Best Ever Spinach Balls Appetizer
Savory little bites of spinach, garlic, spices, and two kinds of cheese, today I’m sharing with you my recipe for the Best Ever Spinach Balls Appetizer. You might want to make a second batch, because these go fast at parties!
Happy first Monday of the New Year, everybody!
I hope you’re all as excited as I am to take on 2016! New year, new recipes!
Today I’m going to share with you one of my fiance Andrew’s favorite party starters, the Best Ever Spinach Balls Appetizer. His mother used to make a version of this, and I’ve taken the recipe and added a few different ingredients of my own.
Savory, cheesy, and it even includes a vegetable! You may have to make a second batch of these, they’re THAT good.
As 2016 begins, now is the time we should take to reflect on 2015. What we liked, what we didn’t like, and what we can do to make 2016 even better. Do you have any good resolutions? I’m setting small, obtainable goals: Eat more vegetables, give the cat more treats, drink more water, finish binge-watching Breaking Bad, and to save more money (for our wedding, yay!).
I’m also (and most importantly!) stepping back and taking a good, looooong look at Dishing Delish to see what I can bring you that we’ll both love. The first thing I’m going to do this year is a little bit of re-branding. I’m still keeping the name Dishing Delish, but from here on out this blog will be 100% gluten free.
You’ll still be able to convert most of my recipes for my non-GF readers, so don’t freak out, there is still deliciousness in your future!
For the new year, I’d like to start with one of Andrew’s favorite recipes, the Best Ever Spinach Balls Appetizer.
I know you’re going to enjoy it as much as we do!
How to Make the Best Ever Spinach Balls Appetizer
First, preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a large baking sheet and set aside.
Then add your 2 cups of thawed chopped spinach to a large bowl.
Next you’re going at add all of your other ingredients to the bowl.
That’s 2 cups of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs.
1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.
Crack in your 3 eggs.
And all of that melted butter (1/2 cup).
Then you can throw in your 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 tsp each of salt and black pepper.
And of course your 1 tsp of garlic powder.
There’s never enough garlic powder, in my opinion.
Then you mix it all together!
Next, you form it into balls and place on your greased baking sheet. You can use a small ice cream scoop to help make sure all of your balls are the same size, which will help them cook more evenly.
I used parchment paper, because I love it. It makes the pans much easier to clean after.
Parchment paper is pretty much the best invention ever.
Then bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and delicious looking.
That’s it, you’re done!
Easiest fancy appetizer ever.
If you like this recipe, be sure to follow me here on Pinterest!
Spinach Ball Appetizers
Ingredients
- 20 oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted, drained
- 2 cups gluten free breadcrumbs
- 1 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 bunch green onions, chopped
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup white cheddar, shredded
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Equipment
- baking sheet
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl mix together spinach, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, butter, green onions, eggs, cheddar, salt, pepper, and garlic.
- Form into balls and place on a large greased baking sheet.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until spinach balls are golden brown and cooked through.
Notes
Nutrition
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So good!
Tried this recipe and to me the bread crumbs made it a bit crumbly. I was hoping for more of a bread/stuffing consistency.
These shouldn’t be crumbly. I would try putting an oven thermometer and setting your oven for a certain temperature. Make sure it’s not cooking too hot, this is a really common issue with baking recipes.
can you freeze these spinich balls?
Yes these freeze really well!
Hi
Just wanted to know if I can freeze some of these after they’ve been cooked.
Thank you
Yes these freeze really well. Reheat in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350F, or until warm.
Dying to try these. Can I make with panko?
Many thanks
I haven’t tried it but I think panko would work fine!
Been making these for 50 years…a fam favorite that my girls make for their families. Love em… your recipe is same as mine 😍
Can these be made without butter?
Can I use “Plain” breadcrumbs instead of “Italian Seasoned”? Need to add Italian seasoning separately then? Thanks!
I made these tonight for the green part of my New Years dinner and they were fabulous!! I only bought 1 carton of spinach so I halved the recipe. For breadcrumbs I used almond flour and added Italian seasoning. The half recipe made 24 spinach balls using a melon baller. I’ll be making these a lot now! Thanks for the recipe!
How much almond flour did you use?
Do you think you could substitute ricotta cheese for the butter
Can these be used in sauce in place of a meatball?
That sounds delicious! I’d add them to your plate and cover with sauce when serving, I’m not sure how they’d hold up if they were simmered like a meatball.
Have you tried this with fresh chopped spinach? If so do you need to adjust any ingredients?
Mmm, sounds delish. I cannot wait to try them and pair it with some marinara dipping sauce and possibly a sautéed baby Bella mushroom on top.
These look great! Can you freeze these after baking for later use?
Yes these freeze very well. Freeze them on a baking sheet first, then transfer them to an airtight container. This will help prevent them from sticking together.
I made them for Thanksgiving.First everybody just looked, and nobody wanted to try them.Then one person tried one, and that was all that was needed. Suddenly all my spinach balls were gone, and everybody was looking for more.It turned out to be the best appetizer of the day.
Thanks for sharing the recipe.
When freezing, I am wondering if there is a better end result when freezing before cooking, thawing and baking late or freezing after cooking and reheating for serving?
Do you use the green and the white part of the onion?
For green onions you want to cut and discard 4-5 inches from the top of the greens, and about an inch from the roots. You’re using the middle green/white part.
Fantastic! I didn’t have enough of all the ingredients and used fresh spinach, more parm cheese because didn’t have enough breadcrumb and shredded mozzarella, that’s all I had and even then they were delicious!!
These look awesome. How do you think these would be if I leave out the green onions. Will they be good at room temperature. I’m having a party and it’s difficult to have everything ready at the same time. Thank you so much for your opinion. Also, do you have any advice on having everything ready at the same time and keeping it warm.
They should be fine leaving the green onions out. I’ve served them at room temperature before without any complaints, just make sure they don’t stay out for too long for food safety.
My best party tip is to use a slow cooker for most of the food! A lot of them have a “keep warm” setting, and slow cooker recipes are usually more forgiving if they have to cook a few minutes longer.
This recipe is so delicious! I’ve been making it regularly, and for just my husband and me! I’ve subbed onion powder for the onion and always more garlic, as well as playing with seasoning 😋
Question: If frozen, do they first need to thaw, or can you put them in the oven frozen? Thank you.
I’m so glad you like them! I would put them directly into the oven, you might just need a few extra minutes because they started out so cold. Or, freeze them after they’re fully cooked, and reheat on the “broil” setting in your toaster oven (with the tray just in case they drip!)