Slow Cooker Creamed Spinach |Cooking With Amanda

My family loves creamed spinach. I always make this easy fresh side dish for the holidays. Even though creamed spinach is very easy to make from scratch on the stovetop, when you're entertaining during the holidays you know that every stovetop burner is at a premium.

If you're like me, you plan your menu, then make a schedule of what time each items needs to start cooking (including what burner it will be on).

In an effort to help simplify my side dish dilemma this year, I started experimenting with making slow cooker creamed spinach. I was pleasantly surprised on how good this turned out in the slow cooker and even better—still the same fresh ingredients I use in my stovetop version. But no need to take up a burner!

I bought a pound of fresh organic baby spinach from my local wholesale club. It typically runs about $5 for the pound and most of them come rinsed and ready to use. If the spinach you buy does not come rinsed, you'll need to rinse it first before placing in a 6-quart slow cooker.

I also found that using a non-stick spray helped the spinach not stick at the bottom. Some pieces still stuck on the sides of the slow cooker and that's ok. I did test with a slow cooker liner and felt like the plastic altered the taste. Maybe it's mind over matter—but that's my own opinion.

Once the spinach is in the slow cooker you'll mix together the milk, heavy cream, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper. Then pour it on top of the spinach.

Cook the spinach for two hours—mixing once or twice to ensure the spinach does not burn. If you like your sauce thick you'll want to mix in a slurry of cornstarch and water to the creamed spinach once its done cooking.

That's it… it's super easy and an easy side dish to task to a family member or friend who might say they aren't good cooks! Nothing to mess up here and gives you one extra burner to cook a side dish on!

If you want to simplify a side dish for a crowd this holiday season, I invite you to try my recipe for Slow Cooker Creamed Spinach.

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Slow Cooker Creamed Spinach Recipe

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Ingredients

16 ounces fresh organic baby spinach
1 cup 2% milk, organic
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Directions

Spray a 6.5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Then add in the fresh baby spinach (it will fill your entire slow cooker—it's ok it will shrink down to nothing).
In a bowl, mix together the milk, heavy cream, minced garlic, salt, and black pepper. Then pour on top of the spinach. Place the lid on top and cook on high for 2 hours. At the one-hour mark, give the spinach a stir and then place the lid back on the slow cooker.
Once the spinach is done, mix together the cornstarch and water in a separate bowl. Then mix into the spinach and continue to mix until the sauce thickens. Serve out of the slow cooker or pour into a bowl and enjoy.