Healthy Creamed Spinach (Made Without Cream!)
This Creamed Spinach is a lightened up version of your favorite holiday classic and is made without cream for the perfect healthy and veggie-packed side for Thanksgiving! Creamy, flavorful and so simple to make! It’s keto friendly and low carb, too! Made in partnership with Pacific Foods.
Healthy Creamed Spinach (Without Cream)
I used to love traditional creamed spinach from this local chicken shop in New York that I grew up with. It was a holiday staple for us, but I knew it was loaded with junk! I am so excited to have made this healthier version!
The star of the show is my new favorite dairy-free milk from Pacific Foods! Their cashew milk is perfectly creamy and so delicious. It’s versatile, plant-based, and made with organic and Fair Trade Certified™ cashews!
The cashew milk makes for such a hearty and creamy sauce without any of the dairy… such a win! We used butter in this, but if you want a dairy-free option, feel free to substitute the butter for extra-virgin olive oil and ditch the cheese!
Watch the video here:
If you like this recipe, try these other Holiday Side Dish Recipes:
- Cranberry Relish
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Gluten-Free Stuffing
- Roasted Veggies
- Cranberry Walnut Roasted Acorn Squash
- Green Bean Casserole
- Spinach Dip Stuffed Mushrooms
Healthier Creamed Spinach
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter
- 1 onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
- optional: 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup Pacific Foods Original Unsweetened Cashew Beverage (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon arrowroot flour
- 2 5-ounce packages of organic spinach
- Optional: 1 cup kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
- 1 cup parmesan cheese, divided in half
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 9x9 baking dish with butter or oil of choice and set aside.
- In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent about 5 minutes.
- Add spices and cook for one minute until fragrant.
- Add arrowroot flour and stir for one minute until well combined.
- Pour in cashew milk. Mix well. Bring sauce to a boil. Once at a boil, lower heat and let simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add in 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (if using) and whisk until cheese has melted, about 30 seconds. **Make sure the mixture has thickened a good amount before adding spinach.
- In batches, add spinach (and kale if using) to the sauce until the greens start to wilt. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Take off heat.
- Pour spinach/kale mixture into a greased 9x9 casserole dish and top with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and the cheese on the top is a golden brown.
- Serve warm!
Recipe Notes
- Can use dairy-free milk of choice but I do love cashew milk for it's creaminess!
- Can omit kale and use all spinach like I did in the video!
- Make this whole30 compliant: Use ghee or extra-virgin olive oil instead of the butter and omit the cheese.
Nutrition
This post is sponsored by Pacific Foods. All thoughts and opinions are always 100% my own! I love the integrity of their products and think you’ll love them too. Thank you for continuing to support LCK and the brands I work with!
Healthy Creamed Spinach (Made Without Cream!)
This lightened up, healthier version of a Green Bean Casserole is sure to be a crowd pleaser this holiday season! It’s dairy-free, made without any soup mix, and EASY to make. It’s a fabulous and hearty holiday side dish topped with the most perfect crispy fried onions!
Healthier Green Bean Casserole (Dairy-Free)
I didn’t grow up with a green bean casserole during the holidays and now that I’ve had it (and a version that is cleaned up), I will absolutely be making it year after year!
This side dish is:
- Creamy, without any of the cream!
- Flavorful with aromatic veggies and herbs.
- Tender, cooked just right green beans in bite-size pieces.
- Topped with perfect crispy fried onions (no white flour here!)
How do you make french fried onions healthier?
- Use avocado oil instead of canola oil
- Use arrowroot flour instead of white flour
Try these other Thanksgiving Side Dish Recipes:
- Cranberry Relish
- Scalloped Potatoes
- Gluten-Free Stuffing
- Roasted Veggies
- Cranberry Walnut Roasted Acorn Squash
Watch the video:
Green Bean Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter or oil of choice for dairy-free
- 1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces
- 2 cups mushrooms, sliced thin
- 1 onion, sliced thin
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon coconut aminos
- 1/2 cup cashew cream
- 1 cup vegetable broth
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
- Optional: 4 strips bacon, cooked crispy and broken into pieces
Crispy onions
Directions
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9 x 9 inch baking dish with butter and set aside.
- In a small skillet, heat avocado oil until hot. While waiting for the oil to heat up, whisk the egg and arrowroot together in a medium mixing bowl. Working in batches, dip the onion into the egg/arrowroot mixture and then place into the hot oil. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until a dark brown. Set aside on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Bring a gallon of water and 2 tablespoons of salt to a boil in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the green beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.*See notes for recipe steps if you would rather roast the green beans.
- Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the onion, garlic and coconut aminos and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cashew cream and mix well. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Cook over low heat until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.
- Season green beans with salt and pepper. Add green beans to skillet with the sauce and mix until the green beans are well covered. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. *do not salt the green beans if you roasted them.
- Pour the green beans and sauce into the 9 x 9 baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and top with crispy shallot and bacon. Bake for an addition 15-20 minutes, or until green beans are tender and bubbly.
- Serve warm!
Recipe Notes
*Cashew Cream: Soak 1/2 cup cashews in 2 cups of water for 4-6 hours or overnight. Drain soaked cashews and rinse well. Place in a high-speed blender with 1/2 cup water. Blend until creamy and thick. Add 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
**Roast the green beans instead of boiling them:
- Pre-heat the oven to 400 °F. Lay the green beans on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Season with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon onion powder, and 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil, or oil of choice. Toss well.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender.
- While green beans bake make the sauce and the crispy onions in steps 2 and 4. Add the roasted green beans to the sauce, toss well and place in a 9 x 9 baking dish.
- Top with crispy onion and bacon. Bake for 15 minutes or until bubbly!
