Three things that I buy almost every week are fresh parsley, cilantro, and green onions. They’re almost always less than a dollar each , but add so much flavor and color to my meals, that they’re worth buying even if I can’t use them all up. I still love coming up with recipes that use up those odds and ends, like this Scallion Herb Cream Cheese Spread, because less waste is always better. This tangy, herb-infused cream cheese only takes minutes to make, but it so seriously delicious, and it may even help you eat more vegetables throughout the day.
Eat Your Vegetables and Enjoy Them Too.
Why might this help you eat more vegetables? This Scallion Herb Cream Cheese Spread tastes almost like a ranch-flavored cream cheese, which makes it great for spreading onto vegetable sandwiches and wraps, or spreading onto celery sticks or cucumber slices. I’m day dreaming about a humongous vegetable sandwich with this Scallion Herb Cream Cheese, avocado, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, and tomato. 😍
Serving Sizes
I’ve set the serving size for this one at 1 ounce, or about 2 Tbsp because that’s the general serving size for regular cream cheese, but I know it’s tough to stick to just 2 Tbsp, so take that with a grain of salt. K? Thx.
Substitutions
Not into cilantro? No problem. Leave it out and it will still be awesome, no need to replace it with anything else. Grow your own herbs? Try adding in a little tarragon or even basil.
Scallion Herb Cream Cheese Spread
Servings 8 2 Tbsp eachIngredients
- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature ($1.19)
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley ($0.11)
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro ($0.09)
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced ($0.11)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice ($0.05)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl and use a fork to mash them together until everything is evenly mixed. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!
How to Make Scallion Herb Cream Cheese – Step by Step Photos
Add 8 oz. cream cheese (room temperature), 1 sliced green onion, about 2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley, 2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro, 1/8 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice to a bowl.
Use a fork to mix and mash the ingredients together until everything is evenly mixed. If you’re doing a double batch for any reason you could probably use a hand mixer, but I figured this amount would be too small to have a mixer be effective.
Use the Scallion Herb Cream Cheese Spread immediately, or refrigerate it for up to five days.
This is SO GOOD with cucumbers. FYI.
What is your favorite mini bagel brand? If making for kids to eat in less than 4 hours, do I need to bother with ice back? Thanks! My kids like bagels and I need to make more variety lunches instead of just sunbutter and jam.
Your recipe made me think outside the box, having stuck to the 2-ingredient version for years.
I now treat this spread like a starter stock. Then I dig around and find this and that to experiment. As one person said, capers are nice. I chopped up a deli slice of ham and tossed it it. Added a dash of cayenne pepper for a kick, too.
And I just remembered there’s a half a cucumber begging to jump in as well.
What can I use in place of clantro. Dont care for the taste.
There’s no real substitute, so you can just leave it out and it will still taste delicious.
Just finished eating this for lunch today and had to review! Made it into a sandwich with a thick spreading of your herb cream cheese on both sides, sliced cucumber, and sprinkled with fresh ground pepper. So yummy! Look forward to having this again for several more lunches :)
Yummy!!
This was delicious! I added a bit of dill cause it needed using up. Then I went right ahead and spread this all over a bagel topped with capers, red onion and smoked salmon. It was perfect!
I’m using as many of your recipes this year as possible as we try to tighten out belts while we make way for a new family arrival. Love your site! (And book)
This is different from the veggie cream cheese I’m used to. I enjoyed it though.
This dip is SO TASTY! I make it with the 1/2 fat Philly cream cheese and use it as a dip for those little sweet peppers.
Beautiful! I put some sliced red jalapeños into mine – so good, and quite pretty. Thank you!
These photos are especially pretty, Beth!
Thank you, Jen!
This was really good! I had mine in a wrap with lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and red pepper with sliced avocado. But I bet it’d be fabulous on little cucumber sandwiches on rye. I think I’ll add some dill too! Love this site, Beth! I’ve made so many of your recipes.
This recipe looked great, but you completely had me when you mentioned a sandwich with avocado, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, and tomato. Those are my favorites, so I have to make this spread, so I can properly make that sandwich. I’m opting for some prairie bread with this.
Oh, thanks for this idea! I know they’re cheap to buy, but I’m trying to regenerate some vegetables and have “zombie” scallions in my kitchen windowsill now. They seem to grow at least half an inch a day! I hope to go a while without buying them for recipes where I only need a small amount.
OMG. I LOVE herb cream cheese. Looks like I’ll have to make this recipe very soon!!! :-)