BAKED SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP

Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip!! I’m back with another delicious recipe for the holidays! Let’s make my Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip. This is my most requested recipe over the holidays! You have to try this! This is a slightly lighter version and I use fresh baby spinach.  See recipe notes below to see exactly what to do!

Hello friends! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We had a full house and such a wonderful time with my family. I know many of us are gathering together with friends and family this holiday season and so I have to share my most requested holiday appetizer: my Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip! I made a huge batch of this for Thanksgiving and my family devoured this in under an hour.

BAKED SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP

There’s something about melted cheese and the slight tanginess and flavor from artichoke hearts, the creaminess from the sour cream and mayonnaise that brings this lovely dish together! All baked to perfection, I think this is the perfect holiday appetizer. Every year, I make this over the holidays and it’s devoured within 30 minutes.

I don’t add cream cheese and I like to add walnuts and crispy bacon bits for flavor and texture. I also love using fresh baby spinach instead of frozen spinach. I feel like I’m getting more of the vitamins and nutrients from spinach this way. I also like a chunky version of this but feel free to chop everything up as much as you like! Serve this with crusty bread, crackers, tortilla chips, pita chips or whatever you want. It’s even nice to add some fresh vegetables to munch on on the side. How do you make your baked spinach and artichoke dip? Let me know below! 

Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This is the perfect blend of creaminess and richness mixed with the freshness and flavor from the artichokes and the spinach. I hope you try this! It’s so good!

Print Recipe

Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip

For easy clean-up, I like to bake my bacon in the oven. I cook my bacon on an oven safe rack, placed into a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Preheat your oven to 425 and bake for about 20 minutes. 25 minutes if you want the bacon really crispy.

PREP time includes the time to cook your bacon.

For the Protein Packed version: read notes below for ingredient swap outs

BREAD BOWL OPTION: buy any round bread loaf from a bakery and remove the top and inner bread. After the dip has finished baking for about 20 minutes, remove from the oven and fill the bread bowl. Top with more shredded mozzarella. Place into a 350 degree oven and continue baking another 15 minutes, then switch oven setting to broil (500 degrees) and broil for about 3 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and golden brown. Serve and enjoy while hot.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Appetizer or Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: baked spinach and artichoke, baked spinach and artichoke dip, spinach dip

Servings: 10

Author: hipfoodiemom

Equipment

• 8 x 10 baking dish

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Ingredients

• 1 cup low moisture shredded mozzarella cheese + more for topping if desired
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise + more if needed
• 2 to 3 cups artichoke hearts* canned or jarred, drained, patted dry and coarsely chopped
• 2 to 3 cups frozen spinach or baby spinach** defrosted, squeezed to release water and rough chopped (read notes below)
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 5 strips thick-cut bacon cooked/baked to crisp and chopped (see above)
• 1/2 cup red or yellow onions diced fine
• 1/3 cup walnuts or pecans chopped fine
• 1/2 to 1 cup Parmesan cheese shaved or grated

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a large mixing bowl, combine everything from the low moisture shredded mozzarella cheese to the walnuts or pecans and mix well. Spread evenly into your baking dish and sprinkle the parmesan cheese over the top. Alternatively, you can sprinkle on a blend of parmesan and shredded mozzarella cheese evenly over the top.
• Bake, uncovered, for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until cooked through. If wanting to get some nice browning on the top, switch to the broiler setting for 2 to 3 minutes only at the very end. Serve with bread, crackers, chips and/or raw veggies. Serve while warm and enjoy!

Notes

*you can also use frozen artichoke hearts. Just make sure they are completely defrosted, drained completely and patted dry before chopping.  I like a lot of artichoke hearts in mine so I use 2 (14 oz.) cans. Drain, pat dry (with paper towels) as much as possible and chop. 

**I like to use fresh baby spinach because then I don't have to mess with defrosting frozen spinach and squeezing, HOWEVER you will get a little more moisture/water using fresh spinach so if you don't want that, use frozen spinach, defrost, and squeeze out all of the water completely.

For the Protein Packed version: instead of the mayonnaise, add 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup cottage cheese. You may get a little more water/liquid in your dip but I didn't mind it and thought it was delicious. I really loved the cottage cheese. If you don't want any water/excess liquid, follow the recipe above and use mayo, not greek yogurt, and frozen spinach that you have defrosted, drained and squeezed completely dry.