You won’t find the best spinach by just reaching into the freezer case and hoping for the best. There’s a lot of bad frozen spinach out there, as I found out after tasting 12 different frozen spinach brands. But, luckily, there are three brands (three widely available brands) that are making good frozen spinach that actually tastes like spinach and not just bitter mush.
I love spinach. I love it as a simple side. I love it in spanakopita. I love it creamed to the point where you’re not totally sure if it still counts as a vegetable. I love it so much I don’t even mind that weird coating it leaves in your mouth. I even love it so much I was excited to lead a frozen spinach taste test.
I tried a dozen brands of frozen spinach, including steam-in-a-bag, frozen chopped spinach, and frozen cut leaf spinach (which isn’t quite whole leaf but is less chopped than frozen chopped spinach). I microwaved each brand according to the instructions on the packaging and tried each without any seasoning. Some tasted like alfalfa, others tasted like pure salt, and a couple tasted like absolutely nothing. But there were three that stood out. These are the best frozen spinach brands. You can count on them to give you firm, toothsome leaves (not just stems!) and rich vegetal flavor.
- Green Giant Chopped Spinach
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Even though there’s no sauce on this spinach (the package specifically says “no sauce”) this frozen chopped spinach tastes pre-seasoned and like a ready-to-serve dish. It has a decent hit of salt, which elevates the vegetal, earthy, iron-rich spinach flavor. The leaves are a little chewy, but the flavor is so good, it’s forgivable. Plus, it’s steam-in-the-bag frozen spinach, so it’s super easy to make. This is the best frozen spinach if you’re looking for a quick frozen side dish that requires practically zero effort.
Credit: Merc / Ralphs
- Kroger Cut Leaf Spinach
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Kroger’s frozen cut leaf spinach narrowly beat out Target’s Good & Gather frozen cut leaf spinach in the cutthroat battle of the frozen cut leaf spinach. While G&G has a good, slightly tangy flavor, Kroger’s has more pure, earthy spinach flavor. It tastes like real, straight-up spinach, with an earthy, grassy flavor. You can serve it as a side with a sprinkle of salt, but it would also be a good base for creamed spinach.
Credit: Merc / Ralphs
- Kroger Chopped Spinach
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Kroger was the big winner of this taste test, with both the best frozen cut leaf spinach and the best frozen spinach overall, which happens to be frozen chopped spinach. It has a pure, vegetal, almost sweet flavor. And it has a really great al dente texture. If you want me to really go off and wax poetic about this frozen spinach, I’m sorry, it’s still just frozen spinach. It’s not going to send you to the moon on a rocketship of flavor-driven ecstasy. But it’s the best frozen spinach we tasted.
Credit: Merc / Ralphs
Best Seasoned
Best Cut Leaf Spinach
Best of the Best
Other frozen spinach brands we tasted: Simple Truth Leaf Spinach, Good & Gather Steam-in-Bag Cut Leaf Spinach, Signature Select Chopped Spinach, Great Value Chopped Spinach, Bird’s Eye Chopped Spinach, Good & Gather Organic Steam-in-Bag Chopped Spinach, Simple Truth Organic Chopped Spinach, Trader Joe’s Chopped Spinach, C&W Chopped Baby Spinach
Thoughts? Questions? Complete disagreement? Leave a comment!