Spinach Potato Casserole
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Spinach potato casserole is a simple dish that can be served as a main or side dish. You can divide the prep into 2 days and cook the potatoes night before, then just finish it off the following day.
This spinach potato casserole recipe does not contain any eggs. A sour cream mixture is used to keep the potatoes moist and cheese on top adds an extra flavor to this simple dish.
It’s a similar recipe to potatoes au gratin so if you like those, you will enjoy this recipe for potato casserole with spinach as well!
How to make spinach and potato casserole
Cook peeled and diced potatoes until they are almost ready. Drain off the water.
Meanwhile, you can sauté onion until translucent. Then, add spinach and sauté until wilted. You will have to do this in several stages, but it should take about 5 minutes altogether.
At last, stir in minced garlic. When it releases its aroma, you can turn off the heat and move on to the next step.
In a small bowl (a soup bowl will do), combine sour cream, salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. Combine the potatoes and spinach with the sour cream mixture and give everything a good stir.
If you don’t mix everything well, some areas will be under-seasoned after this spinach and potato bake is ready.
Pour everything into an oven-proof dish – anything that can hold the load and bake until the cheese is nicely golden brown and the potatoes are soft. This should take about 25 minutes.
Tips for making the best potato spinach casserole
- Don’t forget to add salt to the water you cook potatoes in. Using well-seasoned potatoes does make a world of difference.
- You can add more than 8 cups of fresh spinach if you like. I don’t recommend using less than that though. This potato spinach casserole might turn out bland if you do so.
- Either white or yellow onion works well here. You can omit it if needed.
- I like buying block cheese and grating it myself as I found that some shredded cheese does not melt well. You can use anything you like, preferably something you have already used before and like it (and know that will melt well). Cheese lovers! Feel free to add more!
- The smaller the potatoes, the more flavorful this spinach potato casserole will turn out!
- I used a 9×7 inch oven-proof dish for this potato casserole, but you can use a larger one (can also be shallower than mine), if that’s what you have on hand. You will, however, need more cheese to top it with, but it will turn out even tastier!
Other potato recipes:
If you have some leftover mashed potatoes on hand, why not turn them into one of these tasty potato dishes:
Or if casseroles are your family’s favorite, but would like to try something different, I have more casserole recipes:
- Tuna Pasta Casserole
- Potato Bacon Casserole
- Chicken Pasta Casserole
- Bratwurst Casserole
- Sweet Potato Casserole in Slow Cooker
Spinach Potato Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 pounds potatoes , peeled & diced (2 kilos)
- 2 tablespoon oil , see note 1
- 1 onion (minced), see note 2
- 8 cups fresh spinach leaves , see note 3
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 7 ounces sour cream (200 grams), see note 4
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper (or less)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 8 ounces cheddar cheese (240 grams), see note 5
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit (200° Celsius).
- Transfer peeled and diced potatoes into a pot and pour water in. Use just enough water so they all are submerged. Add salt (I used 2 teaspoons per 3 cups of water). Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to low and simmer until they are almost done (don’t overcook).
- Meanwhile: Heat oil in a large frying pan/skillet and add onion. Sauté until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add fresh spinach in stages and sauté until all leaves are wilted. Now, stir in minced garlic and cook until it releases its aroma. Turn off the heat. In a small bowl, mix together sour cream, salt, black pepper, oregano and garlic powder until smooth.
- Drain the water from the potatoes and combine them with the spinach and sour cream mixture (either in the pot or directly in an oven-proof dish). Pour the mixture into an oven-proof dish (see note 6) and cover with grated cheese.
- Cook at 400° Fahrenheit (200° Celsius) until the cheese is golden brown and potatoes soft, about 25 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- You can use either olive oil or normal cooking oil (sunflower, vegetable).
- I used 1 full cup of minced onion in this recipe.
- 1 cup of spinach, packed = about 1 ounce. You will need at least 8 ounces (240 grams) of fresh spinach for this recipe. If you use less, you will end up with a lot of potatoes and only a little spinach.
- 7 ounces of sour cream is about ¾ cup.
- Cheddar can be substituted with other cheese, but I prefer using this one as it adds a ton of flavor. Also, some ready-shredded cheese doesn’t melt well, for that reason I buy blocks of cheese and shred it myself.
- I used a rectangular oven-proof dish with the dimensions of 9 x 7 inches (23 x 18 cm). This dish is 3 inches (7 cm) deep. You can also use an oven proof dish that is shallower than this but to hold the amount stated in this recipe it will have to be larger in size.
- The prep may take longer than 10 minutes, but most of it is done while the potatoes are cooking so you don’t waste any extra time doing it.
I ran upon this recipe because my husband grilled a prime rib, and the only fresh food we had in the fridge to cook for a side dish was potatoes and spinach. The only change I made was mix some sun-dried tomato basil feta in with the potato mixture, mayo (didn’t have sour cream), and garlic herb seasoning (you can tell I was just trying to avoid going to the grocery store
:) ). This was one of the tastiest “thrown together” meals we’ve had! Thanks for saving me a twenty-minute, round-trip trek to the store!!
Yay! That’s so good to hear! :)
I made a vegan version substituting coconut milk yogurt for sour cream and tahini and nutritional yeast for cheese. Boyfriend loved it!
That’s so good to hear, Lisa! Thanks for your feedback!
This recipe was really tasty, will definitely be making this again, I did not change or add anything extra other than making it for only 2 persons, so I divided your recipe in half and it worked out perfectly, I was left with some leftover, not much at all I look forward to making this for a family gathering. It’s a keeper, thanks so much!
You are welcome, Cindy! Thank you so much for your feedback!
Do you think frozen (well squeezed/drained) spinach work on this recipe in place of the fresh? Thanks
Yes, it does.
Yes 👍 I loved it! I did however tweek it a little bit by adding a small tub of herb cream cheese to the sour cream.
I didn’t peel my new potatoes either , just washed and scrbbed them .
Definitely a keeper! Thank you
You are welcome, Lynne!
Thanks for the recipe! I added a sweet potato, fresh rosemary and basil and it was really good.
That’s so good to hear, Jean. Happy Cooking!
Very easy! I had a big container of baby spinach and bag of creamer baby potatoes. Didn’t have an onion on hand. Next time I would add the onion.
Thanks so much for your feedback and rating, Donna! Happy Cooking!
I also used ground pork sausage and we loved it.
Thanks so much for your feedback, Kathy!
I made this casserole as a breakfast dish (funny that you don’t list it as a breakfast). It’s great! Can’t go wrong with this combinations of ingredients. Definitely need to be careful not to cook the potatoes too soft! I also made some substitutions: added a sweet potato and replaced the sour cream with yogurt (not as creamy, but tasted fine). I’d make it again.
Thanks for your feedback, Zoe.
Great and amazing recipe easy to cook at home.
Thank you for your feedback. I am happy to hear you like this casserole dish.
Thank you for exciting recipes. Several say “cook until ready” or comments like that, and I’m not certain what you mean by that term. Ready for what? Could you clarify?
Hi Gail. All my recipes state cooking times, but I too mention to cook everything until ready because the cooking time may vary for every single person. If you are for example cooking meat – then “until ready” would be until the meat is cooked through (check with a food thermometer if not sure). With cakes, it would mean until they are set and an inserted skewer comes out clean. In this case, all the ingredients are already cooked so you only want the cheese melt and the potatoes soft (which is also stated in the recipe). Hope this helps!
I am making this! It has everything I love. Thank you for this awesome recipe.
You are welcome!
The pictures are amazing and I’m partial to a potato loaded casserole. Bring it on!!
Thank you!
This would be great for our family dinners as it appeals to everyone. Potatoes are always welcome in my house.
Hope you give it a go!
My family would love this! Can’t wait to try it.
Yay :)
This looks like the perfect casserole to take to a get together. I haven’t seen one of this combination. I am looking forward to trying it.
That’s great to hear!