How to Boil Spinach: Quick and Easy Recipe

Spinach is one of the healthiest food items you can eat. It is rich in iron, proteins, and numerous other minerals and nutrients, and it also provides almost every single nutrient that the body requires. Regardless of how you think about spinach, whether it’s with the cartoon character Popeye or something else, its importance in a person’s diet is quite undeniable.

There are numerous ways to consume spinach. For instance, you can cook it along with something else or use it in a dish that’s from foreign cuisines. However, the simplest way to eat spinach is by boiling it. First, you need to know how to boil spinach. Let’s take a look at the recipe that can help you do just that.

How to Boil Spinach (Step-by-Step Instructions)

Boiling spinach is a simple process that you need to follow step by step. This particular recipe for boiling spinach is specific for 125 grams of spinach. If you wish to boil more or less, then you will need to change the other ingredients’ amounts accordingly. Here’s how you can boil spinach:

Step 1: Add Water to a Utensil

Simply start by adding 750 ml of water to a utensil. This amount is perfect for the 125 grams of spinach being boiled in this recipe. As mentioned, vary the amount according to the other ingredients.

Step 2: Add Salt to the Water

Add a tablespoon of salt to the water. The salt acts as a seasoning for the spinach while it boils. Furthermore, salt also raises the boiling point of the water, offering a more even and thorough provision of heat to the water and anything in it. Furthermore, the boiling allows the salt to dissolve inside the water quickly. Adding salt will give the spinach more flavor. You can also increase or decrease the amount of salt according to your preferred taste.

Step 3: Bring the Water to a Boil

The water has to be boiled beforehand to boil spinach, rather than boiling it with the spinach in the water. The reason for doing this is that boiling the spinach directly will end up destroying it. The boiling water causes the color and the flavor of the spinach to seep out since it can destroy the structure of the spinach leaves and leave them permanently damaged. Hence why boiling directly is something that you must not do with spinach.

Step 4: Take Out Your Spinach and Remove the Stems

For this recipe, we will be using 125 grams of spinach. The amount used here is specifically for this recipe. As mentioned before, if you use more or less, then you will have to change the quantity of the other ingredients appropriately.

You will have to remove the stems from the spinach leaves. The stems have no nutritional benefits and are not edible. Simply pull off every leaf and make sure that you only have the spinach leaves left.

Step 5: Rinse Thoroughly with Water

Rinse the spinach with water and make sure to clean it all properly. Rinsing the spinach is important because it removes any dirt, dust, or external impurities that might have made its way onto the spinach. Furthermore, the rinsing process acts as a treatment for the spinach and prepares it for the cooking stage.

Step 6: Place in the Water and let it Cook

Simply place the spinach inside the water which had been brought to the boiling point. Make sure to spread the spinach around and ensure that it does not clump together in a particular area. When the spinach has been placed inside and spread out evenly in the water, next place the lid on the utensil. Let the spinach cook for 3-4 minutes. You need to make sure that you don’t put the utensil on the stove. The spinach needs to cook in preheated water.

Step 7: Rinse the Spinach to Remove all Moisture

The final step involves removing the spinach out from the water and draining it of moisture. You simply need to use a sieve for this step. Drain the spinach through the sieve and let the water trickle down. Apply pressure on the spinach to remove any moisture it may still have. Once the spinach has been thoroughly drained, it’s now ready to plate and serve.

How Long Do You Need to Boil Spinach?

You need to provide heat in two different stages of the recipe to boil spinach. Since both steps have different purposes, and they are important for the entire recipe. Here’s a summary of the heating stages that you will have to oversee to make boiled spinach:

Heating Stage	Details	Duration
Right after step 2 which involves adding salt to the 750 ml of water	You just need to bring the water to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, simply take it off the stove	No exact duration since you just have to bring the water to a boil
This stage takes place after you have placed the spinach inside the water	Just let the spinach cook inside the pre-heated water. Make sure you do not place the utensil on the stove. The spinach does not need more heat	Let the spinach cook for 3-4 minutes