Spinach balls are an old favorite that are healthy and a perfect appetizer for holiday gatherings or any time of the year.
It’s recipe redux time once again! This month we are celebrating the end of another year by grabbing our nearest cookbook and making a recipe from page 2016, 201 or any combination of 2016. I went to my cookbook collection, and picked up one of my older cookbooks . . . Vineyard Seasons by Susan Branch. It’s such a cute little cookbook. It has a collection of easy seasonal recipes along with little stories woven throughout it. It’s kind of like a blog in a book, though I’m pretty sure this cookbook was written long before recipe blogs were a thing. The last page in the book is 145, and page 16 does not have a recipe so I had to settle for page 20, which actually worked out quite well, because I needed an appetizer idea.
Since we are just days before the holidays, I thought these spinach balls which I have made before, would fit perfectly into my holiday entertaining plans. It’s a classic recipe that was a part of many holiday get-togethers throughout the years. They are so easy to make, and the best part is that you can freeze them and pop them in the oven when you are ready to serve them.
I tweaked the recipe a little bit. It uses packaged stuffing mix so I swapped that for whole wheat panko and I cut back on the butter, eggs and cheese. They tasted just as I remembered them even with the changes. AND the best part, I have now my appetizers ready to go in the freezer for Christmas!
- 12 ounces of frozen spinach- thawed
- 2 beaten eggs
- ¼ cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ cup minced onion
- 1½ teaspoons thyme
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
- Pre-heat oven to 325
- Drain spinach and squeeze dry and place into a mixing bowl
- Add remaining ingredients and mix well
- Place in refrigerator for at least an hour to make it easier to form into balls
- Form the mixture into 1 inch balls
- Place on a parchment lined cookie sheet
- Bake for 30 minutes
- Alternatively: place on cookie sheet and freeze - once frozen store them in plastic bags or freezer container until ready to use
This recipe can be made vegan by mixing 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal with 3 tablespoons water for the egg, and ¼ cup of nutritional yeast in place of cheese
This recipe was inspired by the cookbook Vineyard Seasons by Susan Branch
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My Ingredient Picks. . .
Edward and Sons Organic Panko- Panko are Japanese bread crumbs that are more cripsy than traditional bread crumbs
Simply Organic Dried Thyme – Fresh herbs are my first preference Simply Organic herbs are my second.
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Looks delicious!