Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip {Made with Fresh Spinach}
Cheesy Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip is a delicious and simple appetizer made with fresh spinach, cream cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella. Serve with crostini, vegetables, or tortilla chips. Ready in about 30 minutes and can be made ahead. Vegetarian.
Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip is one of our favorite appetizers for watching football, hosting game night, or enjoying a restaurant-style date night in.
This recipe uses fresh spinach so prep is simple (no thawing needed) and it’s baked until golden (no pre-cooking or stove-top heating required).
You’ll love this creamy spinach artichoke dip because it’s flavorful and goes with everything!
Ingredients:
Fresh spinach – you’ll need a 5 to 6 ounce bag of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Canned artichokes – a 13 to 14 ounce can, drained and rinsed, then chopped
Cream cheese – softened and cubed
Shredded Parmesan – most will be mixed into the dip for flavor, some will be used for topping.
Shredded mozzarella – this will be the cheesy top layer. Use 1/2 cup, or as needed to cover the dish.
Mayonnaise – adds creaminess
Minced fresh onion – adds flavor
Minced fresh garlic – adds flavor
Hot sauce – we use Frank’s. This adds depth and can balance the tartness of the artichokes.
Crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
How To:
Soften cream cheese by setting it at room temperature about 45 minutes before beginning.
- Drain and rinse the canned artichokes, chop them and set aside. Roughly chop the spinach and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a 2 quart baking dish. Set aside.
3. Add the softened cream cheese into a large bowl with the mayo and stir to combine until smooth.
4. Mix in the minced onion, garlic, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, 3/4 cup of the parmesan, and some salt and pepper (to taste).
5. Pour in the artichoke hearts and some of the chopped fresh spinach. Fold the mixture together until the cream cheese starts combining with the vegetables.
6. Add in the remaining spinach as you mix, until everything is creamy and the spinach is well coated.
7. Spoon the mixture into the baking dish and level the top. Cover the dip with the mozzarella and sprinkle on the remaining parmesan.
8. Bake, uncovered, until dip is hot and cheese is bubbly and golden, about 25 minutes.
Tips for Making this Recipe:
Fresh spinach and artichoke dip is great because it is creamy but has some texture, too.
Chopping the artichokes and spinach means they’ll be small enough to blend into each bite, but there won’t be large chunks of artichoke or whole leaves of spinach to chew. But it’s just as important to fold in the spinach and artichokes by hand to ensure the dip doesn’t turn into a smooth, green mixture.
This can be baked in a variety of dishes or pans:
We like using a 2 quart ceramic casserole dish, but a glass Pyrex, or an 8 inch cast iron skillet is great, too! You can also use two 1 quart dishes and make one dip for now, and prep one for later.
We have added more mozzarella (up to 1 cup), depending on the surface area of the dish (to make sure the dip is covered).
How to Reheat:
For individual servings, we just use the microwave and heat in 30 second intervals until warmed through.
To reheat larger portions of leftover spinach artichoke dip, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Heat the dip, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until warmed through and cheeses are melty again.
If you want to brown the cheese when reheating, uncover and bake an additional 2 to 3 minutes.
How to Make Ahead:
Make spinach artichoke dip up to 3 days ahead of baking. Assemble the filling as directed but do not top with the remaining cheeses. Cover tightly and store in the fridge until needed.
Let stand at room temperature while the oven preheats then top with mozzarella/parmesan and bake as directed. You may need to add a couple minutes to the bake time.
Can Spinach Artichoke Dip be frozen?
Not really, because of the cream cheese and mayo content. The dip would be grainy and separated when baked.
Substitutions:
For the mozzarella: use white cheddar or Monterey Jack to replace, or add pepper jack for more flavor.
For the parmesan: use Asiago or Fontina for a similar flavor. Grated parmesan should not be used as a replacement for shredded fresh parmesan.
For the fresh onion and garlic: onion powder and garlic powder are easy to swap in.
Adjust the heat: adding just a little hot sauce (even a few drops) can really help the flavor of this recipe, but you can adjust down from the 1 teaspoon (or add more if you like more heat).
Serving Suggestions:
What goes with Spinach Artichoke Dip?
Serve with thinly sliced toasted crostini, pretzels, crackers, fresh sliced vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, celery), or various chips.
The best chips for spinach artichoke dip are thick and sturdy to hold up to the thicker dip. Try tortilla chips, pita chips, or kettle cooked potato chips.
Other ways to use Spinach Dip:
Leftover spinach artichoke dip can be used as a sauce (pizzas, flatbreads, pastas), topping (for oven roasted meats), filling (breads, calzones,), spread (sandwiches or garlic bread) or as an ingredient (quiche, omelettes).
Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip
Equipment
- 2 quart dish or 8 inch round/square dish
Ingredients
- 5 to 6 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
- 14 ounces canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened and cubed
- 1/3 cup mayo
- 1 Tablespoon minced white or yellow onion sub. 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 cloves garlic, minced sub. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 cup shredded parmesan, divided
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or more, if desired
Instructions
- Let the block of cream cheese stand at room temperature 30 to 45 minutes before beginning.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease or spray a 2 quart dish and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with the mayo until smooth.
- Stir in the onion, garlic, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, and 3/4 cup of the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix until well blended.
- Fold in the chopped artichokes and spinach until everything is fully incorporated and creamy. Spoon mixture into the prepared dish and top with the mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup parmesan.
- Bake, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes until dip is hot and bubbly, and cheeses are golden brown.
Serving and Storage:
- Serve warm as desired. Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge up to 4 days.
Notes
- Chopping the artichokes well and roughly chopping the spinach ensures a smoother and creamier dip.
- Top with more mozzarella if needed depending on the size of the baking dish.
- Make this dip ahead: assemble the filling as directed but do not top with the remaining cheeses. Cover tightly and store up to 3 days in the fridge. Let stand at room temperature while the oven preheats then top with mozzarella/parmesan and bake as directed, adding a couple minutes to the time if needed.
- Reheating leftovers: preheat oven to 350 degrees F and reheat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until warmed through. Or reheat in microwave on 30 second intervals until hot.
- Dip is not recommended for freezing due to mayonnaise and cream cheese content.