Spinach soup or Palak soup is a wonderfully flavorful, comforting, and healthy dish. It’s made with simple, wholesome ingredients for a highly nutritious soup. Here you’ll find step-by-step instructions with photos (and video) for how to make my easy one-pot spinach soup that is gluten-free too.
More on Spinach Soup
Spinach (palak) has long been known as an incredibly healthy “supergreen” ingredient. Raw spinach is a low-calorie food packed with essential nutrients like iron, calcium, and vitamin K.
But although spinach is healthful, not everyone is fond of its flavor. However, if cooked properly and seasoned well these nutritious greens really can make a fan of even the staunchest spinach critics.
This spinach soup, for example, is an easy and delicious way to include leafy greens in your diet. Flavorful aromatics are sautéed with fresh spinach, then made faintly thick and mildly sweet with chickpea/gram flour.
The soup is seasoned beautifully so that every spoonful has a wonderful – and not overwhelming – taste of earthy, savory spinach.
I use an immersion blender to get the palak soup perfectly creamy, and the recipe is therefore a one-pot dish as well! Consider topping the soup with some coconut cream like I have done to make it an even healthier vegan spinach soup.
I love to make various Soup Recipes and they are so comforting and healthier during colder days. Sipping a mug of steaming hot soup is like a warm hug during winters.
Continue reading for the full recipe and video for how to make my favorite, ridiculously simple, bright and flavorful spinach soup from scratch!
How to Make Palak Soup (Spinach Soup)
Prep Spinach
1. Using a strainer or colander rinse some spinach leaves very well in water a few times, removing any mud or soil clinging on the leaves or stems. Drain all the water.
Remember that if the stems are tender, you can use them. If the stems are stringy or fibrous, then only use the leaves.
2. Then chop and set them aside. Measure and you will need 2 cups of chopped spinach.
Sauté Aromatics
3. Heat 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of oil (any neutral flavored oil or olive oil) in a saucepan or kadai. Keep heat to a low. Add bay leaf and sauté for 2 to 3 seconds.
Note that instead of bay leaf you can also use tej patta (Indian bay leaf).
4. Then add ¼ teaspoon of chopped garlic cloves. Sauté on low heat until the garlic is lightly browned. Be careful to not burn the garlic or it will taste bitter.
5. Then add ¼ cup chopped onions. Sauté stirring often until the onions are softened.
6. Add the 2 cups of chopped spinach. Stir to combine, and season with ¼ teaspoon black pepper and salt to taste.
7. Now add 1 tablespoon gram flour (besan). You can also use chickpea flour or all-purpose flour or cornmeal instead.
8. Combine and stir to mix well.
Cook Palak Soup Mixture
9. Next pour 2 cups of water into the pot. For a more flavorful soup opt to add vegetable stock instead of water.
10. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-low to medium heat.
11. After the soup mixture comes to a boil, simmer for 3 to 4 minutes on low to medium-low heat.
12. Add ¼ teaspoon of ground cumin powder. Mix again.
13. Switch off the heat and remove the pot from the burner, and let the soup mixture cool slightly.
14. Before blending remove the bay leaf (or tej patta) from the soup mixture and discard it.
If you forget to remove the bay leaf/tejpatta, your spinach soup will have a weird bitter taste.
Make Spinach Soup
15. Once the soup has cooled, use either an immersion blender or hand blender to blend until smooth.
You can also use a standing blender or mixer-grinder and work in batches if needed. Just be sure the soup has dropped to a temperature that’s safe for whatever equipment you use.
If the soup looks a bit thick, then add ¼ cup water and stir. The consistency should be smooth, and slightly thin.
16. Turn the stovetop heat back on to medium, and bring the palak soup to a gentle simmer. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Before serving check the seasonings. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
17. Pour in soup bowls and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of coconut cream.
Sprinkle some crushed black pepper if needed. A topping of bread croutons also tastes good with this soup.
18. Serve Spinach soup hot or warm as a starter or as a light dinner with a side of any Vegetable Salad.
You can also serve this soup as an entree with a main course of any baked dish or Pasta or simple rice-based dish like Pulao or pilaf.
FAQs
Add freshly cracked pepper, or a pinch of crushed red pepper for some heat. For a non-vegan version you can also grate on some paneer or other cheese, or add a dollop of low-fat cream before serving. Make this a heartier soup by adding cooked macaroni.
Enjoy a warm bowl of this soup with crusty bread or crackers for dipping. It’s great to serve with a fresh green salad for lunch or a light dinner.
Yes, this soup is easy to prepare in larger quantities! As-is this will serve 2 people. Double or even triple the recipe for however many servings you need.
Stored in an airtight container leftover spinach soup without the coconut cream will keep well for up to 2 days.
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Spinach Soup Recipe (Palak Soup)
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped spinach (palak)
- ¼ cup chopped onions
- ¼ teaspoon chopped garlic or 2 to 3 small to medium-sized garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon gram flour or chickpea flour – swap with cornmeal or all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin (cumin powder)
- 1 bay leaf – small sized, swap with tej patta (Indian bay leaf)
- 2 cups water or vegetable stock
- 1 or 1.5 tablespoons olive oil or butter
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or add as required
- salt as required
- 2 to 3 tablespoons coconut cream for topping, optional
- 2 to 3 pinches of crushed black pepper – optional
Instructions
Preparation
- First rinse the spinach leaves very well in water a few times. Then drain all the water.
- Chop the spinach leaves and keep aside. If the stems are tender, you can use these too.
Sautéing and cooking spinach soup mixture
- Heat oil in a sauce pan. Add the bay leaf or tej patta and sauté for 2 to 3 seconds on low heat.
- Now add the chopped garlic and sauté till the garlic is light browned or browned. Don't burn the garlic.
- Sauté the garlic on a low heat. Add chopped onions and sauté till the onions are softened.
- Add the chopped spinach. Stir and season with black pepper and salt.
- Now add the besan or gram flour. Mix well.
- Pour 2 cups water and mix again.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add ground cumin and stir well.
- Switch off the heat and let the soup mixture cool a bit.
Making spinach soup
- When the soup mixture's heat has reduced or has become warm, first remove the bay leaf or tej patta and discard it.
- Then blend with a hand blender or in a blender until fine and smooth.
- Check the seasonings and add some more salt or pepper if required.
- If the soup looks thick, then add about ¼ cup water and stir.
- Keep the well blended soup back on the stove for simmering for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Serve spinach soup hot sprinkled with some freshly crushed black pepper and coconut cream.
Video
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Spinach Soup recipe from the blog archives first published in July 2013 has been republished and updated on November 2022.
Made this today. It was so amazing and flavourful. Thanks
Glad to know and thank you. Welcome!
The spinach soup turned out so creamy and delicious. Thank you for your ready to follow yet perfect recipes always 🙂
Great and thanks for sharing this lovely feedback.
Made the spinach soup today and it was so good. Will surely increase the proportions for next time. Thanks a lot.
I love your soups and have tried a variety of them recently. Since we are vegetarians, i have really enjoyed your veg recipes.
Thanks a lot for sharing your feedback on the soup recipes that you have made from the website. Thanks also for the rating on this recipe.
Dear Dassana,
I tried the spinach soup with your recipe, came out amazing very flavoursome. Thanks.
Nice to know and thanks for the rating and feedback.
Dear Dassana ji
Perfect timing for healthy Soup recipe.
I have tried many of your recipes and everyone in our family enjoying it.
God Bless you with all success.
Warm Regards
Thanks a lot Vina ji for the feedback on the recipes you have tried and also for your kind wishes.
love the way you tell your recipes.
Thank you Roopali.
Under your guidance,we are made mostly receipes ,now we stopped to purchase (parcel) or eating out.Thanks.
That is good to know and thank you. Welcome and Happy Cooking.
Your every dishes..I already made at home..n I love your receipe… specially my husband like your palak soup..
thanks sarita for the positive reviews on the recipes you have tried and the palak soup recipe. glad to read them. happy cooking.
Hi Dassana! I have been converted to Vegan recently. It was very difficult to eat vegan recipes of other countries (fitness based recipes), when I had the taste buds familiar with South indian recipes.
Your website helped me to fulfill my fitness journey in a good way for the past 6 months!
Regarding the recipe, its fantastic, just added sesame seeds as a garnish!
Nice and easy recipe but i would like to know which ingredient makes Sodium reading high. As per nutrition chart it is 1196 (50%) which is i believe very high. Even ready made soups have lower sodium. I assume serving size is medium size bowl- 250-500 grams.
thanks snehal. i calculated the nutrition data again. not sure what was giving this error of such a high sodium content. after calculating it again, the sodium content has become 39 now. thanks for letting me know about this. i have changed it in the recipe card also.
Hey, thank for quick reply. New number make more sense.. I am going to try your recipe today and will share experience. I am sure it is going to taste well. thank you again and keep sharing healthy recipes. I am newbie to kitchen and want to eat healthy food.
welcome snehal. yes it does make sense. sure do share and i hope the recipe goes well for you. already i have shared many healthy recipes on website and will definitely try to add more.
Have made several recipes from your blog, but this is the first time I’m commenting. The soup turned out perfect, and the besan was a touch of genius!
Thanks for this treasure trove of never-fail recipes – much appreciated and often referred to!
Welcome Mekhola. Glad to read your positive words full of appreciation. Thanks for your positive feedback on recipes.
It’s very tasty and I liked it very much. Just one small query, can we use any other flour instead of besan or gram flour?Do you have any option??
Thanks Priya. You can use corn flour.
Tried this today. It turned out awesome. Perfect consistency – exactly like Restaurants.
Your picture tutorial helps a great deal… Thanks for sharing your talent with us 🙂
Welcome Kruti. Glad to know that you liked the recipe.
I love palak soup but was never able to cook like restaurant.. I followed this video today and the soup tastes amazing and just like restaurant.. 🙂
Thank you dassana
thanks shweta for this positive feedback on the palak soup recipe. welcome 🙂
always thanks dassana for awesome recipes and this time to helpful video too. I added yellow corn flour and soup was very creamy.keep posting.
thanks vandita and welcome. yellow corn flour or maize flour is a healthy ingredient that can be used for thickening soups.
Hi Dassana, I tried this soup today and it was amazing! I often follow your recipes because your instructions are almost perfect and the dish usually turns out very well. Your recipes are a valuable resource to refer to, please keep up your excellent work!
thanks a lot suba for this lovely feedback. happy cooking 🙂
I tried this palak soup yesterday and it was amazing, very tasty and very nutritional. Everyone at my home liked it.
thanks a lot madeeha for sharing positive review on the recipe. nice to know that everyone at your home liked the soup.
Tasty and healthy soup.Loved it.
Fantastic soup Dassana! Healthy and tasty – a hard combination to find. 🙂
thanks priya
Very good soup!! I just loved it
thanks garima 🙂
My entire family liked this yummy soup. Thanks for sharing such delicious receipies.
welcome kavita, thanks for positive feedback.
Loved the recipe.. cooked it today.. I love soups.. and I never knew that spinach can taste so good.. Liked bottled gourd soup too.. I love being healthy but as it does not taste good..I was not able to continue the healthy diet.. thanks to you…you made it possible… 🙂
Please post some more healthy and vegan recipes..
glad you liked the spinach soup 🙂 and thanks for positive views! you are always welcome.
Had a comforting warm bowl of soup…honestly when I saw ingredients I thought it will be a normal one..but outcome had a punch..planning to make it for guests
pleased to know this raji, thanks for positive views 🙂
I’ve never had a more delicious spinach soup. I was so happy to find a recipe that is suitable for vegans. So many spinach dishes are full of cream and butter. I found this recipe by accident and I’m so glad I decided to try it. I am making my third pot tonight!
I have also learned a great tip of using a coffee grinder to grind whole spices. I never realized it was easy to do that. I bought a grinder just to use for spices for my Indian dishes. I now grind cumin seeds into powder and it tastes and smells amazing when you grind it fresh. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. I know I will enjoy it over and over. Peace and blessing to you!
very pleased to know this 🙂 glad we could help you a bit in your cooking. thank you for your kind and positive feedback. god bless you too.
Thanks Dassana and Amit . I tried this recipe today, but substituted the garlic with a generous pinch of asafoetida and a little yellow capsicum, because we don’t use garlic . It turned out great and a big thanks to your recipe. Everyone loved it ?..keep up the good work!
thanks ranjitha for the positive feedback. yes asafoetida can be substituted for garlic. it taste good and the absence of garlic is not felt.
really nice recipe! I love spinach and I loved the soup.. thanks for sharing the recipe.. 🙂
welcome and thankyou ankita 🙂
Thanks a lot for this soup recipe. The addition of besan in this recipe really gives the soup a different and tasty flavour. My little son finished a bowl of this soup mixed with some rice and wanted more.
glad to know your son liked the palak soup 🙂 thankyou for your kind words and you are welcome.
Hats off to you Amit. I have become a fan of your easy to make and very tasty recipes. Keep up the good work.
glad you liked our recipes 🙂 thankyou so much for your kind words.
I love most of your recipes especially paneer recipes. But step by step pictures are missing in some recipes.
thanks neela. in some recipes they are missing. i am updating slowly all these recipe with step by step pics.
pleased to know this neela will try posting step by step in those recipes too thanks.
I can’t thank you enough for sharing this soup recipe…..
It is definitely going to be prepared quite frequently at home from now on…
Thanks again for helping us incorporate spinach in daily diet in such a yummy way….
welcome always kalpana 🙂 thankyou for your positive comments.
Lovely recipe, thank you
welcome aparna
I just loved this spinach soup recipe. I would like to remain in touch for more!
Regards,
Savita
thanks savita.
Instant and nutritious recipe. I added a little milk.. Thanks for sharing.
welcome nadya. good to know this.
its awesome and easy to prepare.Thank you so much
It was worth it . My 3yr old daughter liked it a lot & not enough of it.
welcome rohini. thanks for sharing your experience.
oops! i forgot to mention pepper salt and all.. sorry *facepalm* :p
sakshi, its alright. it happens some time with all of us.
Hi Dassana!
I tried this so thought of sharing it here.
I chopped Tomatoes, Onion & Green Chillies and boiled for 10 Mins. Simultaneously you can boil palak as well.. mix everything together and blend it.
heat butter in a pan and add garlic into it.. and then add the palak tomato onion puree to it..then add milk and bring it to boil..
Tastes good.. 🙂
Regards!
thanks sakshi for sharing this recipe. i will give it a try.
Hi Dassana, can I replace spinach with Kale or silver beet in this recipe?
anamika, kale i have never tried in soups.. so can’t say. but silver beet should work.
Thanks for your response..will try for sure
welcome anamika
it is nice , a bit sour would complete it, i guess
really love it.. nice one
thanks tanmay
Hi dassana, I was jus wondering if we need to keep the bay leaf also while blending.
remove the bay leaf while blending. i will update in the post too.
Very nice
nice receipe, but does not mention when to add cummin powder.
its there in the video. i missed adding in the recipe details. thanks. i have updated now.
It looks yummy and easy to make, I will definitely try this. Besan instead of corn flour is best option. Pls post recipes which contains more Vegetables and easy to make. My iron is very low. So doctor told me to eat more iron contain vegetables. Thanks in advance.
thanks anju. you can check the veggie recipes here – https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/recipes/indian-vegetable-recipes/
also i have posted quite a few mixed vegetable soup recipes. you can check them too.
Soup turned out awsum ..
Tku for d recipes .. Luv all ur recipes ..
Love d way u write n explain recipe ..
welcome ritu. thanks for sharing positive feedback on spinach soup recipe.
Hi dassana, i have tried at least a dozen of ur recipes.n they always are delicious n foolproof.unfortunately this palak soup recipe hasn’t turned out well.maybe i made some mistake.anyways keep up the good work. Cud u pls post some recipes for babies n toddler. Thank u.
thanks priyanka. let me know what happened. i have got quite a number of requests for toddler recipes. i have a few in drafts and will update in some time.
Dear Dassana
HATSOFF TO YOU!!!!!!
This soup is amazingly super simple yet yummiest of any palak soup i’ve ever tasted…..
Honestly i am very uncomfortable with Palak……
and after seeing this recipe i was not really sure whether it will be good or not…
i wanted to add tomatoes to it…..
but THANK GOD!!!!!!!!
i did not add or leave anything but simply followed your recipe…….
And now i am hooked to it…….
amazing awesome yum…..m falling short of adjectives der….
thanks for making me love Love PALAK..
Can’t thank you enough……
still
THANKS A TON!!!!!!
regards
jaya
welcome jaya and big thanks for this positive feedback. glad to know that you loved the soup so much.
Thanks for the recipe! It was really tasty and one i will use again in the future. Its hard to find a good palak soup recipe without milk for people like me who cannot tolerate milk well.
welcome bre. nice to know that you liked the soup recipe.
Thanks dear…
Will definately update U on every recipe which I will try from this best blog…
N I have already share this site with my sisters n sister in laws from both side 🙂
Regards
🙂
thanks a lot sujata. appreciate much 🙂
Hello Dassana,
Day before yesterday only I informed U abt chat recipe n it was very good as I told U.Hubby had it uncontrollably n since yesterday digestion issue U know…. But again ir recipe comes into rescue. Palak soup n bottelgourd soup.. Oh what a lovely taste…Thank U so much.. Till date I was nt sure if I can make such a gd soup..bt credit goes to U… Thanks once again.. One more thing I had kept the peels of bottelgourd in the fridge,;).. Kindly help with chutuney recipe.. Will try that also n update U…
Again one more thing, U R spending so much time as well as money to maintain this site.. Is there anything in which we can help U…
sorry for long review….
Regards,
🙂
welcome sujata and big thanks for this positive feedback. we appreciate it. right now i don’t have the proportion for the chutney recipe. if i make it then i can tell you. i appreciate your concern and touched by it. we do spend a lot of time, energy and money on the blog. but at the same time we also earn some money from the ads which are there on the blog. so it balances. if you like then you can share the blog or recipes with your friends and relatives. you are welcome to ask any query on recipes… or share any feedback on recipes or blog. happy cooking.
nice recipe of palak soup, I have made it for me, of course fist time I tried but it is good, Now I can make this soup for my family members
thanks anup for the positive feedback.
nice receipe of soup thank u so much searching more n variety in veg soup if u have plz mail it once again thank u so much for tasty receipe
welcome shruti
I tried it yesterday. It came out very good. Thanks.
welcome shruti
Wonderfully Made…Thanks!
welcome maria
Dassana,
Can you please post receipe for healthy broccoli soup.Thanks in advance
i will add in my to do list sandy.
I like all soups. But spl. Palak soup.
thanks atul
wawooooo….
palak soup, I am like to make this because your trick is very simple to made this tasty. I am trying it on my week end.
Very nice recipes . Video is really helpful . Thank you so much .
thanks pushpa
Video is really helpful, I have never added besan to the soup, will prepare this for Ansh :)!
hi, video is good as recipe. tried yesterday evening . got one more type of palak soup. yhank u.
welcome seema.
The idea of adding Besan to this Soup is just brill, I usually add Corn flour and cream to it which obviously is no good to health. But this one seems way better .. Good video Dassana,