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.
Servings: 10
Equipment
- 8 x 10 baking dish
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.