Easy Creamy Spinach Soup
Cream of Spinach Soup is smooth, almost velvet-like while maintaining its creaminess and sweetness from the Spinach and Chicken stock. It’s not too rich, yet not too light either on the taste. Similar to mushroom soup, it’s a simple one-stockpot dish that takes only about 35 minutes to make, from start to finish!
While I usually think of clear, Chinese-style spinach soup, I decided to make a cream soup to have with some buns. It’s also a perfect soup appetizer that goes well with a meaty main dish.
My family really enjoys it with baked garlic bread, or soft, fluffy slider buns for a light dinner.
Ingredients
This Spinach Soup recipe uses simple ingredients for a light and sweet taste. For the measurements, check out the recipe card.
Fresh spinach – and lots of it as it tends to shrink once cooked. As the main ingredient in this recipe, the fresher it is, the better the soup will taste. Wash it thoroughly to remove any dirt or sand, and remove all the roots. Personally, I also include the stems as it tends to be very soft and tender when cooked. Older spinach can be used too as everything will be pureed/ blended later on, so save the baby ones for tender stir fries instead.
Chicken stock, salt, pepper, thyme – the seasonings of the Spinach Soup recipe. They add a depth of taste and flavour to the sweet spinach. I used my homemade chicken stock, made from boiling chicken carcasses, which contain less salt – but you can also use pre-made ones. Be sure to adjust the salt and pepper to your liking!
Garlic, yellow onions – caramelize them just before adding the chicken stock and seasonings. This gives the soup a depth of flavour, while adding a delicious smoky fragrance and sweetness to the Spinach Soup.
Butter – specifically, unsalted butter. Although other unscented vegetable oils work too, I find using butter gives the soup a richer fragrance.
Cooking cream/ Heavy cream, tapioca flour, water – are used as thickening agents, and to introduce more cream to the soup. If tapioca flour is unavailable, it can be substituted with cornstarch.
Steps
Here are the brief steps to make Creamy Spinach Soup:
- Peel, wash and mince the garlic.
- Chop onions into smaller pieces. Cut into half, and then layer the cuts horizontally and vertically, before chopping into small pieces.
- Mix tapioca flour and water together.
- Melt butter in a stockpot over medium heat.
- Add minced garlic, and cook until fragrant.
- Add yellow onions. Cook until translucent.
- Add chicken stock.
- Add thyme, pepper and salt. Stir until well-combined. Cover the pot and let it boil for 5 minutes.
- Add spinach, a handful at a time, stirring and submerging before adding more. Repeat until all of them have been added. Cover and boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Taste the soup and adjust.
- Switch off the heat, and blend until very smooth.
- Add cooking cream, and switch on the heat to medium. Stir to combine as it cooks, until it comes to a boil.
Give it a final taste before dishing the Creamy Spinach Soup out to serve!
Tips
- A flour slurry helps to thicken the creamy soup and give it a more velvety texture and weight. It is optional.
- Tapioca flour can be substituted with cornstarch.
- If using a stand blender, allow the soup to cool a little before blending.
- After adding the cream, ensure the soup achieves a boiling state before switching off the heat. This cooks the ingredients together, reducing the risk of early spoilage.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Storage Instructions
Once completely cooled, it can be kept refrigerated in an air-tight container until the next day. Reheat before consuming.
It’s not recommended to freeze the soup as the texture may be affected.
Let’s Eat!
It’s sweet, and tasty, creamy but not too rich, and smooth while being light at the same time. Paired with fluffy buns, today’s dinner will be quite easy on the stomach while satisfying the appetite!
Easy Creamy Spinach Soup
Equipment
- Stockpot/ Deep Pan
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Chopping Board
- Blender/ Food Processor
Ingredients
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 yellow onion, large, chopped
- 3 tbsp butter, unsalted
- 1 L chicken stock, homemade
- 4 cups thyme
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 18.5 oz spinach, washed
- 4/5 cups cooking cream
Flour Slurry
- 5 tbsp water
- 1.5 tbsp tapioca flour
Instructions
Preparation
- Peel, wash and mince the garlic. Repeat with the yellow onions.
- Mix together water and tapioca flour until well-combined to make the flour slurry. Set aside.
Cooking
- In a stockpot over medium heat, melt the butter completely.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- Add yellow onions. Cook them for 3 minutes, or until very fragrant and the yellow onions are translucent. Stir occasionally to prevent burning at the bottom of the pot.
- After 3 minutes, add chicken stock, thyme, pepper and salt. Stir together until well-mixed. Cover the pot and let it boil for 5 minutes.
- Add 55g of washed spinach a handful at a time until the pot is full. Stir to soften and continue adding until all the spinach has been added. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to evenly distribute the heat.
- Taste and adjust as preferred.
- Switch off the heat. Blend for about 2 minutes, or until the soup is smooth with a hand blender.
- Add cooking cream.
- Switch on the heat to medium. Stir the soup for 30 seconds, or until the cream is fully combined with the soup. Make sure the soup achieves a boiling state as you stir.
- Add the flour slurry and mix until well-combined.
- Switch off the heat and serve with some toasted garlic bread or slider buns.
Video
Notes
Tips
- A flour slurry helps to thicken the creamy soup and give it a more velvety texture and weight. It is optional.
- Tapioca flour can be substituted with cornstarch.
- If using a stand blender, allow the soup to cool a little before blending.
- After adding the cream, ensure the soup achieves a boiling state before switching off the heat. This cooks the ingredients together, reducing the risk of early spoilage.