Why Garlic Spinach And White Beans Is Our Go-To Healthy Side Dish
How many times have you settled on an entrée only to scratch your head and wonder, “what the heck do we serve with it?”
Often times we’re looking for something that is both nutritious and filling, which can be a tough combo. But that’s the beauty of garlic spinach and white beans. You get all the healthy nutrients from a leafy green vegetable, and the ‘keep you full longer’ power from the legumes.
Time and time again, we find ourselves pairing everything from rotisserie chicken to pan seared scallops, even chicken milanese with a simple vegetable side dish like this.
Bonus? It’s super inexpensive and has a total prep + cook time of 10 minutes. Yes, please!
Ingredients for Garlic Spinach and White Beans
- Garlic cloves, thinly slices
- White beans, such as navy beans, great northern beans, or cannelini beans (any beans that are white and creamy!)
- Baby spinach
- Fresh lemon juice
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Chives
- Parsley
- Capers, drained
As with most vegetable side dishes, we recommend finishing them with a drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of flaky sea salt. You’ll be amazed how this can liven up a dish!
How To Make Garlic Spinach And White Beans
- Heat a saucepan with olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add garlic and sauté until fragrant and light golden brown, about 30 seconds.
- Add drained beans and sauté about 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add spinach.
- Pour in lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is just wilted, about 1-2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in chives, parsley, and capers. Serve immediately or set aside and eat later at room temperature. Just before serving, sprinkle with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and a drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil.
Can This Be Made Ahead?
We prefer to eat this hot, mostly because sautéed spinach and garlic is (in our minds) superior to room temperature cooked spinach, however it’s totally safe and more than fine to leave this out and eat at room temp!
Garlic spinach and white beans also reheats exceptionally well in a microwave just before serving, so there’s that option too.
What To Serve With Sautéed Spinach
- Pan seared scallops
- Salmon piccata
- Chicken milanese
- Rotisserie chicken
- Any grilled meats!
Garlic spinach and white beans is a simple (but flavorful!) weeknight vegetable side. Doesn’t take much to round out the meal, just a quick protein. We listed our favorites above, but there is no shame in a store-bought rotisserie chicken, which saves us on at least 2 or 3 occasions each month.
Are Spinach And White Beans Healthy?
Oh hell yes they are! Garlic spinach and white beans is totally our idea of health food. Spinach is rich in vitamins A, C, K and is loaded with iron and magnesium.
White beans, on the other hand, are packed with fiber and protein, helping to keep you fuller longer. Together they make one hell of a healthy side dish that is nutritious and overwhelmingly good for your body. We’ll take it!
Cannot express how much we love sautéed spinach with garlic (a staple in our home for over a decade), but the addition of white beans, lemon juice, and fresh herbs takes this over the top. Try it tonight and thank us tomorrow!
If you make this Garlic Spinach and White Beans recipe, please let us know by leaving a review and rating below!
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For more healthy side dishes, check out the following recipes:
- Roasted broccolini
- Sicilian cauliflower
- Golden beet salad with horseradish
- Tandoori roasted carrots
- Roasted butternut squash with za’atar
Garlic Spinach with White Beans
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 (15 oz) can small white beans rinsed and drained, such as navy beans or great northern beans
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice about ½ large lemon
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- pinch of black pepper
- 1 Tbsp chives thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp parsley chopped
- 1 Tbsp capers drained
- Flaky sea salt for serving
- High quality extra virgin olive oil for serving
Instructions
- Heat a saucepan with olive oil over medium heat. When hot, add garlic and sauté until fragrant and light golden brown, about 30 seconds.
- Add drained beans and sauté about 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add spinach.
- Pour in lemon juice, then season with salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is just wilted, about 1-2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in chives, parsley, and capers. Serve immediately or set aside and eat later at room temperature. Just before serving, sprinkle with a generous pinch of flaky sea salt and a drizzle of high quality extra virgin olive oil.
Notes
- White beans we’d recommend for this recipe: navy beans, great northern beans, cannelini beans. Note that some brands of canned beans have more starch than others, and might break apart during cooking — this won’t affect the taste, just the appearance.
- We do not recommend substituting with garbanzo beans, kidney beans, black beans, or other dark bean.
- Swiss chard is a great replacement for spinach! Remove rib stems, chop finely, and sauté these first for 3-4 minutes until tender. Then begin sautéing garlic, white beans, and chopped swiss chard leaves.
Nutrition
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Love this dish! It’s so simple, but has a really elevated flavor profile! This will be on our dinner rotation for awhile- healthy, quick, easy, flavorful!
One of our absolute favorite side dishes! Just feels good to eat it! xo, Ari
Very good! The first time I made it exactly the same for a side dish. The second time, I made it a main dish by adding some sun-dried tomatoes, shallots, pearl couscous and Italian style chicken meatballs. A piece of toasted crusty bread with Italian herb and garlic butter topped it off. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Love hearing this, Michael! Sounds like a perfect (and complete) meal you enjoyed! xo, Ari
Added kielbasa leftover to the garlic and 1/4 cup beef stock at the end and made a delicious one pot meal. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow 😋
Oh YUM! Absolutely adore kielbasa and think that is a totally perfect addition! Thanks for sharing! xo, Ari
Recipe was excellent! 2nd time around I wanted to pump up the protein plus add a little more pizazz. Added in two cans of skipjack tuna and a cup of white cooking wine which came out great 👍
Tuna is a perfect protein to add — thanks for sharing! xo, Ari
I love the simplicity, nutrition and flavors of this dish but it deserves more spinach. I used a full pound of baby spinach (about 14 cups). I had to add a half cup of vegetable broth but the spinach cooks down hugely as you know. The dish served four (one a 98 year old who eats like a bird, and the rest of us in the normal range) with about a cup left over. This goes into my keeper file. Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoy it, Robert! Super easy and nutritious side dish! xo, Ari
This was delicious, but how do you keep your beans whole instead of getting smashed up? Thanks!
Hi Amy! After making this many times, I’ve found that whether the beans remain whole or get smashed is really based on what brand of canned beans I use. Some are much starchier than others and break apart easily. While it doesn’t look as good as if they remain whole, the crispy bits are still delicious. I’ll add a note to the post sharing this as well! xo, Ari
Loved it! Thank you!
So glad!! Once of my fav easy side dishes! xo, Ari
Loved how easy this was to throw together! I served this as a side with maple mustard tempeh and basmati. It was the perfect 20 minute weeknight meal.
Totally one of our all time favorite side dishes. Healthy, easy, and flavorful! Yay! xo, Ari