Vegetarian

Spinach Crepes

Posted by Jessie on

3 servings of 3 crepes, or 4 servings of 2 crepes

We’re starting Moore Realistic with a spinach crepes recipe because the sauce (made with a roux) is easy to adapt for other purposes. We use it with pasta, in tuna noodle casserole, as a base for macaroni and cheese, and for lots of other dishes. Once you learn how to fix the sauce, experiment with it. Omit the spinach – or keep it to add an extra serving of veggies to your dish.

spinach crepes on a white plate

Ingredients for Spinach Crepes

Here’s what you’ll need for the spinach crepes:

  • 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach (no salt)
  • 3 Tablespoons Butter (unsalted)
  • 3 Tablespoons whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup nonfat milk
  • ¾ cup water
  • ½ teaspoon nutmeg (grated fresh if possible)
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
  • 3 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 9 Whole-Wheat crepes (We’ll share a recipe for homemade crepes in a future post, but store-bought crepes keep things simple.)

Gather ingredients before cooking to be able to give full attention to making the sauce. For example, we use a custard cup for the 3 Tablespoons flour. In a separate custard cup, we mix the cayenne and nutmeg in with the parmesan cheese to make certain these two flavor additions are distributed evenly in the sauce.

jar of cayenne pepper, cooked and drained spinach, custard cup of whole wheat flour, custard cup of grated parmesan, one whole clove, 3 tablespoons of butter

Step-by-Step Instructions

Time needed: 10 minutes

  1. Cook spinach

    Cook spinach according to package directions. Drain thoroughly. We press the cooled spinach in a strainer to remove excess water. If spinach is too wet, it can dilute the sauce. Set spinach aside.

  2. Melt butter

    In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.3 tablespoons of butter melting in a cast iron pan

  3. Cook flour in melted butter to create roux

    Add flour, stirring constantly, and cook for approximately 2 minutes.roux - melted butter and whole wheat flour

  4. Add milk

    Add milk slowly, stirring constantly until roux thickens. 

  5. When sauce thickens enough to coat the back of your spoon, add remaining ingredients

    When sauce begins to thicken slightly (enough to begin coating the back of your wooden spoon or spatula), add water, nutmeg, cayenne, and cheese.  Cook 5 additional minutes or until sauce begins to thicken again.white sauce in cast iron pan, with some sauce coating the back of a wooden spoon

  6. Once sauce has thickened again, add spinach

    Add spinach to sauce and stir to mix well.

  7. Fill crepes

    Spoon one-tenth of the filling onto the middle of each crepe and fold crepe over filling.  Place three crepes, seam-side down on each plate.spinach crepe filling spooned onto flat crepe

  8. Garnish

    Use the last of the filling to spoon across the top of group of three crepes for garnish. Serve immediately, and enjoy.

If the spinach crepes cool too quickly, simply warm each filled plate in the microwave for about 20 seconds on full power.

We adapted this spinach crepe recipe from one in the first edition of the American Heart Association cookbook. Sadly, the recipe wasn’t retained in the subsequent edition of the cookbook.