This Spinach Artichoke Dip recipe is epic. It’s super easy to make and the perfect dish to bring to Friendsgiving, football parties, or any gathering. It has three types of cheese, a creamy homemade sauce, and just a little bitty splash of hotness to tingle your taste buds. This spinach artichoke dip is so good that it’ll make you want to eat your appetizer for dinner. …And I won’t judge you if you do. ;)
Ingredients for Spinach Artichoke Dip
This recipe is super easy to make and it doesn’t require too many ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need to make this spinach artichoke dip recipe:
- Spinach: We used frozen chopped spinach because it’s convenient and inexpensive. Just make sure you fully thaw and squeeze the spinach dry before using. You can use fresh spinach, but you’ll need to cook it down first to remove most of the water. You’ll need about 2 cups once cooked and squeezed.
- Artichoke Hearts: Canned artichoke hearts are convenient, but you can also use frozen artichoke hearts, if available.
- Cheese: This super-rich dip has a mix of three cheeses: mozzarella, Parmesan, and cream cheese.
- Mayonnaise, Sour Cream, and Butter: These three ingredients come together to create the super-rich and creamy sauce that drenches the spinach and artichokes.
- Seasoning: The seasoning for this dip is pretty simple, just some fresh garlic, hot sauce for tang and heat, plus a pinch of red pepper for another kick. It’s simple, but amazing!
What to Serve with Spinach Artichoke Dip
Because spinach artichoke dip is kind of heavy (understatement) you will want to serve it with something strong and crusty for dipping. My favorite is slices of toasted baguette, but strong crackers and tortilla chips are other great options.
You can also use spinach artichoke dip as part of a meal. Try using it to fill a quesadilla, making it into a grilled cheese sandwich or “melt”, or stirring it into some pasta!
Spinach Artichoke Dip Variations
This is a classic spinach artichoke dip recipe, but you can add or substitute ingredients to make it your own. Here are some ideas for different variations of this spinach artichoke dip recipe:
- Double Spinach: Use twice the amount of spinach for an extra dose of vegetables.
- Spicy Spinach Artichoke Dip: make it extra spicy by adding a lot more hot sauce, for a flavor that’s half-way between buffalo dip and spinach dip!
- Make it Lighter: Substitute the sour cream with non-fat yogurt and Neufchatel cheese for the cream cheese to make a slightly lighter spinach artichoke dip.
- Skip the Artichokes: If you’re not a fan of artichokes, double up on the spinach and skip the artichokes for a creamy spinach dip.
- Add Chicken: Make the dip more hearty by stirring in diced cooked chicken breast.
How to Store Leftovers
This spinach and artichoke dip will last about four days in your refrigerator. Reheat leftovers in the microwave until hot, or cover and heat in a 350ºF oven until heated through (the total time needed will depend on the amount of dip being reheated).
Spinach Artichoke Dip
Servings 6 1/2 cup eachIngredients
- 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed ($1.79)
- 1 14oz. can quartered artichoke hearts ($2.99)
- 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella, divided ($1.87)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan ($0.38)
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper ($0.02)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced ($0.16)
- 8 oz. cream cheese ($1.25)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.63)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise ($0.33)
- 2 dashes hot sauce ($0.05)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Make sure the spinach is fully thawed, then squeeze out as much of the excess water as possible. Once squeezed, break the spinach up so there are no large clumps. Place the squeeze dried spinach in a large bowl.
- Drain and roughly chop the artichoke hearts. Place the artichoke hearts in the bowl with the spinach, 1 cup of the mozzarella, grated Parmesan, and crushed red pepper. Stir these ingredients together to combine, then set them aside.
- Add the butter and minced garlic to a small sauce pot. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium-low heat for about two minutes, or just until the garlic becomes very fragrant.
- Cut the cream cheese into chunks and add it to the sauce pot along with the sour cream and mayonnaise. Heat and whisk these ingredients together for about five minutes, or until they melt together into a smooth sauce. Finally, stir in a couple dashes of hot sauce.
- Pour the creamy garlic sauce over the spinach artichoke mixture, then stir until everything is evenly combined and coated in sauce. Transfer the mixture to a 2-quart casserole dish, then top with the remaining ½ cup shredded mozzarella.
- Bake the dip for about 30 minutes, or until it is bubbling around the edges and the cheese on top is turning golden brown. Serve while hot.
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Nutrition
How to Make Spinach Artichoke Dip
Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Start with one 10 oz. package of frozen chopped spinach, fully thawed. Squeeze as much of the excess liquid out of the thawed spinach as possible. Make sure to use “chopped” spinach so you don’t get long stringy pieces in the dip.
Drain and chop one 14oz. can of artichoke hearts.
Add the spinach, artichoke hearts, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, and a pinch of red pepper flakes to a large bowl. Stir them together until they are combined.
Add 2 Tbsp butter and 2 cloves of garlic (minced) to a small sauce pot. Sauté the garlic in the butter over medium-low heat for about two minutes, or just until the garlic becomes very fragrant.
Cut an 8 oz. block of cream cheese into chunks and add it to the sauce pot along with 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup mayonnaise. Heat and whisk these ingredients together until they melt into a smooth sauce (about 5 minutes).
Add a couple of dashes of hot sauce to the creamy garlic sauce. This isn’t enough to actually make it spicy, it just adds a little tang.
Add the creamy sauce to the spinach and artichoke mixture and stir until everything is very well combined.
Spread the Spinach Artichoke Dip into a 2-quart skillet or casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup shredded mozzarella over top.
Bake in the preheated 375ºF oven for about 35 minutes or until it’s bubbly around the edges and turning golden brown on top.
Take a closer look at that creamy, cheesy, spinach-y goodness! 🤤
This photo shoot took ALL of my willpower. ALL OF IT.
Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try this for Friendsgiving and beyond! A couple question: salted or unsalted butter? It’s not specified in the recipe. Also what type of bread is in the picture. It’s on the tip of my tongue. Thank you!
I use salted butter in all of my recipes (only because I don’t like to buy two different types of butter 😅). The bread in the photo is just a store-bought baguette.
I know I’m late to the post here, but just wanted to say that if you have a Jimmy John’s restaurant near you, they sell 16″ loaves of day-old bread for 50 cents each.
Nice!!
Thank you for all the informative and helpful pictures to guide me every step of the way! This really is a delicious dish. Can’t wait to make it again.
The Spinach and Artichoke Dip is on point!!! Thank you for this phenomenal recipe, Beth!!! :-)
Would this work with fresh spinach? If so, how much would you use? Would you cook the spinach before mixing it with the sauce?
Yes, you’ll definitely need to cook the spinach down to remove most of the moisture, to the point where it’s like the frozen spinach after it’s been squeezed. It’s hard to say exactly how much fresh you’ll need, since it shrinks SO MUCH when you cook it down, but I’m going to guess a pound or two.
Just made this but I tripled the garlic… so good
Hey Beth! This looks delicious – like all your recipes! I’m wondering if you could do the bulk of the work ahead of time, say the day before, and save the baking step for later? Thoughts?
I think that would probably work! Just be aware that if the ingredients are all chilled going into the oven, it may need a little more time to heat through.
I make this every Thanksgiving, and I prep it a day or 2 in advance. Then bake a little while longer till bubbly and hot. Another hit for me, thanks Beth :-)
Made this recipe for the Super Bowl. Absolute hit. Tortilla chips had a tough time holding up to its thickness, so we baked some naan to dip in it. That really took it over the top. Great recipe.
Had to try this out before carting it off to a party today–spectacular! The test batch, a half batch disappeared and another is ready to take this afternoon
A great meal idea prep recipe that I was wondering if you could play around with is 5 spice chicken thighs glazed in sweet chili sauce with maybe brown rice and Asian broccoli
YUMMMMMM!
Eh, this one wasn’t a winner for me. It tasted “off.” I was sure to squeeze excess moisture from the frozen spinach but ultimately it didn’t stack up to some crockpot spinach artichoke dips I’ve made using fresh spinach.
I’m also wondering about freezing this! Worried I’ll make too much and don’t want to to go bad. Thanks! :)
Creamy sauces don’t have the best reputation for freezing, so I’m going to guess it wouldn’t be a good candidate. You could easily cut the recipe in half, though.
Two questions: do you think this would work well in a (mini) crock pot? If so, how long would you cook for?
If I make this the day before and refrigerate, do you think it would heat in the microwave well?
Thanks in advance, love your stuff!
Hmm, I bet a crock pot would work, but I just don’t know how long and what temp without actually trying it out. The baking step is really just to heat everything through, so as long as the crock pot heats it up until it’s melty that will be fine. I’ve been microwaving my leftovers and they’re great. :) But you do need to stir it often while reheating in the microwave, so the cheese layer on top won’t be the same.
I don’t like mayonnaise, so even though things like this don’t really taste like mayonnaise, I never have it. What would you substitute?
I would just add more sour cream.
You’re killing me, smalls!!! I LOVE spinach and artichoke dip. Looks like I’ll have to make some shortly!!!!! :-)
Can this be frozen and still taste okay?
I haven’t tried freezing this one, but I’m going to guess that it won’t hold up well. Creamy sauces generally don’t do well.