Spinach Stir Fry with Garlic

Spinach stir fry with garlic is a tasty addition to any meal. This is a Chinese inspired dish, made of blanched spinach seasoned with garlic, spring onion, and soy sauce. It only takes 10 minutes, making it a great option for your holiday menu or as a side for any weeknight dinner.

Being grown up eating veggies a lot, I love leafy greens and spinach is one of my favorites. 

This spinach stir fry with garlic is a quick and easy side dish you can make for dinner. 

It tastes great alongside baked, grilled, or barbecued chicken, roast turkey, or seafood. I love serving it alongside Mediterranean yellow rice and chicken korma.

Other Recipes You might like

• Asian Broccoli Stir Fry
• Vegetable Chow Mein
• Chinese Salt and Pepper Chicken
• Asian Cucumber Salad
• Cheese Ramen

What goes in Stir Fried Spinach

The ingredients you need to make this recipe are very common, which you might already have on hand. Here is what you will need to make this spinach side dish:

Spinach: the recipe uses fresh spinach and I highly recommend fresh spinach for the best result;

Olive oil: I like to use olive oil, while you can swap olive oil with your choice of cooking oil or butter;

Garlic: Garlic works beautifully with spinach. Feel free to reduce garlic or even increase the quantity that I have used in this recipe as per your liking;

Red chili: fresh red chili adds flavor and a touch of heat;

Spring onion: adds some crunch and a beautiful taste to it;

Soy sauce: Soy sauce compliments the dish. I used low sodium soy sauce;

Sea salt: Soy sauce contains salt, hence use salt accordingly;

Sesame seeds: Toasted white sesame seeds add a subtle crunch and slight nuttiness;

Stir Fry Spinach Preparations

Prep the spinach

• Cut off and discard the thick stem of the spinach. 
• Dip the spinach in a large vessel of water and let it sit for a minute to loosen any dirt or soil. Drain and wash the spinach and repeat. 

Blanch the spinach

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Add the spinach leaves, stir to submerge in the boiling water and blanch them for 30 seconds to 1 minute. 
• Take out the spinach leaves with a tong and immediately soak in cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Squeeze out excess water - but not all the liquid from the leaves and stems. 
• Then roughly cut the spinach into 1-2" length and put them in a bowl. 

Stir fry the spinach

• Heat oil in a preheated pan, add garlic, and chili. Stir fry for 10 to 20 seconds or until just fragrant. 
• Add spring onion and stir fry for about 20 seconds.
• Add spinach, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Stir fry the spinach to coat and mix with the oil and seasoning. 

• Remove from flame and serve hot, adding toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe Notes & Tips

• Be careful not to squeeze out all the liquid from spinach and make it dry. 
• Do not want to blanch the spinach - just cook the spinach until wilted, then drain water and follow the stir frying step as written. 
• Variations: for additional flavor you can add some mushrooms or shrimps and add before stir-frying spinach.

If you try this recipe, please take a moment to leave a comment and rating. I love hearing from you and it also helps other readers who are thinking of making the recipe.

Recipe

Spinach Stir Fry with Garlic

This is a Chinese inspired dish, made of blanched spinach seasoned with garlic, spring onion, and soy sauce. It only takes 10 minutes, making it a great option for your holiday menu or as a side for any weeknight dinner.

5 from 5 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Side Dish

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Spinach stir fry with garlic

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 1 serving

Calories:

Author: Geetanjali

Equipment

• Pan

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• 250 grams or 0.6 pounds fresh spinach cleaned and washed
• 1½ teaspoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves crushed
• 1 fresh red chili chopped (or as needed)
• 1 spring onion chopped
• ½ teaspoon soy sauce
• salt to taste
• ½ teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Get ingredients with

Instructions

Prep the spinach

• Cut off and discard the thick stem of the spinach.
• Dip the spinach in a large vessel of water and let it sit for a minute to loosen any dirt or soil. Drain and wash the spinach and repeat.

Blanch the spinach

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Add the spinach leaves, stir to submerge in the boiling water, and blanch them for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Take out the spinach leaves with a tong and immediately soak in cold water to stop the cooking process.
• Squeeze out excess water - but not all the liquid from the leaves and stems.
• Then roughly cut the spinach into 1-2" length and put them in a bowl.

Stir fry the spinach

• Heat oil in a preheated pan, add garlic, and chili. Stir fry for 10 to 20 seconds or until just fragrant.
• Add spring onion and stir fry for about 20 seconds.
• Add spinach, soy sauce, and salt to taste. Stir fry the spinach to coat and mix with the oil and seasoning.
• Remove from flame and serve hot, adding toasted sesame seeds.

Notes

• Be careful not to squeeze out all the liquid from spinach and make it dry.
• Do not want to blanch the spinach - just cook the spinach until wilted, then drain water and follow the stir-frying step as written.
• Variations: for additional flavor, you can add some mushrooms or shrimps and add before stir-frying spinach.