Using frozen versus fresh spinach

[heidih]

The discussion of what type of spinach to use in this topic about spinach and ricotta ravioli reminded me of a chat I had at the grocery store a while back. A woman was completely perplexed about whether she should purchase the bagged baby spinach or the frozen spinach for a dish she was making. Without much thought I asked what the dish was and stated that the frozen had a more distinct spinach taste and that the bagged baby stuff might not hold up to bolder flavors.

I have never done a side by side comparison and I realize there is a third spinach- fresh mature. With the advent of bagged chopped spinach as opposed to those classic frozen blocks, I tend to go with the frozen if I am going to be squeezing it and using in a stuffing or filling. For a quick cook I prefer mature fresh, and for salads the baby. Thoughts?

[Pierogi]

Frozen is the way I go too, for stuffings like lasagnas, manicottis, enchiladas, etc., etc., etc. To get a similar yield with fresh, you'd have to buy 10 times as much, muck around with cooking it down, and then get it cooled, drained and dried. SOOOOOOOO much easier to toss a frozen block in the fridge for a day to thaw, then squeeze in a strainer ! And cheaper too.

I'm actually disappointed by the flavor of "baby" spinach in salads. I remember spinach salads back in the day made with the mature, curly leaves, and they had so much flavor. So I rarely buy the baby spinach, unless it's called for in a specific recipe....I can think of a couple of pasta sauces I make that need it, or use it as an alternative to arugula, or for a stir-fry.

For salads, I actually much prefer the mature leaves. Reminds me of, as I said, the old time hot-bacon dressing salads I loved as a kid.

[RobertCollins]

I have never side by side tasted fresh vs frozen spinach. I made some ricotta and stuffed it and spinach a few months ago; I just pulled out some fresh and steamed, squeezed and chopped, then stuffed.

I guess that with fresh here at any time I want it, why go buy a lump in a box that I have no idea when it went into that freezer.

[Conal]

You don't have to buy those awful frozen blocks anymore.They now sell what I guess you would call IQF bagged spinach.Nice to have on hand in a pinch when you just want to add a bit instead of defrosting a block.http://www.pictsweet.com/our-products/baby-leaf-spinach

[baroness]

You don't have to buy those awful frozen blocks anymore.They now sell what I guess you would call IQF bagged spinach.Nice to have on hand in a pinch when you just want to add a bit instead of defrosting a block.http://www.pictsweet.com/our-products/baby-leaf-spinach

For cooked dishes, the frozen spinach saves much time and effort in washing.

And washing.

And washing it again....

[Jenni]

I find that frozen spinach has a very different texture to fresh, and it certainly has less flavour than the fresh spinach I can get. I try to use fresh whenever I can. Having said that, frozen spinach seems ok as a "bulking agent" in mixed veg dishes.

[Big Mike]

I guess it depends on the application. Bagged baby spinach is nice but it cooks down to nothing and is expensive for an application like a filling for ravioli or lasagna. I've used fresh baby spinach and frozen in these applications, and I can't tell the difference except in the cost. If I were going to make a salad or drop it into soup or some other application where you want texture, fresh is the only way to go.

Beautiful mature spinach is really hard to find in my area, the trend seems to be bagged baby spinach or frozen unless you have a farm market that carries locally grown. I haven't seen bagged pre-chopped mature spinach yet in the Philly area. There's always hope with all of the increasing emphasis on locally grown ingredients.

BTW, side note: spinach grows like a weed in Spring and Fall. Plant some, you can't believe the difference from store bought.

[Jenni]

Oh I should point out that I don't buy baby leaf spinach, just mature (hmm that makes it sound weird!) fresh spinach. Babyl leaf spinach is way too expensive but I can get a pound of non-baby leaf fresh spinach for £1.50 so it's not too bad.