Esparregado – Portuguese Spinach - Real Recipes from Mums

Portuguese Spinach is a wonderfully healthy baby food that the whole family will love. Serve with potato mash, as a side to any meat or fish dish.
The secret ingredients in this Portuguese Spinach are nutmeg and slowly cooked garlic.

Ingredients (serves 4)

1 bag fresh baby spinach, or 1 box of frozen
100ml milk
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Method

Heat olive oil and butter in large pan on low heat. Add garlic and nutmeg and stir until cooked.
Meanwhile steam or blanch spinach.
Mix milk and flour in a mug, then add to pan with garlic. Increase heat to medium. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Stir and once thickened add drained spinach.
Allow to cool slightly then blend/whizz to a smooth texture. (Add more milk if required.)

Notes

This is my version of a traditional Portuguese dish. I add leftovers to curries or pasta sauce for extra flavour and nutrients.

68 Comments

- - mom465794 said
  - 27 Sep 2024
    2:14 pm
super green! I can see my kids saying no already

- - Mumto4boys said
  - 07 Sep 2024
    8:28 pm
Wow how vibrant! I’ll have to give this a try.

- - BellaB said
  - 07 Sep 2024
    7:06 pm
I love the bright color. Sounds like a versatile side dish too.

- - ChiWren said
  - 31 Aug 2024
    6:37 pm
Excellent idea, what a veggie hit. My baby is *finally* loving food so im excited to try all the good hearty recipes for him.

- - taracorb said
  - 31 Jul 2024
    7:11 pm
I have never seen anything like this will give it a go

- - mom465683 said
  - 31 Dec 2023
    1:32 pm
Love the colour. But would probably scare my kids away.

- - mom465794 said
  - 30 Jun 2023
    11:33 pm
I love the colouring this, really caught my attention and looks amazing

- - Mumof4 said
  - 30 Nov 2022
    7:56 pm
This sounds tasty! So vibrant also!

- - cassy26 said
  - 25 Jun 2022
    9:19 am
Lovely colour! Sounds interesting too – I think I’ll give this a go. Thank you

- - mom103778 said
  - 05 May 2022
    3:56 pm
This Esparregado – Portuguese Spinach looks so bright.

- - RonnieDe said
  - 05 Mar 2022
    8:54 pm
What a beautiful colour this dish is. Looks and sounds delicious.

- - mom478886 said
  - 07 Sep 2021
    8:04 am
I’m keen to give this a try. It’s not like anything I’ve tasted before

- - mom476258 said
  - 16 Apr 2021
    8:37 pm
Looking forward to making this. I make a Afghan spinach subsi, but it’s usually cooked until it’s basically not looking green.
Yours looks bright and fresh.

- - Frankiielot said
  - 03 Apr 2021
    10:18 pm
What an interesting recipe!
I have to say I’ve never had this before or even seen it but it sounds yummy as I love spinach!

- - mom112217 said
  - 21 Jan 2021
    6:08 pm
Such a healthy and delicious meal!

- - Andy said
  - 30 Nov 2020
    12:07 am
Yum yum yum. I love the sound of this.

- - am1979amanda said
  - 25 Aug 2020
    9:56 pm
Very different

- - Ness904 said
  - 29 Jul 2020
    12:23 am
Wow the colour is amazing

- - mom111059 said
  - 05 Jul 2020
    4:57 pm
Love the photo. Vibrant green is an interesting recipe.

- - mom111059 said
  - 30 Jun 2020
    10:35 am
The colour looks amazing. Thanks for sharing