Our Family’s Favorite Holiday Side: Spinach Madeline

I’ve been eating Spinach Madeline for every single holiday as long as I can remember. In fact, a holiday isn’t a holiday in our house without this amazing dish! Spinach Madeline is best described as a creamed spinach with a slightly spicy southern twist. Except I wouldn’t touch creamed spinach, but I can devour this stuff like there’s no tomorrow. That’s how good it is!

Pinterest image of holiday spinach casserole.

One caveat about this dish is that it is decidedly not as healthy as the average dish I make. It’s laden with butter and cheese. So we only eat it about twice a year. And boy do we enjoy the treat! I’ve always made Spinach Madeline with Velveeta Cheese like my mama taught me. This year, at my mama’s advice, I used freshly grated cheese. I’m so glad I did. There’s something yuck about a cheese that can sit in a box without any refrigeration!

Ingredients
2 16 ounce bags of frozen spinach
8 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
12 ounces jack or cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup evaporated milk
4 teaspoons jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
4 tablespoons of onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup vegetable liquor*
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
Red pepper flakes to taste
4 tablespoons water
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

 

*the juice you’ll drain from spinach after cooking in microwave

Instructions

Place the frozen spinach in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the water, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and cook according to package instructions.

 

Spinach Madeline

When spinach is cooked, you need to save the vegetable liquor. The best way to do this is to press the juice through a colander into a bowl. Then set it and the spinach aside.

spinach madeline

In a large pot, melt the butter over low heat. Add the onions and jalapeno and cook until they are soft.

Spinach Madeline

Next add the flour. Stir continuously until it is smooth, but not browned. Add the milk, Worcestershire, vegetable liquor and all the seasonings except the cayenne pepper. Add the cheese and stir until melted.

spinach madeline

Yumminess is happening! Now it’s time to stir in the spinach. Once the cheese mixture and spinach are thoroughly combined, taste it so that you can adjust seasonings to your taste. You may want a little more spice. If so, add a dash of cayenne pepper and stir well.

spinach madeline

Now stop eating it. Seriously. You’ll want to snack on it. Instead, pour it in to a rectangular casserole dish. Spinach Madeline really tastes best if you cover and refrigerate overnight. To cook, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 or 40 minutes — until it is bubbly.

You can also freeze this dish before cooking. Which is what I just did. It will be all ready to pop out of the freezer and into the oven on Thanksgiving Day! 

Spinach Madeline. Our family's very FAVORITE holiday side dish!Ohhhhhh- it’s so GOOD. Creamy, cheesy, spicy, yummy. I can’t wait! And wondering what you might do in the outside chance you have leftovers? Check out these Spinach Madeline Leftovers Enchiladas!

xoxo,

Andrea Tabler | TablerPartyofTwo.com

 
 

Andrea Tabler

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Comments

  1. Delicious!! Beautiful presentation.

  2. Ha Andrea – I wonder if this is a Monroe dish.
    We have always had it for our holidays as well.
    Brett

  3. Love, love, love it! So glad you tried the grated cheese! I also add water chestnuts, sliced….on occasion. It give it a crunch that is tasty.

  4. I can’t think if I have ever eaten spinach madeline but man this looks so delish! I think we will have a new Thanksgiving tradition!

  5. I am pinning this to make for the holidays. Sounds yummy! Visiting from Marvelous Monday.

  6. Have been looking for another veggie side for Thanksgiving and we are BIG spinach lovers here. Am pinning this to make, it sounds good and the pics are great. I think I have the same dish! Found you from Merry Monday – thanks!

  7. Ok, so it may not be healthy, but it certainly sounds delicious. I will be trying this recipe for sure!

    Thanks for linking up to Marvelous Monday on Smart Party Planning.

  8. Whoo my son loves spinach, must try this 🙂

    Thanks for linking up #CreativeMondays

  9. Wait, what about those onions? Ingredients list doesn’t say how much, but recipe says to add with the peppers? OK, hey, i see you plan your menu and shop a month in advance, but not me! 😉
    (Got this link from Gordon, btw, who said he’s in charge of making it this year, so I emailed him too!)

  10. Yums! Pinning 🙂
    Who said spinach has to be boring!?
    xx
    Mila

  11. I’ve never been a fan of creamed spinach, but this twist looks delicious. I think I’ll have to try this for sure! Pinning. Thank you for sharing at Merry Monday!

  12. Duh, I read and re-read, but kept missing the onions. Got it!
    Ok, great flavor, loved it, but it was just too rich for our family. I added and extra 8 oz of spinach and it was still very rich, so next time I’ll add at least 16oz more. Everyone loved it though!

  13. I cannot wait to try this! I love creamed spinach and this recipe looks like it would be right up my alley. Thanks!

  14. Ever since we had this at your house so many years ago it is now one of our holiday favs. Great idea to use grated cheddar instead of velveeta.

  15. Thanks for coming and linking up at The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST The Midnight Baker ! I hope to see you there!
    Judy@ http://www.bakeatmidnite.com

  16. This is right up my alley Andrea since I am like spinach’s biggest fan! Plus all that yummy cheese and butter…wow! Thank you so much for sharing at SYS and wishing you a very blessed Thanksgiving!
    XO Barbara

  17. I can’t wait to make this! I’m afraid I will eat it all in one sitting!:) I love my spinach, raw, in salads, creamed, put in stuffing, made into dip. I love spinach. Thank you for this recipe, looks wonderful!

  18. I’m assuming these are fresh not pickled jalapenos? Can these be omitted and substitute a sweeter pepper or mushrooms?

  19. I see all this lovely food, I love spinach i grow my own, this dish looks great will have to give it a go, and the best part is it should not effect my diet (too much)
    Thanks for sharing

  20. Leftovers? Maybe add some artichoke hearts, a little cream cheese, and eat it with chips?

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