Spinach Bread Recipe – Popeye Bread Copycat

Irresistible Spinach Bread Recipe is a delightful homage to Popeye’s favorite treat. This easy-to-follow copycat recipe promises a savory Yeast Bread, that’s loaded with fresh spinach. It’s as wholesome as it is delicious.

This soft and tender bread loaf is perfect with a cup of soup but sturdy enough to make an amazing sandwich.

This spinach bread recipe was originally posted in 2015. Improvements were made to the recipe and content to improve readers’ experience.

Do you crave wholesome ingredients like I do? If so, you’re going to love this spinach-infused bread, and you’ll definitely want to check out our Cheese Bread and Cranberry Walnut Bread. They’re stuffed with deliciousness too!

Why You’ll Love This Spinach Bread Recipe

I love the bread at Great Harvest Bread which is a local bread bakery in my area. I set out to find a recipe for it, but most of the recipes were for spinach bread or stuffed spinach bread so I set out to give it a try instead. My first attempt resulted in a bread that was so moist that it wouldn’t hold together.

I wasn’t in a hurry to redo it until one of our readers wanted to give it a try. I told him to give me a little time to develop a recipe that was worthy of making. After a little experimenting, I got a recipe that I’m super happy with.

This is delicious bread for sandwiches or avocado toast like we did with our Spelt Sandwich Bread!

A batch of my spinach bread recipe makes a heartfelt gift. Who wouldn’t love a loaf of homemade bread?

Ingredients for Spinach Bread

Please note, that the printable recipe card has the full list of ingredients, quantities, complete instructions, and nutritional information. The following is a quick overview of the recipe.

Warm Water needs to be between 110º to 115º F to activate the yeast. Hotter can kill the yeast.

Honey adds a subtle sweetness. It also aids in a soft and tender texture and can improve the browning of the crust.

Fine Sea Salt mixes and dissolves easily. Kosher salt can be heavier and sink to the bottom of your dry ingredients when mixed together. Use what you prefer.

Active Dry Yeast. Active dry yeast is versatile and can be used for breads, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, and more. Find out more about different types of yeast.

Olive Oil. Canola or vegetable oil can be substituted. Use the oil of your choice.

Whole Wheat Flour. Adding this flour creates a wonderful crumb and texture. We combine whole wheat with all-purpose flour which makes a softer and less dense crumb. Bleached or unbleached is fine.

We prefer baby spinach and remove the tough stems. You can substitute with any tender green such as kale.

Yellow onion, green onions, or a sweet onion such as a Vidalia would great choices.

Red bell pepper. The red is sweeter than the other colors but you use what you prefer.

We use fresh or frozen garlic cloves. We don’t recommend minced garlic in the jar.

Fresh Thyme or other herbs of your choice.

Fresh Lemon Juice helps keep the ingredients their beautiful color and adds a bright flavor to the bread.

Cheddar Cheese bakes up beautifully. We recommend grating it fresh so it doesn’t pull moisture from the bread. You can add any cheese that bakes well. Soft or semi-soft cheeses work well such as mozzarella, Colby, and parmesan just to name a few. I found this article interesting.

We use real Butter. Since we use such a small amount you can use salted or unsalted. Oil can be substituted for a vegetarian option.

How to Make Spinach Bread

While there are a lot of steps for the spinach bread recipe, it is not nearly as complicated as it seems! Just follow our step-by-step instructions.

In a medium-size bowl, combine the water, honey, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Whisk together and then sprinkle the yeast over the top. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to foam.

Whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 cup of whole wheat flour and mix until combined. Set aside for 45-60 minutes or until it has a sponge-like texture.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of butter and saute the onions and pepper until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the thyme, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Stir in the spinach and cook until the spinach is softened and bright green.

Pour the lemon juice over the mixture.

Drain the spinach mixture in a colander set over a bowl to catch the drippings.

In a large bowl, add two cups of all-purpose flour. Make a well and pour the sponge mixture into the well.

Knead for 10 minutes, adding enough of the cooking liquid to make it pliable yet firm (see notes). The dough will be very stiff but not craggy.

Transfer to a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 2 hours. The dough doesn’t rise substantially at this phase.

Add the diced cheddar cheese and spinach mixture together. The drippings from the sauteed vegetables and spinach are added here. I needed about 1/4 cup so added water to the drippings to get that amount and added it slowly until the dough was workable.

The dough is still stiff and I found that pressing my fingers into the dough as you would with Foccacia (or playing a piano) was helpful.

Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour. Mix together quickly. Do not knead the dough again.

Form into an oblong loaf and place the dough on a well-oiled or parchment paper-lined baking sheet.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and proof for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease thoroughly.

Bake the bread for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 30 minutes. Cover the last 10 minutes with aluminum foil if the bread gets too brown.

Cool the bread on the pan for 10 minutes and then remove it to a cooling rack. This bread cuts best once completely cool.

How to Serve

The beautiful colors of this bread make it perfect for a cheese tray or charcuterie board. It will also works great with any meal that is crying out for amazing bread and pairs especially well with soup or salad.

Spinach bread makes amazing croutons or stuffing – Once the bread is beyond its prime, I’ll put it in the freezer to make homemade croutons.

Substitutions and Additions

• Replace the onion with fennel or leek.
• Cheddar cheese can be replaced with another semi-hard cheese. Swiss, Asiago, or Havarti would be amazing.
• Change up the spices. Replace the thyme with dill or a Mediterranean spice blend would be delicious.

We LOVE baking bread! You can find all of our bread recipes here!

Storage, Thawing, and Reheating

Once the bread is completely cool, place it in an airtight plastic bag and store it at room temperature. If you bag your bread before it’s cool, it will create condensation and make it soggy.

Even though there are NO preservatives in this bread, your bread can last up to a week.

This bread freezes great. First, make sure the bread is thoroughly cooled. I double bag it or bag it and then wrap the loaf in foil. Label it before putting it in the freezer.

Slightly open the storage bag or container and thaw the bread at room temperature.

The loaf can be reheated by wrapping it in foil and placing it in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes. Slices of this bread is great toasted. Slices of this bread can be reheated very briefly in a microwave. Excessive microwaving of this bread can make it gummy.

FAQ’s

Can spinach bread be refrigerated? No, I don’t recommend it. The additional moisture created will make it
gummy.

Can I use frozen spinach in this spinach bread recipe? No, I don’t recommend it. This is a moist bread and the additional moisture
will make this bread fall apart.

Do I have to use wheat flour? No, but it works well in this recipe because wheat flour absorbs moisture and adds a nutty flavor.

Hostess Tips

You can successfully replace or eliminate some of the ingredients in the spinach bread recipe. However, follow the same method of reducing the liquid the ingredient creates in the recipe.

I recommend “free-form” (without a pan) baking this loaf on a baking sheet. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes on the sheet which helps this bread set.

Make sure your yeast is fresh. When activating it if it doesn’t bubble, you need to replace your yeast or this bread will not rise.

You may use up to 1/4 cup of liquid to get the dough pliable. I added water to the spinach mixture drippings to get 1/4 cup.

I hope you enjoyed this delicious recipe as much as we do. Drop me a comment below, and don’t forget to give it a star rating. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Your comments and ratings help others decide if this recipe is for them too.

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