Indian Spiced Sauteed Spinach (Saag) | Vegan & Whole30
Indian Spiced Sauteed Spinach with Garlic, Ginger & Mustard Seeds
Sauteed spinach is a classic Indian side dish, often called ‘saag.’ And spinach, like other leafy greens, acts like a flavor sponge and soaks up all of the delicious spices in this Indian spiced sauteed spinach recipe!
Plus, fresh ginger and whole yellow mustard seeds add a zesty kick of umami goodness. Serve as a side dish, or as a fun, flavorful addition to a vegan Buddha bowl or hummus bowl!
Originally, I designed this Indian spiced sauteed spinach recipe for my spicy chickpea Buddha bowl. And, I’ve gotta say, it’s especially yummy with a bit of spicy hummus at the base of my bowl! It’s full of flavor, but not too spicy, and it’s incredibly simple to prepare.
Best of all, this Indian spiced sautéed spinach makes it SO easy to eat your nutritious leafy greens!
The Magic of Sauteed Spinach
When spinach cooks, its raw leaves wilt down and shrink pretty quickly. So, the ten cups of vitamin- and mineral-rich spinach in this recipe cooks down to just about one and a half cups…
Which means, in one serving of this Indian spiced sauteed spinach (just ⅓ cup), you get:
- over 600% of your daily recommended bone-building vitamin K
- around 300% of your vitamin A, to protect your eyes from age-related damage
- about half of your daily recommended vitamin C and folate
Because, before cooking, that ⅓ cup of sauteed spinach was nearly 3 cups of raw spinach! Of course, sauteed spinach of any kind is a nutritious win, But, this Indian spiced sauteed spinach seriously makes me look forward to eating my greens and come back for seconds!
Indian Spiced Sauteed Spinach (Saag)
Ingredients
- drizzle of oil
- 2 shallots, diced
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 lb 10-12 cups fresh spinach
- salt, to taste
- pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a saucepan, cook oil, onions, and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes, until fragrant.
- Add fresh ginger, cumin, and turmeric and cook for another minute. (Feel free to add any spices that you like!)
- Add spinach and mustard seeds, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss until spinach is wilted, about another minute.
- Serve and enjoy!
- Yields ~1 ½ cups Indian spiced sauteed spinach.
4 Comments on “Indian Spiced Sauteed Spinach (Saag) | Vegan & Whole30”
Any chance to use frozen spinach?
Hi Nancy, this is a great question. We’ve only made this Indian sauteed spinach recipe with fresh spinach, but it’s possible that frozen spinach could work! I suspect using frozen spinach might make your saag a bit more watery/liquidy. But if this happens, you could try letting it simmer longer until the liquid evaporates, or just drain the excess liquid from the pan. If you end up experimenting with frozen spinach to see how it turns out, we’d love to hear about it! 🙂
Great saag recipe, love the whole mustard seeds in it. Tastes like a dish from my favorite Indian restaurant only fresher
Klaus, what a fantastic compliment to receive, thank you! We love this sauteed spinach recipe and we can’t think of any higher praise than to be compared to your favorite Indian restaurant 🙂 Thanks for giving it a try!