There are many reasons to get behind canned food. For one, some canned foods can be just as good as fresh. You can also use canned ingredients to upgrade other dishes, and at the same time, upgrade your canned ingredients, too — like adding leftover greens to your canned tomato soup, for instance. And if you’re not a big fan of canned food, chances are you’re making some mistake along the way. We’re here to talk about one particular, oft-overlooked, classic leafy green that comes in a can: good ol’ spinach. If you’ve tried canned spinach before and found that you weren’t much of a fan, have we got some news for you. You may have just been making one simple mistake: not washing your canned spinach before using it.
Since most canned foods are ready to eat, not everyone thinks about rinsing the ingredients off before using them. But you definitely want to drain and rinse your canned spinach thoroughly, or you’ll be picking up on all kinds of unpleasant aftertastes. By rinsing the spinach off, you’re stripping away the excessive salt and brine that keeps canned foods fresh for so long. Food in a can may also taste metallic over time thanks to the metal of the can itself, and that can stick around on your spinach if you don’t give it a good rinse.
The best ways to prepare your canned spinach
Now that you know it’s a mistake not to rinse your canned spinach, what’s the best way to go about it? Follow a three step process: drain, rinse, and dry. First, drain your spinach of its briny liquid, which you can do easily by dumping it into a wire mesh sieve. Then, keep it in the sieve and run some cool water over it, agitating the leaves with your hand so you get as much canned water off as possible. Finally, lay your spinach on a flat surface and pat it dry with paper towels. This keeps your spinach tasting fresh and prevents it from getting mushy when you cook it later.
You don’t have to rinse your canned spinach before using it every single time you plan on adding it to a meal, but you’ll definitely want to consider it when you’re making dishes that are super spinach-forward, like spinach quiche or sautéed spinach. Other dishes, like spinach and artichoke dip, have so many flavors going on that you don’t have to worry quite so much about the remnants of the can brine. Still, if you really want the best canned spinach experience, it takes pretty much no time to give your leaves a little rinse. Your taste buds will definitely thank you later.
