Asian Spinach Stir Fry

For a simple low carb side dish for a busy weeknight dinner or for keto meal planning try this quick and easy Asian spinach stir fry recipe. You only need a few ingredients to make this flavorful and healthy side dish. Plus I will show you many ways you can eat it. Just 1.3g net carbs and 10 minutes to make.

You might also like this Asian cabbage stir fry recipe.

Recently I’ve been making low calorie freezer meals so I have something to grab and eat on busy weeknights or for a quick lunch. So I came up with this simple yet tasty Asian spinach stir fryer recipe.

I used some garlic, ginger and soy sauce to give this leafy green that Asian flavor and whipped this up in about 5 minutes! It’s wonderful as a healthy vegetable side dish but you can also combine it with other foods to make a one pot meal or a bowl.

I used it with my keto chicken patties to make a low calorie frozen dinner. The color and flavor when great with this dish and I’ll talk about that later in the post.

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The ingredients I used for this basic recipe is fresh spinach, olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, sesame seeds and ginger. I did not add any extra salt because the soy sauce has plenty of salty flavor.

Raw Spinach
I used fresh spinach leaves and not frozen spinach. You need a lot of it because it shrinks down so much. If you can find baby spinach that is better but any kind will work. You can also make this baby greens like kale, Swiss chard or a combination of these leafy green vegetables.

Soy Sauce
If you are allergic to so you can use coconut aminos as a substitute for the soy sauce. I didn’t have any but if you have it would work great because it also has a bit of sweetness to it that would go nicely. Also you can use low sodium soy sauce if you want less salt in the dish.

Fresh Garlic and Fresh Ginger
The garlic and ginger in this recipe adds most of the flavor so you want to use fresh garlic and fresh ginger. Lately I’ve been buying the ginger paste below from Aldi. It just keeps longer than buying a fresh ginger root and Aldi always has it. If you have some ginger root go ahead and use that.

Sesame Seeds
I just used these as a garnish but you don’t have to go out and buy any. It’s more for looks than taste. You can also sprinkle a few drops of sesame oil at the end for another layer of flavor. 

You can add hot pepper flakes or hot chili oil if you want to add some spice or heat. You can even stir fry in the chili oil instead of the olive oil if you want.

How to make Asian spinach stir fry.

Step 1: Get out a large pan or skillet and heat to medium heat. Add the olive oil and once it’s hot add the crushed garlic and ginger root.

Step 2: Mix the garlic and ginger around and then add the chopped spinach leaves and pour the soy sauce on top. You might have to add half at first and as it wilts add the rest. It only takes a few minutes of cooking.

Note the leaves will probably have stems and you can take them off if you want but I find it doesn’t really matter and just takes more time to do. It also adds volume to the dish. But if you have tough stems on larger leaves you may want to take them off. 

Step 3: Once you have all the spinach in the pan, keep stirring as it wilts and when it gets to the way you like it turn off the heat. I don’t like to wilt it completely because it really does shrink up a lot.

If it has excess water as it sits you can pour it off if you want.

Step 4: Sprinkle some sesame seeds if using over to and serve. If you are using this for meal planning let it cool completely before adding to your freezer meals.

Store leftovers in an airtight container or try them in one of the dishes below. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

As you can see I didn’t cook mine all the way through. I like it a little leafy and not complete cooked down. But you can do as you please. Just keep it on the heat for a few minutes and it will continue to cook down.

Ways you can eat this stir fried spinach.

As I mentioned I used these in a my low calorie freezer lunches. Here are a few ways and food you can use with this keto spinach dish.

• Mix with rice for a more filling side dish. If you are low carb yo can use cauliflower rice.
• Dice and cook sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash etc and mix with this spinach. The sweetness of these vegetables goes great with the Asian flavors.
• Add various cooked proteins like chicken, shrimp, beef, pork or even tofu. Use thin slices of these meats and mix in with the spinach. Then serve over rice or even try some udon noodles.
• Try making an Asian flavored soup. Heat up some chicken broth, add the spinach and maybe some more garlic and ginger. You might want to chop the spinach even more first. Then add cooked chicken or shrimp or wontons for a tasty soup.

More spinach recipes you might like.

Spinach is so good for you and tastes great both raw and cooked. It’s a good leafy green to add to your low carb diet. Here are a few of my favorite recipes using this healthy vegetable.

• spinach salad with hot bacon dressing
• easy Lebanese spinach pies
• spinach and ham quiche
• spinach broccoli cheese casserole
• spinach and cauliflower rice pilaf
• slow cooker creamed spinach

Well I hope you enjoy this simple but flavorful keto veggie side dish. I have been eating this Asian spinach stir fry mixed with diced sweet potato and am loving it. Enjoy!

The nutrition facts for 1 serving is 43 calories / 2.5g fat / 2.9g carbs / 1.6g fiber / 2.8g protein = 1.3g net carbs