CREAMY SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP

Add in some tortilla chips, sour cream and salsa for dipping and you’ve got yourself a masterpiece. I absolutely love this recipe as an appetizer for a party or even for a whole meal on a Summer night. We’ve got almost all the food groups in here! The best part is you can make the dip into one large dish, or half it and split it into two (what we did!). The full recipe makes a lot of dip, it’s perfect for party food and it’s especially great as a Summer contribution. It’s also just as easy to make half the portion if the whole recipe is too much.

NOTE: the recipe below is half the original, so if you’d like a larger portion, just double all the amounts and use a 9×13″ dish.

Spinach & Artichoke dip is found on almost every single menu in every single restaurant. But can you trust or know that you’re going to love it and it’s worth the order?! Sounds a little risky. When you make your own version, you can choose the level of spinach and artichokes (let’s just say this recipe is a little light on the veggies but has the perfect amount). You can add how ever many cheeses you can dream of (think shredded mozzarella, Monterey jack, swiss, and parmesan) as well!

And when you find the perfect recipe with the perfect ratio of spinach/artichoke/cheese/cream, it’s like heaven on a crunchy little tortilla chip.

This recipe is super easy to combine and has all the extra flavorings like minced garlic, sweet sauteed onions, butter, cream cheese, and a little cayenne pepper for flavor more than spicy heat.

One pan is used to cook the onions in butter and all the other veggies until soft and a stand mixer or hand mixer is used to whip the cream cheese and whipping cream together. Everything is then tossed gently into one and baked until all the cheese is perfectly melted.

Three cheese are used in the mixture itself and the whole dip is garnished with freshly grated parmesan. It’s light but creamy, savory and buttery, smooth and not chunky at all. It’s actually the best.

AND it freezes wonderfully, we froze a 1/4 of the whole recipe and baked it to bubbling like it was freshly made.

And if you’ve read this far and you’re still slightly unsure, AU ate this and ate a lot of it and really throughly enjoyed it! If you’re unaware, AU is my husband who does not like vegetables or fruits and is quite the picky eater! This Spinach & Artichoke Dip has his seal of approval.

SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP

Print Recipe

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1 BOX FROZEN SPINACH CHOPPED FINELY
• 1/2 SWEET YELLOW ONION
• 7 OZ JARRED ARTICHOKE HEARTS DRAINED & CHOPPED FINELY
• 1 CLOVE GARLIC LARGE
• 1/4 CUP UNSALTED BUTTER 1/2 STICK
• 1/3 CUP HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM
• 4 OZ CREAM CHEESE 1/2 BLOCK
• 2 OZ SHREDDED MOZZARELLA
• 4 OZ SHREDDED MONTEREY JACK USE PEPPER JACK FOR SPICIER
• 2 OZ SHREDDED SWISS CHEESE
• 2 OZ FRESH SHREDDED PARMESAN USE A PARMESAN WEDGE
• 1/4 TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER
• S&P

Instructions

• IN A LARGE SAUTE PAN, HEAT FROZEN SPINACH AND COOK UNTIL SIZZLING AND HOT. SQUEEZE OUT ALL WATER USING A PAPER TOWEL AND SIEVE.
• WIPE OUT PAN LIGHTLY WITH A PAPER TOWEL. IN THE SAME PAN, MELT BUTTER AND ADD IN CHOPPED ONIONS. COOK ON MEDIUM LOW UNTIL SOFTENED AND TRANSLUCENT.
• ADD IN GARLIC AND COOK FOR ABOUT A MINUTE. TOSS IN SPINACH AND CHOPPED ARTICHOKES AND STIR ALL TOGETHER.
• IN A STAND MIXER WITH A WHISK ATTACHMENT OR A HAND MIXER AND BOWL, BEAT CREAM CHEESE UNTIL SMOOTH. SLOWLY ADD IN WHIPPING CREAM A LITTLE AT A TIME, COMBINING TOGETHER BEFORE ADDING MORE. CONTINUE MIXING UNTIL SMOOTH AND NO LUMPS REMAIN.
• ADD SPINACH, ARTICHOKE, AND ONION MIXTURE TO THE CREAM MIXTURE AND STIR GENTLY. TOSS IN MOZZARELLA, MONTEREY JACK, AND SWISS, CAYENNE PEPPER, AND SEASON WITH S&P TO TASTES. STIR GENTLY AGAIN UNTIL WELL MIXED.
• TRANSFER TO A GREASED BAKING DISH- AN 8X8" OR 2 SMALLER DISHES AND THEN SMOOTH THE TOP OF THE DIP.
• COVER THE TOP WITH FRESHLY GRATED PARMESAN, ADD MORE AS NEEDED TO COVER COMPLETELY.
• BAKE AT 350 F FOR ABOUT 20 MINUTES UNTIL TOP IS ALL MELTED AND BUBBLING UP.
• SERVE WITH TORTILLA CHIPS, SOUR CREAM, AND SALSA.