Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Not going to lie, I spent most weekends of my undergrad career pushing back spinach and artichoke dip at Applebee's before parties and midterms. I had to share my favorite recipe for at home.

Things like spinach and artichoke dip are my mom’s and I version of “girl dinner” lol. But it’s also such a great dish for potlucks, entertaining family, and having a winedown with your favorite girls. If you remember my recipe from Millennial Meets Stove, this is pretty much the same, this time I just added a ⅓ cup of heavy cream to create a creamier dip. You can add more if you’d like but I would say add more than half of a cup. We use freshly chopped spinach in this recipe but you can opt for frozen spinach. Be sure to use a cheesecloth and remove as much of the moisture as possible.

Don’t forget to use red pepper flakes for a little spice and freshly minced garlic. This will help flavor mixture and feel free to opt for non-dairy heavy cream if you’d like!

What You Need:

• 6 ounces Cream Cheese, softened (this is very important or it’ll be clumpy)

• 1½ cups Canned Artichoke Hearts, two cans drained and roughly chopped

• 8 to 12 ounces Fresh Spinach, finely chopped

• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced

• ⅓ cup Sour Cream

• ¼ cup Mayo, not miracle whip, please!

• ⅓ cup Heavy Cream

• Kosher Salt to taste

• Black Pepper to taste

• 3 dashes Red Pepper Flakes

• Zest from half of a Lemon, optional

• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

• 2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated and save half cup for sprinking on top

What to Do:

1. Sit cream cheese out to soften before preparing this recipe. With cold cream cheese, it’ll become difficult to create a smooth and creamy dip. Which is the goal here if we’re on the same page!

2. Preheat your oven to 350F.

3. Heat a large pan with oil of your choice, I prefer grapeseed, and add the garlic and begin to sauté it for 2 minutes Stir occassionally.

4. Add in the minced garlic and sauté with the spinach until the garlic becomes fragant. You don’t want it to brown and for heaven’s sake don’t burn it : )

5. Once the garlic is smelling great (about 3 to 4 minutes), add in the sour cream, mayo, heavy cream, cheeses, and seasonings and stir on medium to low heat until fully incorporated. If your pan is not large enough, you can do this in a bowl or casserole dish.

6. If you’re using a cast iron skillet, you can zest the fresh lemon and top the dish with your remaining cheeses. If you’re using another baking dish, transfer the filling to the prepared dish, zest the lemon and top with the remaining cheeses.

7. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese begins to bubble. You can set the oven for broil and cook for another 2 to 4 minutes if you’d like to brown the cheese.

8. Serve warm with pita chips or fresh baguette.