Fresh spinach is sautéed with garlic and fresh cherry tomatoes. This is a simple, flavor-packed, minimal effort, side dish that you can prepare in a skillet within minutes.
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TL;DR
Occasionally, a simple side dish is all that you need to complete a weekend dinner meal. This is the case with this skillet spinach and tomatoes.
The ingredients are freshly prepared and sautéed in a single pan.
It's a plant-based weekend lunch or dinner meal for one or a side dish for two.
Ingredient Notes
- Spinach — Fresh, tender baby spinach leaves. Clean them in vinegar water (dash of vinegar in water) to remove all impurities.
- Cherry Tomatoes — Or fresh grape tomatoes. I used red ones because that's what I got, but you can add a splash of color by getting a pack of cherry tomatoes in different red and yellow shades.
- Garlic — Freshly chopped. This is a main flavor giver.
- Olive Oil — I recommend cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil. The olive oil adds a lot of flavor and proper olive oils are lightly spices.
- Salt & Black Pepper
Seasoning Ideas
You can enrich the simple spinach and tomatoes with herbs and spices. Here are some ideas to call this recipe your own:
- Thyme, fresh or dried for a French touch.
- Rosemary, fresh or a pinch of dried powder, that goes well with thyme combined.
- Lemon zest to add citrus brightness.
- Cumin for a Mexican/Indian approach.
- Paprika, smoked or sweet for a central European flavor profile.
- Za'atar seasoning, to add middle eastern flavors.
- Herbes de Provence for a French Mediterranean finish.
- Italian Seasoning, if you love Italian flavor combinations.
- Everything Bagel seasoning as a topping.
- Garam Masala, to turn this into an Indian dish.
Process Overview
Step 1
Roughly chop the spinach, cut the cherry tomatoes in two and chop the garlic,
Step 2
Sauté first garlic with the olive oil, and then stir in some spinach.
Watch the spinach reduce in size with the heat, and then add remaining spinach in batches.
Step 3
Season with salt and pepper, stir in tomatoes.
Sauté until the spinach is cooked, and the liquids have dissolved. I like if my tomatoes keep some of their shape, but you can cook them down further.
Serve up.
📖 Recipe
Garlic Sautéed Spinach and Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 12 Ounces Baby Spinach
- 1½ Cups Cherry Tomatoes
- 2 Cloves Garlic large
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- ½ Teaspoons Salt
- ⅛ Teaspoons Black Pepper Ground
Instructions
- Roughly chop your bunch of clean baby spinach leaves into smaller, manageable pieces. Keep aside.12 Ounces Baby Spinach
- Slice cherry tomatoes into two and keep separate. Chop garlic fine.1½ Cups Cherry Tomatoes, 2 Cloves Garlic
- Keep your skillet on a medium heat setting and sauté briefly your chopped garlic with the olive oil for 1–2 minutes.2 Tablespoons Olive Oil, 2 Cloves Garlic
- Stir in a batch of the spinach. The bunch of chopped leaves will populate the pan. Wait for it briefly to decrease in size a bit, as the leaves release liquids into the pan so that you can add the remaining spinach leaves.12 Ounces Baby Spinach
- Season with salt and black pepper (you can add more seasonings, see post for ideas). Mix it all up a bit.⅛ Teaspoons Black Pepper Ground, ½ Teaspoons Salt
- Stir in the tomatoes at the end, and cook them on the same medium heat setting until they get a bit soft. You can cook your cherry tomatoes further down, I like them less cooked.1½ Cups Cherry Tomatoes
- Take from the heat when it looks done and enjoy hot.
Equipment
- 8" Chef Knife
Nutrition
Serving
We greatly enjoy this cherry tomato and spinach side dish with fried eggs and another side. My favorite combo is with green onion fried eggs!
A side dish can be, cooked plain polenta, mashed potatoes or another vegetable mash or purée, such as mashed turnips or puréed carrot and pumpkin.
Small, light and crisp shredded side salads can be served along to add freshness to your complete meal. I like the shredded French carrot salad or the refreshing kohlrabi salad with my sautéed spinach and tomatoes.
If you want some meat or seafood along with that, I can recommend skillet fried ground beef or chicken or lemon garlic butter shrimp or squid rings.
Storing
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 6 days, cooled in your refrigerator.
The dish can be frozen as well. To that, just place it in your fridge frozen overnight or gradually defrost and reheat in one go in your microwave or oven.
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