Korean Spinach Side Dish, also known as "Sigeumchi Namul" in Korean. A very easy and quick Korean spinach salad seasoned with a delicious garlicky sesame soy sauce.
Quick & Popular!
This is a popular banchan or side dish served at many Korean restaurants. It can be made ready in just 10 minutes! A fast and delicious way to get in your greens for dinner, lunch and this works well for meal prep too as you can store it in the fridge up to 4-5 days!
Easy Korean Spinach Recipe
I love making this Korean spinach recipe as it’s so simple and easy to make at home with minimal ingredients.
You’re simply blanching the chopped spinach in hot boiling water for 30 seconds, straining it and rinsing with cold water. Then squeezing excess liquids out and seasoning with a very simple 5 ingredient sauce – that it’s! It can be stored in the fridge up to 3-4 days if you’d like to have it for later.
It's Vegan!
This dish is vegan! If you're plant-based, then you may enjoy this vegan side dish as it is flavourful and doesn't contain any animal products.
Pairs deliciously with…
This is one of the many Korean side dishes that pairs deliciously with steamed rice and a protein of your choice.
It is also commonly used in bibimbap. For those of you who don’t know what bibimbap is, it is a mixed Korean rice dish. It consists of this spinach, bean sprouts, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, bulgogi ground beef or spicy pork, fried egg with a delicious spicy gochujang-based sauce.
What you’ll need
For this Korean spinach side dish recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- spinach
- salt
Sauce:
- Regular soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Sesame seeds
- Garlic
- Sugar
How to make Korean Spinach side dish
Below are brief steps with visuals to show you how to make Korean spinach. Please scroll down to the recipe card below to find full instructions and details.
Chop your spinach into 2-inch-long pieces.
Thoroughly wash your spinach at least 4-5 times to remove any dirt. The water should run green but clear. Strain the water.
In a medium size pot filled with water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Blanch spinach for no more than 30 seconds.
Quickly strain the spinach and rinse with cold water until the spinach is cold to touch.
Drain the cold water. With clean hands, gather the spinach into a ball and squeeze out excess water. Transfer spinach to a mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients.
Pour sauce over spinach and mix with clean hands. Serve and enjoy!
Cooking Tips
Below are tips on making Korean seasoned spinach:
Blanch only for 30 seconds
Since spinach is a very thin leaf, this will only take 30 seconds for it to cooked and retain its nutrients. Don’t overcook it or the spinach leaves will disintegrate easily.
Stop cooking process with cold water
Use very cold water to rinse your spinach after straining it. This helps to stop the cooking process.
Squeeze spinach with hands to remove excess water
Using clean hands are the easiest way to squeeze out any excess water.
Mix sauce before adding to spinach
Before adding your sauce ingredients to the spinach, you can mix them in a bowl to evenly distribute the ingredients.
Mix with hands
Mixing the sauce into the spinach with clean hands is also the easiest way to ensure even taste. Our hands are really our best tool!
FAQ
Below are frequently asked questions about this Korean blanched spinach:
How long can this be stored in the fridge?
This is one of those Korean side dishes that can be stored up to 4-5 days in an airtight container.
Do I need to add sugar?
No, you don’t need to, but it helps to balance out the saltiness.
Can I use baby spinach?
Yes but I would reduce the blanching time to 10-20 seconds as they are much smaller and wilt more quickly.
Is Korean spinach good for you?
Yes! It’s packed with fiber and delicious nutrients.
Other recipes you may like!
If you enjoyed this Korean spinach banchan, you may like these other Korean recipes:
BULGOGI (KOREAN BBQ BEEF)
GYERAN MARI KOREAN ROLLED OMELETTE
KOREAN POTATO SALAD
KOREAN CUCUMBER SALAD
Try it!
Well, I hope you give my Korean Spinach Side Dish a try! It always excites me when you make my recipes and I hope this is one you try and most importantly, enjoy.
Sharing is caring
If you enjoyed my Korean spinach dish, please share it with your family and friends or on social media! Take a picture of your re-creation and make sure to tag me @ChristieAtHome in your feed or stories as I would love to see it!
Did you enjoy it?
If you genuinely enjoyed my Korean spinach appetizer, please leave a 5-star review. I would greatly appreciate it 🙂
Take care,
Christie
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Easy 10-min. Korean Spinach Side Dish (Sigeumchi Namul)
Ingredients
- 500 grams spinach (about 2 large bunches)
- 1 teaspoon salt for blanching
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce feel free to add ½ tablespoon more if you like it saltier
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon white granulated sugar
Instructions
- Chop your spinach into 2-inch-long pieces.
- Thoroughly wash your spinach at least 4-5 times to remove any dirt. The water should run green but clear. Strain the water.
- In a medium size pot filled with water, add salt, and bring to a boil. Blanch spinach for no more than 30 seconds. Quickly strain the spinach and rinse with cold water until the spinach is cold to touch.
- Drain the cold water. With clean hands, gather the spinach into a ball and gently squeeze out excess water. Transfer spinach to a mixing bowl.
- In a separate bowl, combine sauce ingredients. Pour sauce over spinach and mix with clean hands. Serve and enjoy!
Billy
I loved it. It was so simple and tasty. My new way of eating spinach now.
Jen
I make this a few times a week - easy to make. I don't rinse the spinach after, but I have another bowl with ice and water. I drop the spinach in there, and quickly drain. I use less oil (just a tiny drop because sesame oil is very heavy for me) and I use maple syrup instead instead of white sugar, and it still tastes great! Love this!
christieathome
Thank you for making my recipe on a regular basis, Jen! Happy that you enjoy it 🙂