Fork-tender spinach patties covered in a rich green tomatillo salsa–here’s an unusual delicious vegetarian recipe featuring emerald green spinach.
The hardest part of making these savory green cakes is squeezing as much moisture you can out of the wilted spinach. Once the spinach is drained, you season with onion and cilantrom then mix in ground corn tortilla chips and an egg to hold everything together. I like to tuck a few little pieces of cheese inside the patties but that’s entirely optional.
How to make these vegetarian spinach patties:
- Prepare the spinach:
Steam 2 bunches of fresh spinach or thaw 2 packages of frozen spinach, then drain and press out as much liquid as possible.
- Season the spinach:
Mix the pressed spinach with the chopped onion, garlic and cilantro. No need to cook the onion first.
- Mix in:
Add egg, salt and pepper, then mix in the ground tortilla chips or breadcrumbs, just enough so that the mixture holds together.
- Form and cook the spinach patties:
Pat the mixture into little cakes, and tucking in a few melty pieces of cheese, if you wish. Sauté the patties in olive oil until they’re just beginning to brown on both sides.
- To serve:
Generously ladle warm tomatillo sauce over the tops. Serve with Mexican rice and pinto beans.
The tomatillo sauce is simply tomatillos, onion, garlic and vegetable broth. You’ll find this sauce different from other salsa verde recipes in that there’s no cilantro, which I usually put in my tomatillo sauce.
If you’re looking for more vegetarian main dishes with spinach, you must make my green enchiladas with spinach and arugula.
Substitutions:
- I usually make these with wilted fresh spinach, but you can easily substitute thawed frozen spinach. Make sure you wring out as much moisture as possible, with both wilted fresh or thawed frozen spinach.
- You can mix in dried bread crumbs, cornmeal, or flour instead of tortilla chip crumbs.
- Dairy free: Don’t tuck cheese into the patties.
This recipe comes from Carmen, my Mexican home-stay mother when I was at Spanish language immersion school. The first time she served me her tortas de espinaca, I just about did a headstand on the table, they were so mindblowingly delicious!
Carmen’s recipe includes bread crumbs to absorb moisture and help the patties hold together. I told her I was going to replace the bread crumbs with corn tortilla crumbs so the patties could be gluten-free. She said “no hay problema”, and also that flour or cornmeal can substitute for the bread crumbs.
Carmen’s tortas de espinaca, these vegetarian spinach patties, is one Spanish lesson I’ll remember, and that I’m happy as a margarita to pass on to you.
Like Carmen, serve your spinach patties with Mexican rice and tender pinto beans.
Vegetarian Spinach Patties with Tomatillo Sauce
Ingredients
Spinach patties:
- 3 bunches spinach (10 ounces) or 3 packages frozen chopped spinach
- ¼ cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- ½ cup chopped cilantro leaves
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Finely ground corn chips, about 1/2 cup, as needed, (see note)
- 1 ounce white cheddar cheese, optional cut in cubes about the size of the tip of your pinkie finger
- Olive oil, as needed
Tomatillo Sauce:
- 6 large fresh tomatillos, or one small can
- 1 or 2 serrano chiles, seeds and veins removed, coarsely chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt, to taste
- ¼ cup vegetable broth or as needed
- Olive oil as needed
Instructions
To make the spinach patties:
- ** Fresh spinach: Wash well and remove and discard stems. Steam the spinach leaves about 5 minutes. Allow to drain in a colander or sieve, pressing very well to remove as much excess water as possible. Coarsely chop the spinach. You should have a about 3/4 cup.
- ** Frozen spinach: Thaw the spinach. Put in a sieve and press very well to remove as much excess water as possible. You should have a about 3/4 cup spinach.
- In a bowl, mix the pressed spinach with the chopped onion, garlic and cilantro. (see note) Using a fork, stir in the egg and corn chip crumbs or breadcrumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper. If the mixture doesn't hold together, mix in another tablespoon of the ground corn chips.
- Divide the spinach mixture in 1/4 cup measures. In the palm of your hand, shape the mixture into small round patties, forming them about 2 ½ inches wide and about 1/2 inch thick. If you wish, poke a couple of little pieces of the cheese in the middle so they're hidden inside the patties. (It may feel like the patties won’t hold together, especially if there is still a lot of moisture in the spinach. Handle them gently and they will cook nicely all in one piece.)
- Over medium flame, heat a thin layer of the oil in a large skillet. Gently cook the patties, turning to cook both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and keep warm while you prepare the sauce.
To make the Tomatillo Sauce:
- Drop the fresh tomatillos into boiling water and cook for several minutes, until just soft. Or use canned tomatillos. Place the tomatillos, serrano chile(s), onion, garlic and salt in a blender and whirl. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in another skillet and add the tomatillo mixture. Cook and stir for 3 or 4 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth, just enough to thin the sauce. Season to taste with salt. Pour a generous ladle on top of the spinach tortas.
Notes
- If you wish, sauté the chopped onion in a little olive oil before adding to the spinach.
- I used blender-ground corn tortilla chips in place of the breadcrumbs that Carmen uses to absorb moisture and help hold the patties together. You could also use cornmeal or flour.
Nutrition
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This recipe is an update of the recipe I posted right after two weeks in language school. The photo below is of Carmen’s tortas de espinaca on her floral-pattern melamine plate.
