The benefits of baby spinach

Baby spinach is one of the best known baby leaf salads, a great everyday superfood. Find out why in our insight report.

Baby spinach can be considered as the superfood of baby leaf salads because, although it is much smaller compared to adult spinach, it contains a huge amount of nutrients that are good for our health and help us stay in shape.

Its name sometimes leads to confusion between the baby and adult spinach, but these two salads are very different in both flavour and characteristics. Baby spinach, in fact, has dark oval shape leaves, which are softer and sweeter than adult spinach, characteristics that make it an ideal baby salad to eat raw.

In addition, as it does not undergo the stress of being cooked, the baby spinach leaves retain all their nutritional elements acting as a wholesome booster food.

The nutritional values of baby spinach

With just 35 calories per 100 grammes, spinach is rich in calcium and potassium, and contains 90% water that helps our bodies to hydrate properly.

In every 100 grammes of baby spinach we also find 1.9 grammes of fibre and 3.4 grammes of protein, with just 0.25 grammes of salt, for an outstanding top-up of nutrients that keep us fit and are easy on the digestive system.

This is because fibre is responsible for ensuring the digestive system works properly and eating it on a regular basis helps prevent digestive problems and increases the sense of satiety, making baby spinach perfect for low-calorie diets.

Moreover, the high concentration of calcium is good for the skeletal system, while the potassium has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.

How to eat baby spinach

Serve baby spinach raw in a salad. It is perfect for summer salads combined with baby leaf salads and fruit, but it can also be served as the ideal side dish for a meat or fish second course. 

An original idea could be to serve the baby spinach with tri-tip sirloin beef: in Italian the same name is given to the dark green baby spinach leaves and a particular cut of beef called tri-tip sirloin beef.

For those who love cooked vegetables, on the other hand, we recommend steaming the baby spinach leaves, to preserve its nutrients even after cooking.

Do you want to find out more about the baby spinach leaves grown by OP Isola Verde?