Easy Creamy Spinach Soup

Healthy spinach soup recipe in two white bowls

The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 25 mins
Total: 35 mins
Servings: 4 servings

This fresh spinach soup is wonderfully nutritious and delicious. It's also easy to put together and can be ready in about 30 minutes, making it an ideal light lunch or a great starter for dinner.

This soup has a brilliant green color because half of the fresh spinach is reserved and blended into the soup after cooking. It's a great trick that also helps retain all of the nutrients found in fresh spinach. This recipe is also very versatile. It makes a warm and inviting soup for winter, but it is also wonderfully light, so it works in the summer as well. You can enjoy it for lunch with a simple salad or serve it with a complete dinner for the family.

No matter when you eat it, this soup is even better when served with a loaf of crusty, seeded whole-grain bread. Add a dollop of fat-free sour cream or plain Greek yogurt for another dimension. If you want to serve this soup with dinner, consider lighter proteins such as sautéed or grilled fish, chicken, or pork.

"A quick and easy soup very ideal for cold fall/winter days. Very nutritious and healthy. I loved how potatoes gave the soup the right consistency and thickness without using any cream or cornstarch. I believe that leeks would also taste great in this recipe." —Tara Omidvar

Fresh and healthy spinach soup in a white bowl
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

  • 1 medium potato, peeled and cubed

  • 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

  • 1 stalk celery, finely chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

  • 2 cups fat-free milk

  • 1 (6-ounce) bag baby spinach, divided

  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  • Kosher salt, to taste

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for fresh and healthy spinach soup gathered

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  2. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil. Sauté the potato, onion, celery, and garlic for 5 minutes.

    Garlic, onion, and potatoes cooking in a saucepan

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  3. Add the chicken broth and fat-free milk. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer on low for 10 minutes.

    Chicken broth and milk added to soup pot on a stove

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  4. Stir in half of the spinach, cover, and simmer for 10 more minutes.

    Spinach stirred into the soup base

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  5. Cool slightly, then transfer the soup to a blender. Work in 2 batches if necessary to keep the hot soup from overflowing the blender as you blend. Alternatively, an immersion blender can be used to blend the soup in the pot. Add the remaining fresh spinach to the soup and blend until smooth.

    Spinach soup transferred to a blender

    The Spruce Eats / Diana Chistruga

  6. Taste for seasoning and serve.

    Fresh and healthy spinach soup in bowls with bread alongside

    The Spruce Eats

Use Caution When Blending Hot Ingredients

Steam expands quickly in a blender and can cause ingredients to splatter everywhere or cause burns. To prevent this, fill the blender a little less than half, vent the top, and cover with a folded kitchen towel while blending.

Recipe Variations

  • If you want to make this soup dairy free and vegan, simply swap out the milk for soy milk, almond milk, or another non-dairy milk and use vegetable stock or water.
  • This soup is easily adaptable to other herbs, both fresh and dried. Try a little bit of celery salt, chives, parsley, or ground cumin.
  • Swap out the onion for thinly sliced leeks or scallions.
  • Add a dollop of sour cream or yogurt for a bit of tangy creaminess.

How to Store and Freeze

  • Spinach soup will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the fridge.
  • For longer storage, you can freeze spinach soup. Place in a freezer-safe container, leaving an inch of headroom, and freeze for up to two months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating. Note that the soup will lose its bright green hue and may not be quite as creamy after being frozen.

How Do You Thicken Spinach Soup?

If your spinach soup isn't as thick as you'd like, add a little cornstarch to a small bowl along with a small amount of broth or water to make a paste. Add to the soup and simmer just until thickened. The next time you make spinach soup, try adding more potato or less broth for a thicker texture. You can also add sour cream or yogurt at the end for a creamier soup.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
130 Calories
3g Fat
20g Carbs
8g Protein
×
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 130
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 3g 4%
Saturated Fat 0g 2%
Cholesterol 5mg 2%
Sodium 717mg 31%
Total Carbohydrate 20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 2g 9%
Total Sugars 8g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 17mg 87%
Calcium 215mg 17%
Iron 2mg 11%
Potassium 743mg 16%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)