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15 Amazing and Popular Varieties of Spinach (#1 Types of Spinach)

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Since the cartoon Popeye started Spinach has been continually on our TV screens. We have known spinach for its strength to make us “powerful.”

This leafy vegetable doesn’t make your biceps look pumped up like balloons rather, it is known to be nutritious in terms of protein, vitamins, iron, and minerals, less in calories and adaptable for cooking as well. There are many types of spinach that are found in the grocery stores and farmers market.

This dark leafy vegetable is super awesome to solve all your skin, bones, and hair health issues.

Significant Types of Spinach

1. Savoy Spinach

I find these types of spinach very delicious. They are beautiful round and wavy in shape, moreover, they are very productive. They are known to manage colder weather much better than other types of spinach.​

Savoy Spinach Hammerhead Spinach - Types of Spinach
Savoy Spinach via Amazon.com

Savoy leaves are known for their appearances as they are five to six inches long. With crinkly, curly leaves and a fresh dark green color, savoy spinach leaves are springy and crisp.

2. Semi-Savoy Spinach

I prefer the bitter, semi-savoy types of spinach for cooking rather than to be used in salads. They are painful to eat not only for children, but also for adults. Their crisp texture stands out amongst the three types of spinach families. Semi-Savoy spinach leaves are flat, smooth, and spade-shaped.

Semi Savoy Spinach - Types of Spinach
Semi Savoy Spinach via theseedcompany.ca

This family of spinach goes in the same family as beets and chard. The slightly-crinkled leaves of this variety provide some of the crisp texture of the savoy types, but they are not as challenging to wash and clean. These are farmed for both the fresh market as well as for processing.

3. Smooth or Flat Leaf Spinach

If you are a health-conscious person and your salads are your only junk, then you need to try the smooth-leafed spinach. They are much easier to clean. This is the best type of spinach that can survive the heat.

Their sweetest and mildest flavor is best to try when they are fresh and young. It is considered to be a hybrid class and has moderately crinkled petal leaves. In the USA, this spinach is the most famous one.​

Smooth Leaf Spinach Flat Leaf Spinach - Types of Spinach

This spinach variety has broad, flat, spade-shaped leaves, this makes it easier to clean this variety of spinach. These qualities of the smooth leaf spinach make it a popular choice amongst commercial yielders of packaged and frosted spinach. They are sold fresh as well.

4. Red Spinach

This type of spinach has become a lot more popular. The leaves of these are thick, round, and rich-green with a beautiful red core. They are quite tender and tasty, their flavor is deliciously sweet and juicy.

The scientific name for this spinach is Amaranthus Dubius. Doctors suggest that the more colorful your meal is, the more beneficial it will turn out for your well-being.​

Red Spinach - Types of Spinach

Red spinach surpasses the outlines when it is about giving out health advantages. It is packed with iron to counter anemic ailments. Red spinach is super-rich in Vitamin C and also contains other essential antioxidants. It can stimulate your immunity and will keep you healthy and hearty. 

5. Baby Spoon Spinach

Baby Spoon Spinach - Types of Spinach

This variety of spinach comes under the category of savoy spinach. This rich-green spinach is smaller in size as compared to other spinach varieties, that is why it is called baby-spoon spinach.

They are sweeter in taste and coarse and crispy in texture. Even the tender small stems of this leafy green are edible, too. The scientific name of Baby spoon spinach is Spinacia oleracea. They are usually consumed raw in the form of salads. They are unusually high in folic acid and beta carotene.

6. Hammerhead Spinach

Hammerhead Spinach - Types of Spinach
Hammerhead Spinach via Amazon.com

This variety of spinach is best-suited for fall, winter, and spring. The leaves of this medium-green, straight spinach are alike to the emperor in shape.

They are insignificantly elongated, cupped and round. Hammerhead spinach is mildew-resistant. Their growth rate is quite fast and they attain maturity in 27 days.

7. Bloomsdale Spinach

This is a family of spinach with long, fresh green-colored leaf petals. Every leaf is plucked from the place wherever it coincides with the stem.

Bloomsdale Spinach - Types of Spinach
Bloomsdale Spinach via Amazon.com

This spinach type belongs to the savoy spinach and it is enriched with a fresh juicy flavor and lush texture. They have a substantial taste of the winter greens and their texture is also greener than the regular spinach varieties.

It can be harvested in the days of complete sunlight. They are planted half an inch deeper and at a distance of 1″ far from each other. In the spring season, as soon as the soil gets workable the seeds should be sown.

8. Carmel Spinach

This category of spinach belongs to the semi-savoy family. These are great for growing in the fall. They have strikingly beautiful dark green-colored leaves. Their nature is to grow upright. They have a fast-growing rate and are resistant towards mildew.

Carmel Spinach - Types of Spinach
Carmel Spinach via Amazon.com

Carmel spinach is a very consistent spinach that is excellent when plowing in the completely grown size or as a baby leaf. The soil in which they are grown should have a pH of 6.5-7.5. If the pH is less than 6.0, then the plants may not grow properly.

The correct soil temperature for this variety of spinach should be below 85F. If germination is done at a temperature above that, then the growth might be weak or irregular.

9. Emperor Spinach

This variety of spinach belongs to the semi-savoy family of spinach. Emperor spinach is dark green spinach that has a medium growth range. They have slightly crimped leaves.

Emperor spinach goes with different names like Malabar spinach, Ceylon Spinach, Basella, and Indian spinach. The scientific name for this species is Basella alba.

Emperor Spinach - Types of Spinach
Emperor Spinach via Amazon.com

This green leafy vegetable uses its leaves to store water in them. This makes them a good source of mucilage. Mucilage is good for the body as it has healing qualities.

The best temperature for these plants to grow is above 90°F. They are known to be exceedingly delicate towards cold. In Nepal, the juice from the emperor spinach is utilized for the medicinal treatment for infection of the throat & nose.

10. Regiment Spinach

Regiment Spinach - Types of Spinach
Regiment Spinach via Highmowingseeds.com

Regiment spinach grows properly in cooler soils, this makes it a favorable choice for growing at the beginning of spring and the end of fall. The regiment spinach has thick, large leaves that are shaped like an arrow. This fast-maturing family grows in merely thirty-seven days.

11. Coho Spinach

Coho spinach was a traditional type of spinach that was extremely resistant towards white rust, which is a common disease found in the spinach plants. This variety of spinach has been terminated and substituted by another variety known as Ashely Spinach.

12. Tyee Spinach

Tyee Spinach - Types of Spinach

Tyee spinach is perfect to be grown in both summers as well as winters. This makes it an exceptional contender of the spinach family, which can be grown for all-season farming. The growth period of the Tyee spinach is forty-five days and it is also illness & bolt-resistant.

13. Catalina Spinach

Catalina Spinach - Types of Spinach
Catalina Spinach via Reneesgarden.com

The maturing period for the Catalina spinach is forty-eight days. This category of spinach is bolt-resistant and grows pretty fast. The leaves of the Catalina family are crunchy and perfectly shaped.

14. Indian Summer Spinach

Indian Summer Spinach - Types of Spinach
Indian Summer Spinach via Amazon.in

The Indian summer spinach variety belongs to the semi-savoy family of spinach. It can be grown at the time of all three seasons – spring, fall, summer. This spinach is highly rich, simple to grow even during the endless summertime. It tastes fabulous and has a growth period of thirty-five to forty days.

15. Giant Noble Spinach

Giant Noble Spinach - Types of Spinach

Giant noble spinach is famous amongst chefs and horticulturists alike. This type of spinach grows up to a length of 25 inches. This spinach plant belongs to the flat-leaf spinach types.

In spite of that, their leaves are slightly similar to the savoy plants. They are tender and have large stems. The giant spinach is simple to cultivate and slow & steady to bolt. The maturing period of this plant is forty-six days.


Apart from these, there are many other varieties of spinach.

All the above-mentioned spinach can always be added raw or cooked depending upon their taste. They can be added in delicious salads, omelettes, and yummy sandwiches.

Not only solid food, but spinach can be added to increase the flavor and nutrition in your smoothie too. It is known to be one of the versatile foods which can be added to any recipe.

Cooking these dark green leaves actually enhances the health advantages as it decreases the oxalic content in the plant. If you exceed the amount of oxalic in your body, then it becomes difficult to absorb other important minerals and vitamins in the body such as calcium.

History of Spinach

The plant spinach is a part of the Amaranthaceae family. It was born in Persia. In the 7th century, spinach was sent as a gift to China from the leader of Nepal. It was then named ‘the herb of Persia’.

In the 19th century, Europeans discovered the dark green miracle. It was served to the homeless people and the wrecked people in shelters in the form of spinach leaf brew.

All the credit goes to Saint Vincent de Paul’s daughters of charity.

The history behind the word ‘spinach’ is that it was derived from the Old Occitan espinarc which meant green hand.

Spinach is not only appreciated for its high nutritional value, but it is also known for its sweet and little bit acidic taste.

Spinach is composed of 91% water, that is the reason behind its low-calorie count which is only 23kcal/100g. These dark green fine leaves comprise 6% of protein, tiny quantities of carbohydrates & fats. As for green vegetables, the dietary fiber content of spinach is fairly high at 9%.

Spinach is such a famous lad, that it has a complete day dedicated to it. National spinach day is celebrated on 26 March. All the people who decide to honor this day get to join in the health benefits of this green leafy vegetables as well.

Nutritious Benefits

Most of us feel complete hatred towards this dark green leafy vegetables – spinach, but it is one of the most incredible vegetables which is nourishing in all terms.

  • Spinach is one of the healthiest dietary sources for potassium and magnesium. These two are vital minerals required to maintain a healthy body. One cup of spinach contains 839 milligrams of potassium.
  • The high amount of potassium helps in the reduction of loss of mass, protection of bone mineral mass and decrease in the development of kidney stones.
  • All the girls out there who are in love with long hair, this one is especially for you, the production of vitamin A is high in spinach. Vitamin A is required by the body to produce sebum, which keeps you moisturized and healthy.
  • Spinach is also a Richie rich in the content of Vitamin K. This vitamin is valuable as it promotes the growth of a protein known as Osteocalcin. This nutrient is essential for the stability of calcium content in your bones. So, for healthy bones, keep a healthy habit of having healthy spinach.

Children are not a fan of spinach, but the crinkled green leafy vegetable is fairly humble. Every time your child eats that one cup of spinach, they are attacking the germs to kill a disease or an infection.


Conclusion

Spinach proffers new experience to a fabulous salad. Spinach is all-around healthy for the body, whether you want to eat it raw or prepare it as a dish.

Regular consumption of cooked, puréed fresh leafy spinach has an assertive effect on vitamins and minerals in our body. So, if you have not started to include this nutritious leaf in your diet, then start it from now.