African Stewed Spinach
African Stewed Spinach is one of the easiest dinners we make regularly! Chopped frozen spinach is thawed, drained and stewed with tomatoes, onions and a protein source. Utterly satisfying!
Serve this satisfying spinach stew with corn fufu, sweet fried plantains, boiled plantains or boiled African white yams. It is versatile and worth making again!
African Stewed Spinach Recipe
When we moved to the United States, we thought our hopes of eating stir fry vegetables made with fresh green leafy vegetables were dashed forever. Our brother-in-law, who was to receive us, asked us to buy all sorts of dried vegetables – bitterleaf, njama njama, we even bought dried waterleaf (all popular leafy greens in Cameroon).
Then, in our early days here, one day we visited a Ugandan family. Among the food they served us was a satisfying bowl of freshly prepared leafy greens. We were surprised to see fresh greens, so we asked how they made it, and they told us it was a melange of collard greens and spinach.
That paved the way for us eventually making some African stewed spinach.
In true foodie fashion, we tried replicating the meal when we got home. Our sister-in-law asked us, “wusai you take fresh njama njama?” (Where did you get fresh garden huckleberry from?) She thought it was njama njama. We told her it was spinach and collard greens. It was yum!
From that time, we have experimented greatly with spinach. We have added it to Ndole, used it as a replacement for cocoyam leaves in Kwacoco and used it in ogbono soup. Those leaves are just too versatile.
A few weeks ago, we made a dish with spinach, collard greens, crayfish, and smoked turkey. Mr N took the meal to work, and when he got back home, he said, “That vegetable was gooooooood!”
As team #feedhusbandtillhecan’ttakeitanymore, we have decided to make ‘that vegetable’ a regular at our family table. We discovered that it works well with spinach only – no need to add the collard greens.
We normally buy fresh spinach, which we rinse, then chop. We boil water with a pinch of salt and a dash of baking soda.
We plunge the spinach into the boiling water, then cover it for 2 – 5 minutes. We then strain it with a colander and rinse with cold water, after which we squeeze it, and it is ready for use. So if you are dealing with fresh spinach, you could follow this method.
However, in this recipe, we bought “chopped spinach” from the grocery store. This is chopped and frozen spinach that you have to thaw, squeeze and use. Easy breezy!
Ingredients Needed
- In addition to spinach, you need some chopped tomatoes and onions.
- Then you need some sort of meat or fish of your choice. We used smoked turkey and dried fish. We boiled them so they could soften up. We started with the smoked turkey, and when it was almost ready, we added the dried fish. You could use shrimps, fish fillet or even chicken.
- Other ingredients you need: some crayfish, seasoning cubes, oil and salt.
How it comes together
To make the stewed spinach, you need to saute the onions, fry the tomatoes, add in crayfish and all other ingredients and mix. It is really that easy.
This stewed spinach is soft but not too soft – it has a bit of a bite to it. It is smoky, earthy, and worth making again. Pair it with some boiled plantains, yams, cassava, or even rice if you prefer.
- Yield: 4 people
- Prep: 10 minutes
- Cook: 20 minutes
- Total: 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 40 ounces spinach – frozen or chopped, blanched and squeezed (1132 grams), we used 4 10 oz packs of frozen spinach
- 5 large tomatoes – chopped
- 1 large onion – chopped
- 1/2 cup oil – we used canola
- 1/2 pound meat/fish – we used smoked turkey and dried fish
- 3 small cubes Maggi (seasoning)
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 cup crayfish – roughly blended
Method
- Pour oil into a pot and heat on medium heat then saute the onions until translucent. Add in tomatoes and fry until acidity is all gone. Be sure to stir from time to time so the tomatoes don’t burn.
- Add crayfish into the pot and stir. This will bring out a lovely aroma from the crayfish.
- Scatter in the Maggi, sprinkle in salt, add smoked turkey and dried fish or whatever meat/fish you are using. If it is too dry at this point, add a tablespoon of water and stir.
- Add in the spinach and mix well with the other ingredients until well incorporated. Let is sit on the fire for 5 minutes, as you stir lightly from time to time.
- Serve warm with boiled plantains, cassava (yuca roots), yams or even rice.
