredients so I was burning cream while I struggled to grate enough cheese on my tiny little hand grater. The cheese is the real binding agent that keeps it together. Don’t skimp on the glue!
Anna, this sounds ungrateful, and I don’t mean it to be. This is my knock on pretty much all recipe sites. Please be precise with the names of ingredients. Dumb dudes like me spend 30 minutes walking around, looking and asking for “Almond Meal,” when we were looking at “Almond Flour” all along and thinking they were two different things.
The other day I looked all over for “Sugar-Free Ketchup” to make shrimp cocktail sauce. I went to three different stores before I realized that there’s no such thing as “Sugar-Free Ketchup” in my grocery world. Just “Sugar-Reduced Ketchup.”
Words matter to clueless dudes like me.
Thanks again.
Shawn, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to write your feedback! When this recipe was written, Almond Flour was widely called Almond Meal, and now the name has changed on some of the products for sale, but definitely not all of them. I have in my pantry three different kinds of Almond Meal/Flour and they’re called different combinations of things. In my cookbook Eat Happy I am very clear that they are the same thing as a lot of my recipes call for it. Also if you are ever in doubt, google is your friend!
And yes to prepping everything ahead of time–this is when I wish I had a sous chef to prepare my mis en place. And I agree, you can never have too much gruyère!!
xoxo
Anna
Hi Anna! Do you think this could be prepped the night before and cooked in a crock pot?
What is the reason for Frozen and fresh spinach? Just wondering because I have a butt-load of chard in my garden. Normally I would just do it and see but I don’t want to screw up and ruin all that glorious gruyere!
you can do either–it’s a matter of personal preference–use up that chard!
Can handle the cheese, but not the cream. Will coconut cream work?
Absolutely–definitely do full fat coconut cream from the can with no sugar added. It will work great!
XOXO
Anna
I just joined the NSNG group and am only on day 3. I made this tonight and it was to die for! This may be a silly question but can you eat as much of it as you want? It sure was satisfying and I did not feel the need to snack or get something sweet later. Thank you for the amazingly delicious recipe! I will definitely be ordering your book!
Hey Debbie!! Welcome to the world of NSNG! It’s a place where people are shocked food can taste so good while watching the body heal itself and drop weight, so you’re not alone in thinking that. Make sure you join the Anna Vocino Eat Happy Facebook group too, and download Vinnie’s Intro to NSNG pdf which will explain the why and how it works. The creamed spinach is one of my fave recipes, so glad you liked it!
Hi Anna, do you think this could be made the night before and cooked the next day? I’m thinking it’s one of things I’ll want to make thanksgiving day and pop right in the oven… thought I’d ask the expert 😊
Yum, yum! I was out of gruyere so I subbed parmesan and this was so delicious!