Recipe: Boston Market Creamed Spinach

Boston Market Creamed Spinach.

Boston Market Creamed Spinach has a secret ingredient that’s not really a secret because they tell you on their website: cream cheese. So if you look up a copycat recipe and it doesn’t include cream cheese, it’s bogus. Makes about 4 big servings.

Ingredients:
20-24 oz frozen chopped spinach (the packages vary in weight and we used 2 12-oz package of chopped leaves)
6 T butter
¼ c all purpose flour
1 c whole milk or half-and-half
1 t or so Kosher salt
4 oz cream cheese, softened*
2 T onion, finely chopped
1 T garlic, finely chopped
¼ c grated parmesan or romano cheese
¼ t grated nutmeg (optional)

Method: make the béchamel: melt 4 t butter and stir in flour; cook until flour loses its raw smell but not until it browns; add ½ salt and stir in milk slowly till sauce thickens. Mix in cream cheese which will melt and incorporate with the sauce. Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 T butter in a medium saucepan; stir in onion and garlic and sauté on low heat till translucent and add water and spinach. Cover and cook over low heat until spinach is defrosted and hot, maybe 10 minutes. Stir in béchamel and parmesan cheese. Taste for salt; you’ll probably end up using the rest of your 1 t. Add optional nutmeg if you like; they don’t use it at Boston Market but it goes great with creamed spinach. Serve hot as a side dish with roast meats.

*There is a shortage of cream cheese in the supermarkets right now and I was lucky enough to find a tub of whipped cream cheese at Walmart. It works great for this recipe because it’s already softened.