Sautéed Spinach with Sesame & Garlic
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Sautéed Spinach with Sesame and Garlic is an easy side dish that goes along with any meal. Tossed with garlic and sesame oil, the combination creates a bold flavour but keeps the meal healthy!
Cooking with Spinach
Spinach tastes great in salads, pasta and many other recipes. Eating spinach raw is definitely the easiest and fastest way to enjoy it. If you’ve cooked with spinach before, you’re also probably aware of how much it wilts. So if it’s good raw, why cook it?
Eating cooked spinach has its benefits over raw spinach! When you eat spinach that has been heated, you will absorb higher levels of vitamins A and E, protein, fibre, zinc, calcium, and iron.
Plain old spinach salad can also get boring. Cooking the spinach with sesame oil and garlic creates a new flavour profile. And although cooked spinach releases lots of water when cooking, you can take advantage of that with this recipe. Use the excess water as a sauce!
About this Spinach with Sesame & Garlic Recipe
This sautéed spinach with sesame and garlic recipe is actually a very popular side dish served in Korean restaurants. There are other variations of this dish in other Asian cuisines.
Traditionally called sigeumchi namul banchan (시금치 나물 반찬), it’s one of the easiest side dishes to make. Of course, you can get a little fancier and add other seasonings like soy sauce or rice vinegar.
Don’t stop at just spinach! You can use other Asian greens such as choy sum, Chinese broccoli or even kale. You can also add in sliced carrots too add more colour to the dish.
A tip before you start cooking. If you decide to use mature spinach rather than baby spinach, soak them in some cold water beforehand! This will make the leaves firmer while cooking.
If you enjoy our vegetarian recipes, check out our Buddha’s Delight recipe or our Chinese Smash Cucumber Salad too! Now let’s get started!
Sautéed Spinach with Sesame and Garlic Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 lb fresh spinach
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
- Peel the garlic and mince.
- In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and the soy sauce until the sugar is dissolved.
- In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of the sesame oil over medium heat. Once the oil becomes hot, add the garlic
- When the garlic begins to sizzle, add in the spinach. Cook until the spinach is completely wilted while stirring occasionally.
- Turn the heat to low and add in the sugar and soy sauce mixture. Make sure to stir well so that the spinach is evenly coated.
- After adding in the soy sauce and sugar, remove the pan from the heat and add salt to taste.
- Before serving, drizzle the remaining sesame oil on top and sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds.
- This dish can be served hot, warm, at room temperature or cold. Enjoy!
