Garlicky Spinach-Sausage Gratin

I thought this was really delicious. I did a few things differently but nothing drastic. I had stale homemade bread, which I cubed, tossed with olive oil, dried thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper and toasted in a 350 oven for 15 minutes. while that was cooling off I made the rest of the dish, the only other change was that I used 4 links Italian sausage, which I cut in 1 inch chunks, leaving the casing on, instead of crumbling. I then crumbled the cooled off toasted bread with my hands before sprinkling on top with the cheese (no way was I about to drag out my food processor for that!). I also used an oven-proof frying pan so no need to dirty a baking dish. I am wondering if those that had a disappointing, soggy texture may have used frozen spinach because I can definitely imagine that would be soggy. I am putting this one into regular rotation.

This is delicious! I used TVP that I seasoned like Italian sausage and made this a main dish. I did add extra flour because of the reviews that said it was runny. My fall garden has lots of chard and I am always looking for meatless meals as we are flexitarian. I will definitely make this again. I think it would be a rich side and is better suited to a main dish.

I really enjoyed this dish, but I'm rating a "2" as I made significant changes which I believe resulted in my higher opinion of the dish. It's also pretty "ugly" as a dish and the texture is (I agree with other reviewers) a bit mushy, BUT, the major change I made (which was to brown the bread as the 1-inch pieces for a "crouton") really helped give this dish a contrast in texture that was much needed. I also added 3 thick-cut bacon slices (chopped) to the sausage browning stage and subbed pork sausage for Jennie-O spicy turkey sausage (3). I feel our dish needed more spinach actually and I had to cook ~5 minutes longer as well to make sure it was done. I served with roasted grape tomatoes (it helped this dish "look" nicer as well), which was fabulous as a side. I will absolutely make this recipe again with my changes though I do agree with other reviewers that it isn't very "filling" so we overindulged our portion sizes too. Wouldn't take to share, but good at home; Enjoy!

I was concerned about this dish before baking. It is pretty much all spinach with a bit of sausage, garlic, and onion. It actually came out very well. Rich and Creamy. The sausage bits were a wonderful contrast to the spinach. My husband and I both thought it was very tasty. Unfortunately, it is not at all filling. I ended up eating 2 servings. My husband had one serving and a bowl of left over chili. At 396 calories per serving, this dish isn't worth it.

My husband and I loved this dish! I cooked it an extra 5 minutes to reduce some of the moisture. Other than that, the texture was what I expected for a dish dominated by spinach. I had fresh elephant garlic from the farmer's market that may have made a difference in the fabulous flavor. I will be sure to focus on good garlic as I continue to make this, which I plan to do often. This would make a great brunch dish.

This was awful. It was all runny and really unappetizing in appearance. My fiancé said the flavor was ok but the texture was all mush. We decided to throw it out and order pizza.

I read the other reviews and tried to apply their lessons. I found it to have a weird consistency and wasn't thrilled. Many more delicious meals out there to remake.

Mine, too, was watery (cooked mine in a casserole dish, not ramekins). We thought the flavor was just ok. Wasn't worth all the work in my opinion!

We thought this was a good dish. I would use more garlic next time. We had no problems with it being watery. I would do some prep ahead of time; chop the onion and garlic; and make the bread crumbs. I think this would make if go faster in the evening.

Overall a good recipe. But you must love spinach (which I do)! I found it filling enough for an entree, and mine set up just fine. I think the type of sausage you use also contributes to the flavor quite a bit - if I make it again I might change the sausage just to experiment a little.

My family loved this! I did use the entire lb of sausage--and it was delicious! Mine wasn't watery at all.

this is a really yummy & filling dish. i would suggest patting down the sausage with a paper towel even after draining it & cooking it an extra 2-5 minutes...the spinach puts off a lot of excess water, so i may pre-cook it & pat it down to pull off some of that moisture next time i make this!! i may follow a few others & add more garlic next time too... overall i enjoyed this dish & will add it to my staples meals :)

We used really good farmers market garlic, doubled the garlic and left in big chuncks of it. (Since we found the flavor of really good garlic, I will never buy store bought made in china garlic again, it is like the difference between processed cheese and fine aged cheese.) The flavor was fabulous, even our four year old wanted seconds. We also used Panko bread crumbs so maybe that was the difference.

Yep, mine came out mushy too. And it wasn't filling at all as a main dish. I will give credit that my kids actually did eat it when I gave them some toast to soak it up with. The flavor was good, but just not substantial enough. Next time I'll try adding diced potato and some ricotta cheese to firm it up...maybe.

Mine was fantastic and the perfect consistency. I'm not sure if this was the case because we didn't eat it for a few days. I made ahead and refrigerated. And when I got to it three days later for serving, perfection. I used skim milk instead and rice flour, as I'm gluten free. And cut the garlic down to 6 cloves. I didn't have fresh spinach, but I DID have a ton of fresh kale and some arugula. The bitterness of the kale and sweetness of the sausage were delish. I also added 1/2 a tsp of nutmeg and about a tablespoon of thyme because I didn't think it would be seasoned enough for my taste.

The flavor was very good but like the other reviewers I thought it was too moist. I will definitely try it in individual ramekins next time to see if that helps at all.

Thought this was going to be so good, but like other reviewers said, it was very watery. I cooked it for longer but it never came together. The flavor was ok, but the texture was terrible. I baked it in an 11" x 7" casserole dish, so perhaps this recipe only works in individual baking dishes. Will not make again.

I used spicy Italian sausage and also added diced potato - flavor was really good but mine also turned out a little watery as well, but most of it was soaked up by the potato. My boyfriend also liked it. I'll make this again.

I made this in 6 medium sized ramekins. did the math and they are now 264 cal, 15.7g fat, 14g protein, 17.7carb, and 2.07 fiber each. It was really really good! VERY garlicky. I used 8 LARGE garlic cloves. Didn't notice it being too watery. I'm going to serve this with a vegetarian lentil soup as a side dish to fill out the meal. I can see how if it were in one large casserole it could be watery. Also, since it is so spinach-y and not very hearty I could see it not being super satisfying as a main dish.

Like the other posters, I found that when the spinach was added, the whole thing got pretty watery -- and this was fresh spinach, not even rinsed. Also, despite the garlic and the addition of cayenne, it was pretty bland. I tried it to use up some sausage, and would have been better off just having breakfast for dinner. Oh well, they can't all be winners.

This recipe was terrible! We followed the recipe exactly and we couldn't eat it when it was finished. The texture was horrible, watery and just strange, my wife and I both had the same reaction on our first bites. The flavors didn't blend well together at all and this was a total failure of a dish. We usually love the Cooking Light recipes and I think this was probably the first one we have made that totally disappointed us. In the end, this recipe costs us about $30 since we had to throw the finished dish away and order a pizza. I highly recommend you move on and don't even try this one!

We thought this was good, but not great. The flavors were good, but it didn't come together as well as I hoped and ended up a little watery (maybe I did something wrong).