5-Minute Spinach & Artichoke Dip (Lightened-Up!)
One of my favorite September indulgences is the utter laziness of football Sundays.
On those days you can find me in the kitchen (duh) donning my oldest pair of lulus, a giant sweater, and my hair tossed into a lopsided bun. There’s lots of cooking, WAY too much swearing, and of course the requisite case of beer. But the best part of football Sundays is the sheer coziness of being at home, lazily eating and lounging through the day. Typically I’ll prepare something large-scale — like this giant skillet rigatoni — then arrange a few small noshes to enjoy along the way. Sometimes it’s a charcuterie platter, sometimes it’s a mere bag of chips. But when I’m at my best, it’s this 5-minute spinach & artichoke dip.
Easy, delicious, fast, and surprisingly lightened-up.
When it comes to fancy looking apps that take ZERO effort, this is top of the list. All you need are 8 ingredients, a food processor, and literally 5 minutes. If you can manage that (you can), this is going to be your entertaining go-to all year round.
You start by thawing frozen, chopped spinach, then combine it with artichoke hearts, cream cheese, sour cream, greek yogurt, garlic, onion, and parmesan cheese in a food processor. Pulse until combined, taste for salt & pepper — I usually add none, but you might like to — and that’s IT!
Refrigerate it, serve it immediately, throw it into a bread bowl, whatever. However and whenever you want this dip, it works for the occasion.
Using reduced-fat cream cheese + sour cream saves on calories on fat, so that’s clearly a no-brainer. And the greek yogurt is an easy way to add protein without changing the overall taste or texture, so I love that too. But obviously the best part of this dip is the ease and speed that it comes together. You can prep this days beforehand — it stays nice in the fridge for about a week — or make it when guests have already arrived!
It’s so streamlined + efficient, there’s really no difference.
The texture here is SUPER smooth and creamy, so it’s ideal for all sorts of dipping. I like pairing it with loads of crudités — that color! — with just a touch of crackers on the side. Doing so makes this as gorgeous to present as it is delicious to eat, so you really can’t go wrong. And best of all? Leftovers can easily be frozen!
Simply thaw to room temperature, then enjoy all over again. xo
5-Minute Spinach & Artichoke Dip (Lightened-Up!)
Ingredients:
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, at room temperature
- 14 oz artichoke hearts in water, drained
- 8 oz reduced-fat cream cheese
- 1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
- 1/3 cup fat-free greek yogurt
- 4 – 5 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/4 small yellow onion, diced (should yield about 1/3 cup)
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
- a pinch of salt & pepper (optional)
- crudités and crackers for serving
Directions:
- Using a cheesecloth, squeeze out any excess water from the spinach. I squeezed mine 3 times to ensure I got as much liquid out as I could, so be diligent!
- In a food processor combine all ingredients except for the salt & pepper. Start with only 4 garlic cloves and 1 cup of parmesan, then taste to see if you’d like to add more. Pulse for 1 – 2 minutes until smooth, then adjust/season as necessary. I actually didn’t add any salt & pepper to mine, but depending on your taste buds you might want a pinch.
- When ready, plate and serve with assorted crudités and crackers! This dip can also be served cold from the refrigerator (I love it this way) and can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week in the fridge.