Super Healthy Fresh Soup, Perfect for Halloween!
No tricks, only a treat!
Are you looking for a fun meal to feed your little monsters?
This Creamy Spinach Soup is easy to prepare and have ready in minutes. A beautiful bright green color that not only looks but tastes delicious, the soup sets a spooky ambiance when served at a Halloween themed table in black bowls to mimic a witch’s cauldron.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: November 1, 2022
Please note that some ingredient links in this post may have been removed or changed from our original recipe published to reflect new affiliate partnerships.
With cold weather setting in and nights with temperatures dipping into the 30’s I’m ready to put soups back on our regular menu; how about you?
This delicious fresh Creamy Spinach Soup is easy to prepare and have ready in minutes. It’s terrific with a grilled cheese sandwich, and it will create lots of oohs and ahhs when served.
And if you’re looking for a fun meal to feed your little monsters, this soup with its beautiful bright green color sets a spooky ambiance when served at a Halloween themed table.
It would also be perfect as an appetizer soup served for an Irish themed meal to highlight the Emerald Isle, the green color in its verdant landscape, and as a complement to more traditional Irish foods.
Cook this #HalloweenRecipe! A #20minutemeal #yummy #spinach #SpookyFood #soup that’s #GlutenFree. A #HalloweenPartyFood #SpinichSoup #Recipe from #GfreeDeliciously and #Wildtree
Creamy with no Cream
I love that this fresh creamy spinach soup is made creamy from the cream cheese. If you didn’t already know it, cream cheese is a magical food ingredient to always keep on hand. It can do extraordinary things for everyday meals. Unwrapping a block is like unleashing a secret weapon that can transform nearly any recipe into a creamy, deliciously decadent dish.
That stated, the ingredient list for this recipe is simple; oil, onion, garlic, vegetable broth, cream cheese, a little garlic and herb blend seasoning, and loads of spinach – 12 ounces of baby spinach to be exact. It may not sound like a lot, but spinach is light, and 12 ounces is a HUGE heaping bowlful!
To make the soup, you will begin by sautéing onions and garlic in oil until the onions sweat out, turn translucent. Once that’s done, you’ll simmer them with vegetable broth and cream cheese before adding the mountain of fresh spinach to wilt in, then you’ll season it all with Garlic & Herb Blend before blending everything to create this delicious, silky smooth soup.
Spinach is a Superfood
Spinach is among the well-known superfoods. What does that mean? Superfoods are nutrient-dense ingredients considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being. Spinach has remarkably high levels of vitamins A, C, and K, magnesium, iron, and manganese, and it has an almost endless list of health benefits. Additionally, it’s super low in calories, definitely a win, win ingredient to include in your diet whenever you can!
Health Benefits
- Good for heart health
- Spinach can also help prevent acne for teens who are in a phase of fluctuating hormones
- Studies show that it helps reduce heartburn
- The high fiber content is a good source of roughage for regulating bowel movements,
- And the high levels of vitamin B6 and magnesium help the body produce serotonin. This hormone keeps us calm and regulates our sleep cycle.
- There’s also a lot of research that shows that spinach holds antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties that safeguard our DNA whenever cells replicate, making it a super anti-cancer food.
Blending it up
From tiny prep areas in hotel suites, boat gallies, travel-trailers, and on to slightly larger apartment kitchenettes and so-called regions that barely resembled a place where food is cooked and prepared – I didn’t always have the luxury of having a blender to use.
In my adventurous mind, I waved it off as perfectly okay. Hearty and rustic soup presentations were my vogue before it was trendy. Who knew it would become such a “food thing?”
Hearty, rustic, chunky soups were the norm for me until immersion blenders came on the market for home cooks – I was elated!
So much so that much to my dear hubby’s chagrin, I insisted that an immersion blender was a necessity for our traveling kitchen box that we shipped from place to place.
When we retired from those vagabond years, my traveling immersion blender retired, too, taking up permanent residency alongside the other gadgets I can’t live without in my cupboard. I still grab it today to make things easy when making creamy soups like this.
But if you don’t have a blender of any type and want to make the soup with a hearty and rustic creamed spinach vibe, skip the puree from a blender and go with making a chunky spinach soup instead. It will taste equally good!
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A bit about Blenders
The Wildtree recipe card calls for pureeing the soup using a standard kitchen blender before serving it. While this workhorse of an appliance works perfectly, I repeatedly grab an immersion blender to make soups smooth and silky.
I’ve tried several immersion blenders, some super fancy and others pretty basic. My favorites are versatile but straightforward, and I like them both equally well for different reasons.
First, either is handy for blending up and liquifying practically anything. You can work in the cooking pot, bowl, pitcher, or even a tall glass, so you don’t need separate mixing bowls. Both are easy-to-grip, variable-speed blenders with plenty of power. I love, love, and love that this blender is so easy to use.
My favorite alternative to a countertop standing blender is the Breville Immersion Hand Blender. The top of my list of perfect features is the blending wand attachment section that won’t scratch your porcelain-coated and non-stick pans. The bowl is excellent for chopping small amounts of food like onions, peppers, and nuts. It also includes a measuring/mixing cup that is great for mixing up small amounts of dressings and sauces, and it comes with a snap-on lid that doubles as a storage container.
Similar to my favorite is the Hamilton Beach Hand Blender. It also has attachments but is at a much lower price point. Like my favorite (mentioned above), it’s convenient when you need to blend and chop, mix, or whip ingredients. The main drawback is that the entire wand attachment is stainless steel, so you’ll want to be careful not to scratch your pots and pans when using it.
I should also mention the whisk. A whisk is included with both of the immersion blenders mentioned and is one of our favorite features. It works wonderfully for whisking up eggs, with a bit of cream for fluffy scrambled eggs. And I also like the foot-long cords, which let me move freely while working.
Both blenders are incredibly convenient and ideal for every cook, from the novice to accomplished chefs. If you don’t have one, I highly endorse picking one up at your earliest opportunity or putting it on your wish list, at the very least. After all, Christmas is right around the corner!
Picture the Recipe Step-by-Step
Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic, sautéing until the onion is translucent.
Add the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.
Stir in the spinach until wilted — season with Garlic & Herb Blend seasoning. Turn off the heat.
Transfer the soup to a blender, add cream cheese, and puree until smooth (Another alternative method is to use a stick blender. [3]) Season with salt if desired.
Serve with shredded Gruyere cheese if desired.
A few final GfreeDeliciously Tips for enjoying this Soup
- I recommend using baby spinach for this soup. The flavor is sweet and mild, and the small leaves will be easy to puree. Most grocery stores carry baby spinach in both bags and cartons found in the store’s fresh produce section.
- To make a slightly thicker soup, add in a cooked and diced Yukon Gold or other yellow-skinned potatoes. It will add a buttery flavor and pretty pale yellow color to the soup.
- If you can’t find a low-sodium vegetable broth, feel free to substitute a low-sodium chicken broth (if you’re not vegetarian) in this recipe. And if you need to be gluten-free, make sure to look for a certified gluten-free logo on the product packaging and designation on the nutritional label.
- There are many ways to finish off this creamy spinach soup. As mentioned in the recipe card, you can use shredded Gruyere cheese to garnish, but you could also use a dollop of thinned Greek yogurt, heavy cream, or oil. Additionally, croutons, cooked bacon bits, toasted pine nuts, pepitas, or a scatter of fresh herbs would be tasty.
- Herb flowers or other small edible flowers will also make a beautiful garnish for this soup.
- I used homemade seasoned gluten-free bread croutons as a garnish, but if you don’t need gluten-free, any croutons made from bread crusts, sourdough bread, or any rustic type of bread would also be delicious!
Kymberley
P.S. While this creamy spinach soup makes great spooky food for Halloween, this fresh-tasting soup is yummy and healthy for eating any time during the year. Enjoy!
Happy Halloween from G-Free Deliciously !
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Learn how to adjust the serving size, CLICK HERE
Creamy Spinach Soup
EQUIPMENT
- Saucepan
- Cutting Board
- Blender or Immersion Blender
- Utensils (Cooks Knife, Wooden or Heat-proof Spoon, Ladle)
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon Oil Wildtree Natural Grapeseed Oil recommended
- 1 medium Yellow Onion diced
- 1 tablespoon Garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Garlic & Herb Blend
- 3 cups Vegetable Broth [1]
- 12 ounces Baby Spinach
- 5 ounces Cream Cheese
- ½ cup Gruyere cheese shredded [2]
INSTRUCTIONS
- Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the onion and garlic, sautéing until the onion is translucent.
- Add the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in the spinach until wilted — season with Garlic & Herb Blend seasoning. Turn off the heat.
- Transfer the soup to a blender, add cream cheese, and puree until smooth [3]. Season with salt if desired.
- Serve with shredded Gruyere cheese and croutons if desired.
YOUR OWN NOTES
KITCHEN NOTES
Nutrition
Recipe Card powered by WP Recipe Maker
(Nutritional values are an approximation. Actual nutritional values may vary due to preparation techniques, variations related to suppliers, regional and seasonal differences, or rounding.)
Copyright © 2017-2024 Kymberley Pekrul | GfreeDeliciously | gfreedeliciously.com | All content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. However, copying and/or pasting full recipes on social media is strictly prohibited. Please read my Photo Use Policy for detailed guidelines and further clarification.
