LEBANESE SPINACH STEW!!! Zippy, zesty, bright stew made from scratch in 30 minutes or less with just a few pantry ingredients. There are so many reasons you’re going to be absolutely obsessed with this spinach stew: it is EASY, takes 10 minutes to prep, is packed with fresh flavour, & it’s so delicious⏤A weeknight dinner dream!
Lebanese Spinach stew may not be the prettiest dish to look at, but it's a delicious, wholesome must-have dish you need in your Mediterranean recipe repetiteur. This authentic spinach stew is humble yet pack full of favour with the lightly spiced ground beef, spinach, zippy garlicky-lemon broth and stockpiled on a bed of whole grains or my favourite vermicelli rice.
why you'll love this recipe
- WHOLESOME & HEALTHY. Jam packed with wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about! Plus a one cup serving of this stew has at least 4 grams of fibre and 7mg of Iron.
- SO, SO SIMPLE. Super straightforward real-food ingredients: beef, spinach, garlic, onion, cilantro, some spices & plenty-o-lemony juice.
- SO, SO EASY. 30-minute one-pot dinner magic at its finest! ✨
- & SO, SO DELICIOUS. Seriously. Because you’re making it from scratch, ends up tasting super fresh, & you can control just how spicy or zippy you like it (heavy on both fronts for me!).
What do you'll need
- Onions: I used regular white onions for this recipe. However, you can also use red onions too.
- Beef: Ground beef is preferred for this recipe. You can also use finely diced beef, lamb, or goat. Vegan meat substitution will also work.
- Garlic: It's no secret I'm a huge garlic lover, and this recipe is no exception! Make this recipe like an authentic Lebanese don't be shy with garlic.
- Chicken stock: The recipe is made with very simple ingredients and the stock adds a delicious richness to this recipe.
- 7 spice: This spice is the best way to simipify your spice pantry. It made with cumin, coriander, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, caradamon, and ginger or fenugreek.
- Spinach: Fresh or frozen will work for this recipe. You'll need 2 large bag of spinach or 2 pkgs of frozen for this recipe.
- Pine nuts: I used pine nuts when making this recipe. Almonds are great substitution.
- Shallot & Lemon Topping: This simple topping is made with shallots, fresh lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and aleppo pepper for a spice kick. it's my favourite part of this recipe!
How Do You Make Lebanese Spinach Stew?
- Toast the pine nuts until golden and fragrant. Keep a watchful eye on them they burn very quickly.
- Beef up the flavour! Saute the beef and season well! You may need more spices to the meat if your spices arent fresh. Make it saucy! Add in the stock and adjust the flavours if needed.
- Add a touch of green. Toss in the spinch & cilantro and simmer. Serve with my Lebanese Vermicelli rice and of course don't forget the shallot & lemon topping!
Tips for the best spinach stew
- Serve with the shallot & lemon topping. It bring out all the yummy flavours and adds an extra level of delish. If you don't want to go to the trouble of dicing a shallot then give the dish a squit of lemon.
- You don't need to use fresh spinach! This recipe is best with frozen spinach, however, you can use fresh spinach, if you want. keep in mind you'll need to 2lbs of it! That's two big bags of costco-sized spinach 😯 and you'll also have to cook the spinach in batchs before cooking the beef.
- Use a good qaulity sauce pan or pot. This recipe cooks pretty quick for best results you'll need a really good pan or pot that has good heat distrubtion.
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Lebanese Spinach Stew
LEBANESE SPINACH STEW!!! Zippy, zesty, bright stew made from scratch in 30 minutes or less with just few pantry ingredients. There are so many reasons you’re going to be absolutely obsessed with this spinach stew: it is EASY, takes 10 minutes to prep, is packed with fresh flavour, & it’s so delicious
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 teaspoon 7-spice
- ¼ teaspoon chilli pepper flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 3-4 garlic cloves finely diced
- 2 Packages of frozen spinach (10 oz)
- 3 cups chicken stock
Shallot & Lemon Topping
- 1 large shallot finely diced
- 1 lemon juiced juiced
- 1 teaspoon lemon rind
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper
Instructions
- Saute pine nuts. In a large heavy bottom sauce pan, over medium heat add 1 tablespoon of olive oil then add the pine nuts⏤saute until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Cook the ground beef. In the same saucepan over medium-high heat, add the rest of the olive oil, onions, and garlic. Fry the onions until lightly golden brown, then add the ground, sear, and stir regularly to ensure even browning and cooking. Add the 7-spice, chilli flakes and salt. allow spices to cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the spinach. Once the spices are aromatic and meat is cooked, add the spinach, cilantro, and adjust the salt⏤Cover and let the spinach thaw for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the Stock. Remove the lid, and increase the heat then pour in the stock bring to a simmer for 5-7 minutes. The spinach will give extra liquid, so you'll need to reduce the liquid to half and thicken.
- Prepare the Lemon sauce. Meanwhile, add all of the lemon sauce ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together. Set aside until ready to serve.
- Serve. Accompany this stew with rice and drizzle on some shallot & lemon topping. Then top it all off with the fried pinenuts.
Notes
If using fresh spinach: Steam it after cooking the pine nut, then remove it from the saucepan and set aside. Then cook the beef and add back the cooked spinach with the stock.
Storage: place leftover spinach stew in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge and 3-6 months in the freezer. When thawing the spinach stew place in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Tansy Feltis
I love the stew but, unless I'm missing something, it does not say when to add the toasted pine nuts.
Sarah
I'm glad to hear you loved the stew! No, you weren't missing anything. It seems I forget to mention they're to be adding last as a garnish. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Tansy Feltis
Just a query, when it says 2 10oz frozen spinach, do you mean 20ozs?
If it, what does that mean?
Sarah
Frozen spinach comes in many different-sized packages. The 10oz is a guideline to which package size you should select when purchasing spinach, so you'll need to choose two packages of spinach in 10oz weight size. The recipe is very forgiving, just select two packages of frozen spinach a little extra spinach won't hurt. I hope this helps.
Tansy Feltis
Ok. But why don't you just say 20ozs of spinach and then people can choose how they want to make that amount up.