Spinach soup or Palak soup is a wonderfully flavorful, comforting, and healthy dish. It’s made with simple, wholesome ingredients for a highly nutritious soup. Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions with photos (and video) for how to make my easy one-pot spinach soup that is gluten-free too.
More on Spinach Soup
Spinach (palak) has long been known as an incredibly healthy “supergreen” ingredient. Raw spinach is a low-calorie food packed with essential nutrients like iron, calcium, and vitamin K.
But although spinach is healthful, not everyone is fond of its flavor. However, if cooked properly and seasoned well these nutritious greens really can make a fan of even the staunchest spinach critics.
This spinach soup, for example, is an easy and delicious way to include leafy greens in your diet. Flavorful aromatics are sautéed with fresh spinach, then made faintly thick and mildly sweet with chickpea/gram flour.
The soup is seasoned beautifully so that every spoonful has a wonderful – and not overwhelming – taste of earthy, savory spinach.
I use an immersion blender to get the palak soup perfectly creamy, and the recipe is therefore a one-pot dish as well! Consider topping the soup with some coconut cream like I have done to make it an even healthier vegan spinach soup.
I love to make various Soup Recipes and they are so comforting and healthier during colder days. Sipping a mug of steaming hot soup is like a warm hug during winters.
Continue reading for the full recipe and video for how to make my favorite, ridiculously simple, bright and flavorful spinach soup from scratch!
How to Make Palak Soup (Spinach Soup)
Prep Spinach
1. Using a strainer or colander rinse some spinach leaves very well in water a few times, removing any mud or soil clinging on the leaves or stems. Drain all the water.
Remember that if the stems are tender, you can use them. If the stems are stringy or fibrous, then only use the leaves.
2. Then chop and set them aside. Measure and you will need 2 cups of chopped spinach.
Sauté Aromatics
3. Heat 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of oil (any neutral flavored oil or olive oil) in a saucepan or kadai. Keep heat to a low. Add bay leaf and sauté for 2 to 3 seconds.
Note that instead of bay leaf you can also use tej patta (Indian bay leaf).
4. Then add ¼ teaspoon of chopped garlic cloves. Sauté on low heat until the garlic is lightly browned. Be careful to not burn the garlic or it will taste bitter.
5. Then add ¼ cup chopped onions. Sauté stirring often until the onions are softened.
6. Add the 2 cups of chopped spinach. Stir to combine, and season with ¼ teaspoon black pepper and salt to taste.
7. Now add 1 tablespoon besan or gram flour. You can also use chickpea flour or all-purpose flour or cornmeal instead.
8. Combine and stir to mix well.
Cook Palak Soup Mixture
9. Next pour 2 cups of water into the pot. For a more flavorful soup opt to add vegetable stock instead of water.
10. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low to medium heat.
11. After the soup mixture comes to a boil, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes on low to medium-low heat.
12. Add ¼ teaspoon of ground cumin powder. Mix again.
13. Switch off the heat and remove the pot from the burner, and let the soup mixture cool slightly.
14. Before blending remove the bay leaf from the soup mixture.
Make Spinach Soup
15. Once the soup has cooled, use either an immersion blender or hand blender to blend until smooth.
You can also use a standing blender or mixer-grinder and work in batches if needed. Just be sure the soup has dropped to a temperature that’s safe for whatever equipment you use.
If the soup looks a bit thick, then add ¼ cup water and stir. The consistency should be smooth, and slightly thin.
16. Turn the stovetop heat back on to medium, and bring the palak soup to a gentle simmer. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Before serving check the seasonings. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
17. Pour in soup bowls and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of coconut cream.
Sprinkle some crushed black pepper if needed. A topping of bread croutons also tastes good with this soup.
18. Serve Spinach soup hot or warm as a starter or as a light dinner with a side of any Vegetable Salad.
You can also serve this soup as an entree with a main course of any baked dish or Pasta or simple rice-based dish like Pulao or pilaf.
FAQs
Add freshly cracked pepper, or a pinch of crushed red pepper for some heat. For a non-vegan version you can also grate on some paneer or other cheese, or add a dollop of low-fat cream before serving. Make this a heartier soup by adding cooked macaroni.
Enjoy a warm bowl of this soup with crusty bread or crackers for dipping. It’s great to serve with a fresh green salad for lunch or a light dinner.
Yes, this soup is easy to prepare in larger quantities! As-is this will serve 2 people. Double or even triple the recipe for however many servings you need.
Stored in an airtight container leftover spinach soup without the coconut cream will keep well for up to 2 days.
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Spinach Soup Recipe (Palak Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped spinach (palak)
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- ¼ teaspoon chopped garlic or 2 to 3 small to medium-sized garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon gram flour or chickpea flour – swap with cornmeal or all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder)
- 1 bay leaf – small sized, swap with tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 2 cups water or vegetable stock
- 1 or 1.5 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or add as required
- salt as required
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut cream for topping, optional
- 2 to 3 pinches of crushed black pepper – optional
Instructions
Preparation
- First rinse the spinach leaves very well in water a few times. Then drain all the water.
- Chop the spinach leaves and keep aside. If the stems are tender, you can use these too.
Sautéing and cooking spinach soup mixture
- Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add the bay leaf and sauté for 2 to 3 seconds
- Now add the chopped garlic and sauté till the garlic is light browned or browned. Don't burn the garlic.
- Sauté the garlic on a low heat. Add chopped onions and sauté till the onions are softened.
- Add the chopped spinach. Stir and season with black pepper and salt.
- Now add the besan or gram flour. Mix well.
- Pour 2 cups water and mix again.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add ground cumin and stir well.
- Switch off the heat and let the soup mixture cool a bit.
Making spinach soup
- When the soup mixture's heat has reduced or has become warm, then blend with a hand blender or in a blender until smooth.
- Remove the bay leaf while blending.
- Check the seasonings and add some more salt or pepper if required.
- If the soup looks thick, then add about ¼ cup water and stir.
- Keep the well blended soup back on the stove for simmering for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve spinach soup hot sprinkled with some freshly crushed black pepper and coconut cream.
Video
Notes
- Use tender, fresh spinach. You can also use baby spinach or frozen spinach. For frozen spinach thaw the leaves first. Once the leaves are thawed, press and squeeze all of the water from the leaves.
- If the stems are tender, you can use these. But if they are fibrous or stringy, then discard the stems and use the leaves only.
- For the oil you can use any neutral tasting oil and even olive oil. For a vegetarian spinach soup, you can add butter.
- This is a thin light soup. To thicken the soup you need to add some form of starch in it. Add some chopped potatoes – about ¼ to ⅓ cup to the soup mixture. First add potatoes and water. Cook until potatoes are almost done. Then add the spinach leaves and simmer until the leaves are wilted. You can also add some carrots to the soup but with carrots, the soup will have a sweet taste.
- This recipe is for two servings. But can be easily scaled up to make a big batch.
- The soup stays good for 1 to 2 days in the fridge. You can also freeze for a few weeks without the coconut cream.
- A topping of bread croutons also tastes good with this palak soup.
Nutrition Info (Approximate values)
This Spinach Soup recipe from the blog archives first published in July 2013 has been republished and updated on November 2022.
Dear Dassana,
I tried the spinach soup with your recipe, came out amazing very flavoursome. Thanks.
Nice to know and thanks for the rating and feedback.