We’re big fans of Dr. Praeger around here. Jackson loves the fish sticks, he loves the spinach cakes, and just about everything else we’ve tried so far. One of my favorites to keep on hand for him in the house is spinach cakes, because it’s a great way for me to sneak in some extra veggies, and he loves having them for breakfast – win win! The only problem? They’re not cheap! I don’t mind paying a little extra for a healthy option for him, but it adds up quick, and when he likes to have them on the daily it makes it hard to keep up.

So, I decided it was high time I figure it out on my own. I did some looking around and found out that the ingredients are incredibly simple (score!) and that almost no one online has attempted this before (dangit!). I did manage to find one or two recipes, but nothing I felt confident running with. So I decided to make it up on my own!

COPYCAT SPINACH CAKES

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Ingredients:

– 2 medium potatoes (more if you want them more potato-y, less if you don’t)
– 1 bag of fresh spinach (you could do frozen, I wanted to avoid the extra water)
– 1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
– 1-2 tablespoons of oil (I used extra virgin, any kind will do)
– 1/2 medium onion
– 2 egg whites
– Salt/pepper to taste
– 1 teaspoon dried oregano

** Note: The ingredients in the real thing include arrowroot and oat bran…I skipped these because I didn’t have them laying around and it worked just fine, but next time I’ll make sure to have them on hand, as I imagine it will help it to stay together a bit better than mine do.

Putting it together is incredibly quick. Preheat the oven to 350. Chop up the potatoes and boil them until they’re soft. While they’re boiling, toss the spinach, onion,  and seasonings in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. I added about 2 tablespoons of water to help it blend easier, but you could easily skip that. When the potatoes are cooked, mash them as thoroughly as you can – I was lazy with this step and my cakes are a bit chunky.

Put the garlic with a bit of oil in a pan and cook on medium heat for about 1 minute. Add egg whites, spinach mix, and potatoes and stir to combine.  If you’re doing the arrowroot and oat bran, this would be the time to add that in too.

Allow it all to cook together until the egg whites are cooked through, then remove from heat and allow to cool. Once it’s cool enough to handle, form into small patties and toss onto a cookie sheet (I covered mine with foil first). Mine looked pretty loose at this point, and I was skeptical, but I promise it worked. Cook for 12-15 minutes.

Once they’re done cooking, you can eat them immediately, or you can Wrap in foil and freeze (which is what I did). They were still a bit loose when I took them out of the oven, but they set pretty nicely after freezing! When your’e ready to eat, grab one out of the freezer, toss it in the microwave for about 45 seconds, and you’re good to go!

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This made about 2 dozen patties, and only cost me about $5 to get all of the ingredients…which is about what it costs at my grocery store to get five of the real thing! Jackson loves them and while I haven’t tasted them yet, they smell exactly like the Dr. Praeger version. I think I’ll be making these again and again!

What are your favorite quick breakfast items?