This Creamy Garlic Pork and Spinach dish is a simple, quick and easy one-pot meal. Made with butternut squash, cinnamon, and a variety of herbs, it’s comforting, delicious, AIP, paleo and Whole30 compliant.
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This deliciously creamy garlic Pork and Spinach is one-pot comfort perfection. Meal prep this on the weekend or cook it in less than 30 minutes for a quick weeknight meal.
Here’s what you’ll need for this creamy dish:
- Butternut Squash – this lends a subtle sweetness to the pork. Because pork and sweet just go together, right!? You can use frozen cubed butternut squash, raw butternut squash or any other variety of squash in this recipe.
- Spinach – this dish calls for 4-5 cups of spinach. You can definitely use, because it wilts down as leafy greens tend to do.
- Coconut milk – you’ll want to ensure you’re using full fat, additive free coconut milk here. This provides the dish with its creaminess.
- Tapioca starch – this is used to thicken the coconut milk and you can omit this if you are sensitive to cassava products.
- Garlic – four cloves of crushed garlic pack a delicious punch. Don’t worry it’s mellowed out by the coconut milk.
- Ground pork – one pound of ground pork is needed for this recipe.
- Spices + Herbs – cinnamon (trust me on this one), dried oregano, fresh or dried thyme
Creamy Garlic Pork and Spinach FAQs
Can I replace the ground pork in this dish?
This flavors of squash and cinnamon were specifically chosen to compliment pork in this recipe. But you can definitely try using ground chicken or turkey if you have it.
What do I pair this dish with?
With the squash as carbohydrates, the spinach as leafy greens and the pork as protein this is a complete meal. If you’d like though, you can serve with some cauliflower rice, zoodles or some AIP sourdough bread.
Can I substitute the tapioca starch?
You can likely use arrowroot starch and water to make a slurry as described in the instructions below. Alternatively, you can omit the starch altogether and simply reduce the coconut milk by cooking it for a bit longer.
Looking for more sweet and savory recipes? Check out:
- Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Compote
- Plantain Casserole
- One-pan Chicken Thighs with Apples
- Stuffed Sweet Potato Cakes
If you try this Creamy Garlic Pork and Spinach I would love it if you would give the recipe a star rating and review. Also, be sure to snap a picture of the finished product and share it with me on Instagram by tagging @healmedelicious and using the hashtag #healmedelicious.
Creamy Garlic Pork and Spinach (AIP)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This Creamy Garlic Pork and Spinach dish is a simple, quick and easy one-pot meal. Made with butternut squash, cinnamon, and a variety of herbs, it’s comforting, delicious, AIP, paleo and Whole30 compliant.
Ingredients
- 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1.5 TBSP dried thyme
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1.5 tsps sea salt
- 1 cup butternut squash, cubed
- 5–6 cups spinach
- 1 cup full fat, additive free coconut milk
- 2 tsp tapioca starch + 1 TBSP water
Instructions
- To a large stockpot, add olive oil and heat on medium heat. Next, add onion, garlic and dried herbs and sauté 2-3 minutes until onions begin to turn translucent.
- Next, add pork and sea salt and cook until pork is no longer pink.
- Reduce heat to low and add in cubed pieces of butternut squash and coconut milk. Allow to cook for 12 – 15 mins until squash begins to soften, stirring intermittently.
- Once squash has begun to soften, add in spinach one cup at a time, stirring to incorporate. Cook for 5-7 minutes more.
- Finally, make a slurry by combining tapioca starch with water. Add slurry to pot and stir continuously to combine. Mixture will begin to thicken.
- Taste and adjust for salt, remove from heat, and serve warm.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Category: Quick meals
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 471
- Sugar: 4.6g
- Fat: 35g
- Protein: 27.5
Yummy! Didn’t change a thing. Another great recipe. Your site is now permanently pinned in my browser – a great honor, indeed. :o) Thank you!
Very easy to make and very flavorful! It makes the house smell delicious for days! I’ll make two batches on the next go around and try freezing some. I will definitely be trying more of your recipes! TY!!!
This recipe was PERFECT! I used ground chicken instead of pork & the flavor was still well balanced (savory, sweet, creamy). Next time I’m definitely going to double the recipe & freeze some for the days when I’m too tired/lazy to cook. Adding this to my list of go-to recipes while I’m on this elimination diet & beyond!
This is my second time doing AIP and I so deeply wish I had found you the first time, Nicole! You are so gifted at creating depth with such few ingredients. I really considered making cauliflower rice with it but glad I took your advice. This dish is a full, nutritious meal by itself.
Delicious and nourishing! I subbed arrowroot powder for tapioca starch and it turned out fine. Just what we had on hand. Definitely going on our rotation!
Wow! What a burst of flavor! I’m so glad you’re not afraid of spices and herbs. I’ll be making this often and it’s healthy to boot! I can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thank you!!!
I’ve been admiring your recipes for quite some time, they all look so good! I made this tonight, first of your recipes I’ve tried and it did not disappoint! It had the hearty, comforting feeling of a bowl of chili. Knowing that my pallet can find thyme to be overpowering I used 1 tsp, other than that pretty much followed the recipe. The sautéed onion & garlic blend was phenomenol before I even added the pork or squash. It was tempting to just settle there and caramelize but decided to stick with your plan. DELICIOUS! This will be on my regular rotation. I will double the ingredients for onion, garlic & seasonings and may triple the amount of squash, then use a full 14 oz can of coconut milk. Great recipe, thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! So glad you enjoyed.
Just made this for my lunch. It definitely does have a comfort food feel. I didn’t have any thyme so that was omitted. I doubled the butternut squash and I’m glad I did, I would triple it if I made this again. Mine was creamy and salty, I will cut the salt in half next time. Love the cinnamon, I used 3/4 teaspoon to bring out the other spices.
This is a go-to recipe at my house. Even among the non-AIPers. It’s got a very “comfort food” feel to it. It also freezes well!
another winner. i don’t even follow AIP anymore but i still love to try recipes from your website because they’re so dang good. i made this exactly as directed and enjoyed it on its own. what a perfect dinner. thank you!!
Followed the recipe to the T. Color didnt turn to even look like the picture. Mine was pale cream. And way too bitter as the thyme was overpowering (used dried thyme). the pork was less appealing to the eyes as well because it got swarmed with thyme
The color can certainly vary based off the squash you use but I’m sorry the flavors didn’t suit your taste. I am a big thyme fan over here 🙂
Oh my goodness Nicole! This is OUTSTANDING!! So much flavor. I have to share a few notes, I don’t like when people change the entire recipe however, I had to make some changes due to my dietary needs. I only had ground lamb and I swapped out thyme, rosemary and oregano (can’t eat them) for 1 tsp each savory, marjoram and rubbed sage, the cinnamon is a game changer, it really elevates the flavor profile and with the ground lamb fantastic! It was so easy to pull together cooked quickly and SO MUCH FLAVOR!! Everything I have made from your recipes has been delicious. Thank you for continuing to put flavor back in my recipes! Andrea
I had a couple of modifications I thought I’d mention in case anyone else can benefit: I didn’t have coconut milk so I used cashew milk (nuts are not a problem for me) and it worked out OK although I bet the coconut milk really adds some nice flavor. I did add more butternut squash because I wanted to use it up and I only had about half the spinach. The one thing I wanted to mention that I hope someone decides to try is I added some cut up green olives (no pimento- I’m avoiding the nightshades) and I think that bit of briney flavor really made everything pop. so yummy!! the idea occurred to me because this reminded me briefly of a cuban picadillo recipe I’ve made before that used cinnamon and had olives and its delish. Thanks!!
That sounds great, we’ll have to try it with the olives! Thank you for your review!
This recipe was SO darn good. I wasn’t totally confident I was going to like it, mostly because of the cinnamon. I don’t really like cinnamon in savory dishes but holy cow it’s so good. I wish I had made two batches, will definitely be adding this to my rotation. I’ve tried a few of your recipes and so far they have all been really good. Trying the white chicken chili next 🙂
I absolutely love this dish! Mine wasn’t very creamy so think I will double the milk and slurry next time. The flavors are amazing, thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Easy, filling and delicious. I cut down the thyme because we have some members of the family that don’t like it but it turned out so good anyways.
Delicious! Very nice on a cold winter day. Added cauliflower rice also. Next time will have to double the recipe as the kids loved it too. Will be making this one again!
Loved it! The cinnamon is so nice with the pork and squash. Thanks, Nicole!
I’m going to be COMPLETELY honest here… I’m just finishing up on week 1 of AIP and this was my first heal me delicious recipe and I was expecting it to be gross. Half because I can’t cook well and half because it’s AIP, which I thought meant the food would be bland. This is quite possibly one of the best meals I have ever made. The flavor is so rich and the textures all compliment each other so well. The creaminess turned this into a serious comfort meal for me and I can’t wait to have it every day this week for lunch. The only tweek I made was doubling the butternut squash, which I’m glad I did, because I still wanted more squash while eating it, so I may triple it next time. Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe Nicole. I can’t wait to try the Creamy Cauliflower Gratin next!
This is one of my absolute favorite; I make it at least once a month!
I’m stumped as to why I didn’t enjoy this recipe. I followed it to a T, even went back over it to make sure I hadn’t missed something somewhere. I found it to be very salty (and I love salt) – maybe because I used himalayan salt? I had very little liquid as it was simmering, and I added the coconut milk. I didn’t need to thicken, as the mixture was just wet enough.
Made this for my kids and I last night. We all really enjoyed it.
This has become a real go-to recipe for us and we eat it once a week or so.
Delicious and easy.
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the review
This was amazingly good and very different. Husband wants it again and he doesn’t often follow AIP. The flavors go so well together.
This is hands-down the best AIP recipe I’ve ever tried. It was delicious, filling, and easy!
I subbed kale for the spinach and roasted the squash in the oven first because I was too tired to peel/cut it, but it worked out really really well! Can’t wait to try another of Nicole’s recipes!
This was amazing. I added rainbow chard with the pork to cook it down. I will be making this again and again!
This was AMAZING and so simple
So glad you enjoyed! thanks for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
OMG this is AMAZING!!! And the PERFECT Comfort Food!! I used Kale because I had a bunch from a local farm that I needed to use, and can’t eat raw kale, but don’t have issues with cooked kale. This will be a regular dish for me!
Hi Melissa! Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed! thanks for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Wow! I made this tonight for the first time and it was so easy and soooo good. I basically doubled the veggies because I had them on hand and it worked really well. Even though there were loads of veggies with that I served it over cauliflower rice and it was awesome. So excited to add this recipe into the rotation!
Awesome! Sounds like a winner. Thanks for taking the time to leave a review 🙂
Excited to try. Do you think I could use frozen butternut and frozen spinach if that’s what I have on hand? Thanks!
Absolutely!
OMG, this is delicious!!! I did change it up a bit because of spices on hand. I used
Herbs deProvence. Instead of the individual spices and added a little extra thyme plus the oregano. The cinnamon is a nice touch. My new favorite fall dish. Also I didn’t need to use the tapioca starch because it was already very creamy.
OMG, this is delicious!!! I did change it up a bit because of spices on hand. I used
Herbs deProvence. Instead of the individual spices and added a little extra thyme plus the oregano. The cinnamon is a nice touch. My new favorite fall dish.
This recipe is delicious! I didn’t have rosemary, so google suggested subbing an equal amount of basil. Turned out great! I think I would double the amount of butternut squash next time – my precut chunks were pretty large, even after halving them. The best bites are the ones with a piece of squash in them! I think tonight we’ll try our leftovers on some coconut rice.
Thanks for a super delicious and easy weeknight recipe!
I loved this recipe! I doubled and am already looking forward to the leftovers. The flavours reminded me of Christmas stuffing. I will definitely make this again!
First off I am a sucker for butternut squash. Second the cinnamon is such a nice touch, This recipe is creamy, comforting and filling. A perfect breakfast or lunch! Im glad I doubled the batch.