Filipino Style Spinach Recipe

Try this super quick and easy Filipino-Style Spinach Recipe for a simple, savory, and healthy vegetable side dish! It only takes a few minutes to have this sweet, oil-free, and tangy salad for lunch or dinner!

Looking for more healthy salad recipes? Try my Mango Salad, Talbos Ng Kamote Salad, or my Asian Cucumber Salad.

Jump to:

• What is Filipino Style Spinach?
• Health Benefits of Spinach
• Tips and Procedures
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Storage
• Top Tip
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Filipino Style Spinach Recipe

What is Filipino Style Spinach?

This Filipino-Style Spinach is a quick and easy vegetable side dish recipe made of blanched fresh spinach leaves mixed well with spices and a sweet, sour, and savory dressing made with white rice vinegar, sugar, and oyster mushroom sauce.

It's a super simple, oil-free, and budget-friendly spinach dish that is perfect to pair with any grilled or fried dish during lunch or dinner. It's a great way to get more vegetables into your diet, too. Cooking this Filipino food recipe is as easy as 1-2-3! Give this a try and let me know how it goes with you in the comment section below. Enjoy!

Health Benefits of Spinach

• Helps reduce hypertension.
• Good for bone and eye health.
• Prevents cancer, acne, and anemia.
• Supports the body's immune system.
• High source of anti-inflammatory properties.

Tips and Procedures

• If you don’t have ice cubes, you can place the blanched spinach on running water until it is cool to handle. Then squeeze out the water.
• Feel free to use calamansi juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar as alternatives for the dressing. Water spinach (ong choy), baby spinach, or bok choy can be used also instead of spinach for this Filipino dish.
• You may opt to sauté the spinach and spices such as garlic, ginger, and onion with olive oil for a few minutes before mixing the dressing, instead of blanching.
• This Filipino recipe, spinach salad, is best eaten immediately.

Ingredients

Listed below are all the ingredients you will need:

• white rice vinegar 
• granulated white sugar 
• oyster mushroom sauce 
• water 
• salt 
• spinach 
• red onion
• Roma tomatoes
• red bell pepper

Instructions

Combine rice vinegar, granulated sugar, and oyster mushroom sauce in a small bowl; set aside. 

On high heat, add water and salt in a pot and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Stir in the spinach and blanch for 30 seconds. Strain and place on an ice bath until it cools down. Squeeze the blanched spinach to remove excess water:

Roughly chop the blanched spinach and place it in a serving bowl. Add in onion slices, tomatoes, and bell peppers:

Pour the dressing over and mix well and serve immediately:

Enjoy a delicious spinach salad!

Substitutions

• Dressing Alternatives: You can use calamansi juice, soy sauce, and brown sugar instead of the original dressing ingredients.
• Vegetable Swaps: If you don't have spinach, try using water spinach (ong choy), baby spinach, or bok choy.

Variations

• Sautéed Spinach: Instead of blanching the spinach, you can sauté it with garlic, ginger, and onion in olive oil for a few minutes before adding the dressing.

Storage

• This spinach salad is best enjoyed immediately after preparation. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 day.

Top Tip

• If you don't have ice cubes, cool the blanched spinach under running water until it's easy to handle, then squeeze out the excess water.

Frequently Asked Questions