Ruth's Creamed Spinach

Not a copycat recipe but the real thing, aside from the addition of garlic, which we love, and extra spinach. This recipe comes right from Ruth’s Chris Steak House. It's rich, creamy and deliciously indulgent!

One of my husband’s favorite dishes is creamed spinach, the kind they serve in fancy steak places like Morton’s and Ruth’s Chris Steak House so I was not surprised last week when he ordered the spinach at Taste of Texas, a local steak house.

I had read the menu a little more carefully, so I pointed out to him that it was just normal spinach, not creamed. He quickly amended his order but he was very disappointed. That’s when I decided that I needed to make creamed spinach for this week’s Sunday FunDay event! It is truly a steak house favorite.

A brief search online turned up the actual recipe for Ruth’s Creamed Spinach, printed on cards that are (or at least were) given out at a Ruth’s Chris Steak House San Antonio location. (I’m pretty sure “steamed” is meant to be “stemmed” and that’s just a typo since cooking instructions follow.) 

You can find a few other Ruth's Chris recipe cards here: https://ruthschrissa.com/marketing/ Scroll down and click on the recipe card to see them. 

A little piece of trivia I also discovered about the famous steak house chain, Ruth’s Chris Steak House: The story goes that Ruth Furtel bought a restaurant called Chris Steak House from owner, Chris Matulich, and kept the name. But when she opened a second restaurant and called it the same, he sued her for using a name he had established. 

This prompted Ms. Furtel to name all of her restaurants Ruth’s Chris Steak House, to avoid any issues. And that’s why such a good restaurant has such an awkward name. 

Ruth's Creamed Spinach

Half and half is a particularly American dairy item, which is half heavy cream and half whole milk. You can substitute one cup or 240ml of each. I weighed the spinach after cooking and squeezing in case I want to use frozen spinach next time, which would make this a considerably faster dish. You are welcome! 

Ingredients

1/2 cup or 113g unsalted butter

1/4 cup or 32g flour

2 cups or 480ml half and half 

1 small shallot (or 2 tablespoons minced onion)

1 clove garlic

1 small bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

18 oz or 510g fresh spinach (or 270g frozen, thawed and squeezed dry)

To serve:

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Salt to taste, if needed

Few good grinds black pepper

Method

Pick the stems off of your spinach leaves and discard. 

Put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set it near the stove. When the water comes to a boil, add the spinach. Cook for one minute then use tongs to transfer the spinach to the ice water bowl. 

Once the spinach has cooled, use the tongs to transfer it to a colander. Leave in the sink to drain while you make the white sauce.

Peel and mince the shallot and garlic. 

To make the white sauce aka béchamel, melt the butter in a small pot. Whisk in the flour. 

Cook for a few minutes to get rid of the floury taste.  Add in the shallot, garlic, bay leaf and salt. 

Cook for two minutes, then whisk in the half and half. 

Cook for about five minutes, whisking frequently, until the mixture comes to a low boil and thickens. Once it thickens, cook for a further two minutes then remove the pot from the stove. 

Squeeze the spinach in the colander to remove as much liquid as you can then chop it finely in a food processor.  

When you are ready to serve, remove the bay leaf then add the spinach to the white sauce.Warm the mixture gently over a low heat, stirring frequently. 

Add the extra butter, salt to taste and a few good grinds of black pepper. 

Stir well and serve. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing our favorite steak house recipes, in honor of National Steak House Month and in case you want to make them for Father’s Day. Check out all the links below. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. 

• Palatable Pastime: Chopped Steak with Longhorn Steakhouse Seasoning 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Grilled New York Strip Steaks with Herb Compound Butter 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Keto Fried Beef Steaks 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Shallots and Rosemary 
• Food Lust People Love: Ruth’s Creamed Spinach 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: Steakhouse Garlic Butter

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin Ruth’s Creamed Spinach for later!

 .