Love food with loads of texture and flavor? My spinach artichoke dip recipe, with bites of artichoke and spinach and nutty Parmesan cheese topping, is right up your alley!
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I was at war with spinach artichoke dip.
When we ran our little café, I tried so hard to introduce unusual (to our area) menu items.
Like hummus appetizer. Salad with pumpkin seed. Hominy gumbo.
And while our customers were always game to give things a try, they would keep requesting things like chicken salad and ranch dressing and the dreaded spinach artichoke dip.
If you’ve ever been in the restaurant business, or any business really, you know that it’s wise to listen to your customers. Because pleasing yourself is important, but pleasing your customer is kinda vital.
So I set about creating a recipe for spinach artichoke dip
It had to be:
- fast + easy to prepare
- made with simple ingredients
- tasty + delicious
Fast + Easy
The only equipment required is a food processor. And I guess it’s not required, but it is what makes it fast and easy.
A quick note on food processors: There’s no doubt that if you’re going to make bread dough, you’ll need a powerhouse machine (I prefer a Cuisinart). But for daily chopping and buzzing I have this Hamilton Beach model. Advantages? It’s lightweight, easy to clean and 1/4th the price!
Just buzz sour cream, mayonnaise, cream cheese and garlic til smooth then chop in the artichokes and spinach.
Can’t get much faster + easier than that!
Simple Ingredients
My favorite way to cook is to see what’s available in the fridge and pantry and go from there.
If you want to try it, here’s a tip: stock your kitchen with basic, multi-use ingredients.
I almost always have sour cream, mayonnaise and cream cheese in the fridge. And it’s easy to keep a bag or so of spinach in the freezer and cans of artichoke hearts in the pantry.
I love fresh garlic and use it a lot, but you do have to be in the mood to get your fingers all smelling of the luscious stuff. Garlic granules to the rescue!
By the way, I prefer garlic granules to garlic powder, but if that’s all you have it will work just fine.
Tasty + Delicious
You can take my word (and that of my family and my café customers!) for it that this is some fine dip.
Creamy with bits of artichoke, a hint of garlic and gorgeous green spinach flowing throughout.
Or you can try it for yourself!
Fast and Easy Spinach Artichoke Dip
Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
- ¼ cup sour cream 57 grams
- ¼ cup mayonnaise 57 grams
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 10 oz bag frozen spinach thawed and squeezed very dry
- 1 14-oz can artichoke hearts drained
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese optional
Instructions
- Place cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and garlic granules in food processor. Blend til quite smooth, scraping the sides as necessary.
- Add spinach (squeezed dry) to the bowl of food processor, and pulse until the spinach is nicely chopped but NOT puréed, about 10 times.
- Add the drained artichoke hearts to the bowl of the food process, and pulse just a few times more to very roughly chop them. You're going for a chunky dip. See recipe notes if you prefer a smoother texture.
- Serve either at room temp or warmed in the oven. See recipe notes for serving options.
My family likes this dip quite chunky, with bits of artichoke still intact. If you prefer a creamier, less textured dip:
- Proceed with Step 1.
- Add both spinach and artichokes to above mixture, and blend til smooth. No pulsing and chopping here. This will result in a green dip from the blended spinach. Served with roasted red pepper strips, this would be a beautiful Christmas appetizer!
Serving options:
The spinach artichoke dip is ready to eat as soon as it’s blended. Just scrape into a serving bowl, and pass the pita chips or Triscuits!
If you prefer, you can serve it warm:
- Scrape dip into a pretty oven-safe baking dish (you don’t have to heat it all at once — just put part of it in the fridge to heat later)
- Top with grated Parmesan cheese
- Heat at 350 for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melty and dip is bubbly.
While it’s great on its own, I also love to use it as an ingredient in other dishes. Like atop pizza. Or as a sauce for rolled chicken breasts. Here are a few more ideas.
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Here are quick links to the food processors mentioned in the post:
