Super creamy, thick with Artichokes and Spinach, this Spinach Artichoke Dip is an incredible secret weapon to have in your back pocket when entertaining as it is a perfect appetizer.

This monsoon season is one of the most active we have had here in years. The heat builds, builds, builds, mixes with humidity, and then, tremendous amounts of rain fall and make our desert gardens happy, lush and green for a couple days. Lather, rinse, repeat, and you’ve had this summer of 2021. When the weather is like this, my body reacts badly as the nerves and old residual symptoms from y NMO attacks flare up, so there is not a ton of active cooking going on. I pick and choose my battles and where to expend the energy. I tend to eat a diet that contains a little less inflammatory foods to help manage the symptoms when they crop up, so sharing “How I ate an egg” 30 times over isn’t terribly interesting.

One of the things I do make time for is some small, intimate entertaining evenings now that some family and friends have been vaccinated. I have always loved a good charcuterie board as a starter (adult or kids versions), but I am trying to expand my entertaining repertoire to other delicious things. One of the starters I’ve come to perfect is this Spinach Artichoke Dip, which is extremely quick to come together, and yields an incredibly delicious result.

Easy to prepare the night before, this Spinach Artichoke Dip bakes up into a melty, gooey dip that pairs deliciously with crisp toast points or crunch pita chips.

In the past, I have tried experimenting with a crockpot version of this dip, but it ended up being too loose, too easy to overheat the cheese, and overall reminded me of say, a chain restaurant dip that was only mediocre. Those dips are not bad, per say, however I knew I could do better at home and thought some tweaking could yield a dip that was thick, creamy, and chunked full of artichokes and spinach.

What I have come up with is a dip that has nuance and levels of flavor, full of tangy artichokes and earthy spinach, salty parmesan, and plenty of cheese pull when it’s hot out of the oven. There’s a little bit of spunk and spice from the hot sauce, and the ground mustard just adds something extra without being too prominent. This Spinach Artichoke Dip goes best, in my opinion, with something crunch like a good pita chip. The crunch factor contrasts wonderfully with the soft, creamy dip.

This Spinach Artichoke Dip is something that you can prepare the night before, reserving the baking time for just before your guests arrive. I love that it isn’t one note, where you can get flavor fatigue pretty quickly. I find that making it the night before really allows you to focus on other things on the day of everyone coming over, and really allows you to focus on spending time with your loved ones. Which, after over a year in the pandemic, is the goal of creating memories with your favorites.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Author: Iris Anna Gohn

This Spinach Artichoke Dip is thick with artichokes and spinach, while maintaining that creamy cheese pull. It’s an excellent party appetizer, and can feed an army. I love to make it the night before to streamline kitchen work the day of an event, and this has the added bonus of letting the flavors mingle a bit before you actually bake and serve it.

This can be eaten with a variety of items, though my personal favorite is some pita chips. Toast points, tortilla chips, and veggies all go really well with this dip as well.

Ingredients

8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened (I use one full fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese block)
1 Cup Sour Cream (full fat)
1/2 Cup Mayo (I typically use Light mayo as that’s what I keep on hand, but full fat would be equally delicious)
1 Cup Parmesan Cheese, shredded
2 Cups Mozzarella Cheese, divided (1 Cup,1 Cup)
1 Tsp Minced Garlic (2 -3 Cloves garlic)
1/2 Tsp Ground Mustard
1/4 Tsp Cayenne Pepper
3/4 Tsp Hot Sauce (I use Tapatio)
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 Tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
16 oz cooked Spinach, drained (I use frozen, and squeeze the water out really well)
1 14.5 oz. Can Quartered Artichoke Hearts, drained and chopped
2 Tbsp Minced Parsley, for garnish

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a large bowl, blend together the cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo. You can use a spatula if you’ve let the cream cheese soften enough, but if you can also use a hand or stand mixer to blend these ingredients.
Once everything is blended, add in the parmesan cheese, 1 Cup of the shredded mozzarella, the garlic, ground mustard, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, kosher salt and pepper. Mix together using a spatula or spoon until everything is blended well.
Add the drained spinach and artichoke hearts to the mixture and mix thoroughly. Taste, and if you like a little more zip in your dip, add a couple more dashes of hot sauce.
Evenly spread your dip into a baking dish (something around a 9x13 or a little smaller with high sides). Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese evenly over the top, as well as the parsley. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
Bake for 30-40 minutes until the dip is bubbly on the sides. If you have made the dip the night before, bake for 60-70 minutes if coming straight out of the fridge to the oven.
Once the dip is bubbly on the sides, remove the aluminum foil and turn the oven to broil and broil for 5 minutes to brown the top of the cheese.
Serve immediately with pita chips, tortilla chips, cut veggies, etc. Store leftovers in an airtight container.