15 Spinach Recipes From Around The World That You Should Try

There are many, many reasons to eat more spinach. Let's start with the obvious: It's full of goodness. In addition to fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin K1, spinach also contains folic acid, iron, and calcium as well as potent plant compounds like heart-healthy nitrates. Another reason? It's versatile. Spinach can be eaten raw in a salad, sautéed into flavorful cooking pastes, baked into frittatas and quiches, and stir-fried with other nutrient-dense vegetables and noodles.

One more reason to eat spinach? History. The leafy green likely originated in modern-day Iran more than 2,000 years ago, before making its way to China and Europe. That's why it appears in dishes from all over the world, from Indian palak to Greek spanakopita to Middle Eastern fatayer.

Want to learn more about the endless versatility and potential of spinach? Check out these delicious recipes from around the world. There's something for everyone, from brunchtime favorites to breakfast staples to quick and easy dinnertime classics.

This North Indian dish might be simple to make, but it doesn't skimp on flavor. Cooked and blended spinach is the key ingredient (in Hindi, "palak" means spinach), but it's the combination of aromatic spices such as garlic, ginger, chili powder, turmeric, coriander, and cumin that make this dish an ultra-tasty dinner option. The protein in this recipe comes from cubed paneer, a type of Indian cottage cheese, but if you're plant-based, you can easily swap this out for cubed tofu instead. Serve with Indian sides, such as white rice and naan, for a hearty, flavor-packed, complete meal.

Recipe: Simple Palak Paneer

Spanakopita has been a Greek staple since the ancient era, and it still holds up today. Try it for yourself with this easy recipe, which is the perfect combination of crispy, flaky pastry, soft, creamy feta cheese (you can use a dairy-free alternative to make it vegan), and lots of spinach with herbs such as parsley and dill. Fold the spanakopita into small triangles and you've got yourself a crowd-pleasing appetizer, guaranteed to be a hit at your next dinner party. Alternatively, serve the spanakopita for family dinner, maybe with a Greek salad and some hummus.

Recipe: Traditional Spanakopita

Similar to sushi, Korean kimbap usually consists of seaweed rolls, filled with ingredients such as rice, vegetables, and meat. It's a great lunchtime dish, especially when served with kimchi on the side. If you want to keep it plant-based, this recipe will show you how to make delicious veggie kimbap with tofu, julienned carrots, daikon radish, and, of course, lots of fresh spinach. Soy sauce, maple syrup, salt, and sesame oil bring lots of umami to the dish.

Recipe: Veggie Kimbap

In India, crispy, golden pakoras are usually sold as street food or in restaurants as an appetizer. But thanks to this easy recipe, you can whip them up from scratch with nourishing ingredients like spinach, onions, garlic, chickpea flour, and russet potatoes as well as spices such as cumin and red chili. Traditionally, pakoras are deep-fried, but this recipe uses the air fryer instead. The texture is just as crispy, but there is far less oil involved. It's a little healthier but just as delicious.

Recipe: Air Fryer Pakora

The original Mexican quesadilla was made with just tortillas and cheese, but over the years, people have added many different ingredients to the mix. You can make quesadillas with whatever you fancy, including lots of leafy greens. This recipe, for example, is packed with spinach, bell peppers, refried beans, onions, and shredded cheese. It's super simple to follow; it involves just layering tortillas with the filling on a baking sheet to make one big quesadilla. After it has baked, slice it into smaller portions and serve with plenty of salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. 

Recipe: Sheet-Pan Quesadillas

Creamed spinach is a staple on dinner tables and restaurant menus in Germany (where it's known as rahmspinat), South Africa, and Sudan. Each country's version is a little different, but the format is basically the same: Spinach served in a creamy, often nutty sauce. It goes with everything from steak to roasted cauliflower to seafood, so it's a good side dish to have in your repertoire. Learn how to perfect it by following this recipe, which pairs sautéed baby spinach with butter, cream cheese, cream, garlic, nutmeg, and shallots.

Recipe: Classic Creamed Spinach

Looking for a quick, easy, veggie-packed dinner? Look no further than this super tasty and straightforward vegetarian lo-mein recipe, which comes together in less than 20 minutes. The noodle dish, which originated in China more than 2,000 years ago, is easily customizable, and can be made with meat, seafood, vegetables, tofu — basically anything you have lying about in the fridge. This recipe opts for a medley of nourishing vegetables like (you guessed it) spinach as well as mushrooms, snow peas, red pepper, and scallions.

Recipe: Vegetarian Lo-Mein

Another quick flavorful noodle dish to keep on your easy-dinner radar is japchae. It's an infinitely customizable stir-fry from Korea that is typically made with glass noodles and lots of vegetables (in fact, japchae actually translates to "lots of vegetables"). This tasty japchae recipe is entirely plant-based and brings together nutrient-dense ingredients, including spinach, shiitake mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, yellow peppers, onion, and carrots, with umami-packed flavor enhancers such as soy sauce, coconut sugar, garlic, and sesame oil. 

Recipe: Mushroom and Veggie Japchae

If you love French crêpes, you'll almost definitely love crespelle. It's a Tuscan crêpe stuffed with savory or sweet ingredients, depending on your mood. This delicious recipe, for example, opts for the classic Italian combination of spinach and ricotta, which is combined with tomato sauce and nutmeg to help to bring out the flavor of the spinach. The crespelle batter is easy: You just need whole milk, eggs, salt, flour, and butter. Cook the batter in a skillet, layer up the finished crespelle with filling, and then bake for a tasty, satisfying midweek meal.

Recipe: Tuscan Spinach and Ricotta Crespelle

Inspired by the flavors of Morocco, this tasty salad brings together chickpeas, onions, dried apricots, kalamata olives, parsley, pistachios, and, of course, plenty of baby spinach. It's full of different textures, thanks to the tender chickpeas, leafy spinach, and crunchy pistachios, each of which complements the other ingredients beautifully. Slathered with an aromatic, earthy dressing, it's the perfect salad to meal-prep for lunches and dinners when you know you have a busy week ahead.

Recipe: Moroccan Chickpea Salad

Fatayer, which is basically a savory hand pie, is a popular snack across the Middle East. It can be filled with meat, but often, people opt to load these pies up with vegetarian ingredients like spinach and onions. This recipe, for example, will walk you through how to make flavor-packed Lebanese fatayer with bread dough, feta cheese, spinach, onions, and spices such as sumac and cumin. They're baked into triangles, just like spanakopita, and taste delicious on a mezze board with hummus, tabbouleh, and baba ghanoush.

Recipe: Lebanese Spinach Fatayer

Spinach is a North Indian favorite. Just like in palak paneer, spinach is also a key ingredient in saag, which is a flavorful curry mix of leafy greens. Spinach, mustard greens, and fenugreek are boiled with spices, pounded to make a paste, and then served with various ingredients, like potatoes or meat. Inspired by North Indian cooking, this recipe for saag lamb combines tender cubed lamb with a green chile and ginger paste, lots of spices, chopped tomatoes, and fresh spinach. If you want to make this dish vegetarian, one option is to swap the lamb for tofu.

Recipe: Comforting Lamb Saag

Looking for a new brunch crowd-pleaser? Look no further than this simple, tasty spinach frittata recipe. Frittatas, which likely originated back in ancient Rome and are still enjoyed across Italy, are usually substantial enough to keep you full and satisfied but also light enough that you won't feel bloated afterward. They're basically a cross between a quiche and an omelet. They're incredibly versatile, too. You can fill a frittata with whatever ingredients you fancy, but spinach is a classic. 

Recipe: Easy Spinach Frittata

Italian wedding soup is only for weddings, right? Well, no, actually. This hearty Italian broth, which originated in Naples before it became an Italian-American favorite, was actually named for the perfect marriage between the ingredients: green vegetables and meat. This recipe is basically Italian wedding soup with a twist because it also brings in lemon and Parmesan to upgrade the flavor. Classic ingredients such as spinach, meatballs, herbs, olive oil, and acini de pepe pasta cement this hearty soup as a dish so tasty that you'll want to make it for lunch on repeat.

Recipe: Rustic Italian Wedding Soup

Spinach quiche, also known as quiche Florentine, is a French classic. It's creamy, it's cheesy, and it's comforting. But the one of the best parts? It's pretty easy to make, too. This recipe, which opts to remove the crust and increase the egg-to-spinach ratio, comes together with a few simple ingredients (eggs and spinach, of course, as well as sweet onions, shallots, salt, and cheddar cheese) in just under an hour. Enjoy it for brunch, lunch, or dinner alongside your favorite salad.

Recipe: Crustless Spinach Quiche