This is a family favorite side dish made with spinach, fresh mushrooms, artichokes, and cheeses. It is creamy and delicious. Despite the lengthy list of procedures, this recipe is fairly simple and well worth the effort. If you enjoy garlic, you can add one or two more squeezed cloves to the mixture without first roasting it. This vegetable casserole recipe is one of the most popular ones for Thanksgiving.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Servings: | 16 |
| Yield: | 16 servings |
Ingredients
- 6 cloves garlic, unpeeled
- 4 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach – thawed, drained and squeezed dry
- 1 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
- 3 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 (8 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¾ cup real mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons garlic salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup French fried onion rings
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Place garlic cloves in a small oven-safe dish, and roast in the preheated oven until softened and fragrant, about 20 minutes. Set roasted garlic cloves aside to cool.
- Place the spinach in a large mixing bowl, and stir in the artichoke hearts.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir the mushrooms until softened, about 10 minutes. Mix in the green onions, and cook and stir until onions are soft, about 5 more minutes. Transfer the mushrooms, green onions, and butter from the skillet into the bowl with spinach mixture.
- Remove cream cheese from wrapping, place into a microwave-safe bowl, and cook in the microwave until warm and very soft, about 1 1/2 minutes. Stir the softened cream cheese into the spinach mixture, and add the sour cream, water chestnuts, Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, garlic salt, and lemon juice. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the garlic skins, and mix thoroughly into the spinach mixture. Spoon the casserole into a round 2-quart baking dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the casserole is hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Spread French-fried onion rings over the top, return to the oven, and bake until the onion rings are lightly browned, 5 to 10 more minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 327 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 37 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 678 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 28 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I have made these many times. I am so hooked on this recipe. FYI, take the “frozen” spinach and wrap in a “green” towel. Let it defrost wrapped in the dedicated towel. Once it has defrosted, simple begin squeezing the spinach to get rid of the liquid. It is a GREAT casserole!
We made this pretty much as it was written, the only thing we changed is added more French fried onions. It is going in my book and I could see us making it every week it was really good!
I did think the flavor of this dish was very good. (I did agree with another reviewer that you could cut back on the amount of spinach.) However, it’s called a casserole, so my first time, I made this and put it on the table with a salad, and my husband looked at me like, “Why are we eating dip for dinner?” This dish is way too much like dip that you’d buy crackers for and serve on, say, New Year’s Eve. I’d only make it as a dip if I made it again.
Very tasty–and the crisp water chestnuts were a wonderful addition. It was very, very rich–a small portion was enough. I can see this becoming a favorite for potluck dinners!
I used fresh spinach and no watere chesnuts. I will make this again.
Was looking for a main dish for mother’s day that didn’t include tomatoes. Found this recipe and made it exactly as is with the addition of 3 cups of cooked pasta mixed in. Very Good. Everyone wanted the recipe.
Not exactly a healthy way to use up my spinach and mushrooms lol. Pretty tasty though! It’s more like a dip–I had mine with tortilla chips! It could be good as a party appetizer. If using fresh spinach, use a whole big bag. I used half a bag and it shrunk a ton when I sauteed it with the mushrooms. I cut the water chestnuts and mayo and added onions to the sautee.
Great casserole. Very flavorful and easy to make.
Absolutely loved this! came out cheesey and full of flavor. I added some Asigo Cheese before I put in oven great husbaqnd loved it too!
We all loved this, used 3 boxes of spinach, 2 tb butter, and changed nothing else
Easy and scrumptious. I was generous with the mozzarella on top thinking more is better, but won’t next time. The dip doesn’t need much mozzarella on top as it’s heavenly on its own and the mozzarella gets hard to scoop with a chip as it cools. I made it for Christmas Eve and will make again.
I made it exactly as described in the recipe. Delicious, but it’s missing something. I just can’t put my finger on what it is. I made this as a trial run before bringing the actual casserole to Christmas Eve dinner. I think this dish will complement the prime rib dinner.
It was amazing. It took some time to prepare but it was soo worth it.
This is a real crowd pleaser. I get so many compliments when I bring it to potluck events. However, the idea that it will fit into a round 2 qt dish is crazy. It definitely goes in a 9 x 13 dish.
It’s a super great recipe if you like artichoke dip you’ll love this. Donely difference is I added shredded chicken breast Panko on top
I made this for a side dish for our Christmas family gathering. I followed the recipe pretty much as it was. I added a few more green onions, because they come in a small bunch and I didn’t want to waste them. Everybody really enjoyed it!! I even had people asking me for the recipe.
This should be called amazingly bad tasting spinach casserole! I wasted a lot of money and time thinking I was making a side dish that was exceptional. It was exceptionally bad. Extremely thick, dense cream cheese muck. Yuck. Not sure why people asked for this recipe…. unless you like to waste your time and money making this!
I made this as a casserole side dish. It was very good but we felt it would be served best as a topping for crusty bread.
This is always a favorite for a potluck. I doubled the amount of artichoke hearts. I cut up the garlic into smaller pieces after it was roasted and out of the peel. This way the flavor of the roasted garlic was distributed throughout the casserole. I also left off the onion rings – just baked the dish for a full 40 minutes. Every time I make this at least one person asks me for the recipe.
Spectacular! I did cut back on the spinach the second time, and have always skipped the onion rings. Also, I live in Spain and water chestnuts are not available. But the best part? Leftovers! This makes an incredible omelette. Also. I thinned it with white wine when I reheated it in a skillet and served it over pasta. I love any dish that can do such double duty!
I made absolutely love this casserole. Just made it for Easter and it will be a keeper recipe for years to come. Thank you.