Here’s a slew of plant-based baby spinach recipes that are flavorful and easy. You need not be vegan to enjoy this array of recipes that include salads, soups, stews, main dishes, sides, pizzas, breakfast and brunch fare, smoothies, and more.
What is baby spinach?
It’s just what it sound like — spinach that’s harvested at just a few weeks old. Ready-to-eat spinach in miniature is at its most tender. The only downside, and it’s not inconsiderable, is that it usually comes packaged in plastic containers. Please recycle, at least!
It’s also highly recommended to purchase organic baby spinach. That’s because conventionally grown spinach (any variety) always sits near top of the annual Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen™ list of produce that uses the most pesticide.
Baby spinach is now a fixture in most every supermarket and natural foods store. This kind of spinach is usually “triple-washed,” which means you don’t have to worry about soil or grit ruining a dish you’ve worked hard to prepare.
Like their larger counterparts, baby greens like spinach are good sources of Vitamins A, C, and K. Like other greens, baby spinach is a good source of iron and calcium, and is high in fiber and low in calories. Here’s a full nutrient profile of baby spinach.
Baby Spinach Salads
Spinach and Artichoke Salad with Chickpeas & Olives: Filled with color and texture, this salad is visually dazzling. With the addition of red cabbage, bell pepper, chickpeas, carrots, and cherry tomatoes, it’s a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.
Spinach and Mango Salad with Cranberries and Cashews: This salad might be super simple, but it’s lovely to look at and even better to taste. Mangos are often quite good in the winter and early spring, when you need something on the plate to perk up carb-heavy meals.
Spinach Avocado Salad with Pineapple & Pomegranate: Pretty much all the main ingredients in this simple salad are listed right in the title! Fresh lime juice and extra virgin olive oil are enough to pull the flavors together.
Rice and Chickpea Salad with Spinach and Raisins is so easy to put together. A main dish or hearty side salad, it’s an ideal way to use up leftover cooked rice.
Citrus-Flavored Spinach and Millet Salad: Fresh oranges plus their juice and zest pep up this lively millet salad. Cherry tomatoes, red onion, and sprouts make it as festive to the eye as it is to the palate.
Summer Spinach and Berries Salad: This summer classic is a beautiful cold dish that’s a snap to make at the height of berry season with the best summer berries: blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, or raspberries, or a combination of any two or three.
Quinoa and Red Bean Salad with Mini Sweet Peppers is an ideal centerpiece for a meal, served with fruit for lunch and soup for dinner.
Vegan “Tuna” and White Bean Salad: Proving that anything can be made in a plant-based version, vegan “tuna” and white bean salad is a classic that’s welcome for lunch or dinner.
Baby spinach in side dishes
Spinach and Chard with Sautéed Polenta is a delicious side dish recipe to make when greens are in abundance.
Mediterranean Spinach with Pine Nuts and Raisins: A classic recipe for spinach with pine nuts and raisins common to Spanish and other Mediterranean cuisines, this is a simple way to highlight the beloved leafy green.
Spinach Lemon Rice with Fresh Herbs: Why serve plain rice when it’s so easy to embellish it with spinach and herbs? Of course, if you’d like, you can use another grain — quinoa, whole-grain couscous, or farro work well, too.
Baby Spinach in Soups & Stews
Curried Spinach and Chickpea Soup, made comforting with ribbon noodles, is a warming melange of flavor, texture, and color. The aroma that permeates your kitchen as this cooks is most enticing.
Curried Red Lentil Soup with Sweet Potatoes and Greens: When you want a robust cool-weather vegan soup quickly, red lentils are a good base, cooking up in just 15 to 20 minutes. This recipe offers a choice of using chard or baby spinach.
Lemony Spinach Orzo Soup is simple and lively soup that comes together quickly. Orzo is rice-shaped pasta that cooks up fast and has a lovely mouth feel. Spinach, parsley, and dill give the soup a fresh flavor.
Tangy Vegan Cold Potato and Spinach Soup: Here’s a soup that makes a delectable chilled bowlful, perfect for summer meals. It’s substantial as well as refreshing.
Super-Quick Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach & Peas: A quick butternut squash soup that comes together in minutes has to rely on a clever shortcut. And for this one, that’s a carton of butternut squash puree.
Coconut Curry Vegetable Stew: The vegetables in this curry are typical to Indian curries, and the whole dish is simplified with a fantastic shortcut — readymade Indian simmer sauce.
Greek-Inspired White Bean Stew: When you’re looking for a quick dinner that takes less time to prep and cook than most soups, this one’s for you. Filled with plenty of spinach and fresh herbs in a tomato base, it’s a satisfying meal in a bowl.
Main dishes with baby spinach
Persian-Style Spinach with Black-Eyed Peas, Leeks, & Herbs: Sabzi is the Persian word that refers to greens and herbs, ingredients typical to this Middle Eastern cuisine. This dish is a wonderful way to enjoy this region’s typical ingredients.
Curried Lentils and Spinach is a dish that’s especially good over brown rice or couscous; for a delicious change of pace, you can also try it over mashed potatoes. Cut cooking time by using canned lentils for a fast weeknight meal.
Roasted Eggplant Curry with Mustard Greens or Spinach: This smoky, mildly spiced roasted eggplant curry is somewhat inspired by a classic Indian dish called Baingan Bharata. The twist here is the addition of mustard greens or spinach, both well-loved greens in Indian cuisine.
Vegan Shepherd’s Pie with Lentil and Mushrooms: This vegan shepherd’s pie, with a richly flavored filling of lentils, mushrooms, and spinach, is a deep dish of comfort.
Pan-Grilled Polenta with Spinach and Black Beans: A family favorite features polenta topped with a colorful combination of black beans, roasted red pepper, and spinach.
Seitan and Polenta with Fresh Greens: There’s something enticing about the synergy between seitan and polenta. With the addition of greens, the result is a great-looking, hearty dish.
Pasta with Leafy Greens Pesto: Leafy greens pesto using spinach, arugula, and/or watercress is a lighter, greener sauce for easy pasta dishes like this one; it’s also good on warm potatoes, potato salads, grain pilafs, and more.
Vegan Tetrazzini Pasta with Plant-Based Chick’n: This vegan tetrazzini makes use of plant-based “chik’n” or baked tofu, and the creaminess is courtesy of silken tofu. It gets a touch of Florentine with baby spinach.
Easy Gnocchi with Greens and Beans: Enveloped in marinara sauce, this is a hearty dinner dish that comes together quickly. Gnocchi, a cousin to pasta, are potato and semolina dumplings.
Vegan Baked Spaghetti Pie: Classic baked spaghetti pie — in this case, a vegan version — is a hearty dish that will please even the pickiest of eaters. And they won’t even guess how much green goodness is hiding inside!
Fully Loaded Vegan Nachos make a great appetizer or emergency dinner. Piled generously with corn, beans, vegan cheese, and veggies, these tasty nachos that can be made with pantry and refrigerator staples in a matter of minutes.
Spinach Pizzas
Spinach and Olive Pizza (Red or White): This tasty vegan pizza is so easy to make — just layer on good quality sauce, as much or as little vegan cheese as you’d like, and top with veggies. A quick spin in the hot oven and dinner is done.
Vegan Pesto Pizza: Fresh spinach gives this vegan pesto pizza a vivid color, and fresh basil or parsley (or a combination of both) adds the strong herbal flavor you’ve come to expect from pesto.
Vegan Sweet Potato Pizza, featuring caramelized onions, briny black olives, and a scattering of baby spinach leaves offers an array of flavors that work amazingly together.
Greek-ish Pizza: Enjoy the sunny flavors of Greek cuisine with this spinach olive pizza, embellished with vegan “feta” — a recipe by Laura Theodore in her trademark breezy style.
Breakfast and brunch dishes with baby spinach
Spinach or Arugula Scrambled Tofu: Here’s a colorful and tasty spinach or arugula scrambled tofu that’s festive enough for a company brunch, but simple enough to make for a weekend meal for you and yours.
Vegan Artichoke and Spinach Strata is so special you can serve it to company for breakfast or as a brunch entrée.
Savory Steel-Cut Oats with Greens and Vegan Mushroom “Bacon”: Warm bowlfuls of savory steel cut oats with plenty of greens and topped with vegan mushroom “bacon” make a delicious weekend breakfast or brunch.
Baby Spinach Dips & Smoothies
Avocado and Tahini Dip with Baby Greens: This richly flavored blend makes a fantastic appetizer or snack. Use your favorite baby greens — spinach, arugula, kale, or power greens.
Spinach and Green Olive Tapenade looks as good as it tastes. Let’s face it — black olive tapenade might be yummy, but it isn’t very pretty. The olives would be enough for eye appeal, but the baby greens gives this classic spread a fresher flavor and color.
Spinach and Mango Smoothie: This easy, dairy-free smoothie might just become your favorite! Baby spinach is ideal for green smoothies. It blends smoothly and, other than its appealing color, virtually disappears into the beverage.
Green Smoothie with Banana and Avocado: Here’s a basic green smoothie recipe that gives you a choice of using spinach, kale, or collard greens. It’s made filling and tasty with banana and avocado.
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