This Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip with no mayo is so deliciously creamy and cheesy. It’s a perfect vegetarian appetizer for your next party that’s a guaranteed crowd pleaser. Made with cream cheese, shredded cheese, frozen spinach, and jarred artichokes. Serve warm with bread, crackers, or veggies for dipping.
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Ingredients
Some pretty standard grocery store ingredients are needed to make this baked spinach artichoke dip without mayo, check them out below:
- Cream cheese: cream cheese serves as the creamy base for this dip. Full fat cream cheese is best.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: pre shredded or shred your own (one of the low moisture blocks).
- Grated parmesan cheese: the third kind of cheese needed to make this a super cheesy spinach artichoke dip. I always say grate your own and I stand by that but for this dip recipe it doesn’t make much of a difference, so grate your own or buy pre-grated.
- Sour cream: mixed with the cream cheese to add a little more tang and create the creamy base.
- Fresh garlic: some fresh grated garlic adds a ton of flavor in here that blends seamlessly into the dip so you don’t get any chunks of cloves. If you prefer chunks of cloves, go for it and mince the garlic instead. You could also use ½ teaspoon garlic powder.
- Red pepper flakes: these just add a touch of heat, you can skip if you don’t want any spiciness at all. You could also use cayenne pepper instead.
- Artichoke hearts: I like to get the ones in oil, but the canned ones are okay too. Either quartered or whole is fine, you will be chopping them up anyway. Either marinated or not are both fine (they’re being drained so it doesn’t make much of a difference).
- Frozen chopped spinach: people have strong opinions about whether or not to use fresh spinach or frozen spinach in spinach artichoke dip. I personally prefer to have one less thing to clean, so I go frozen spinach. Simply defrost at room temp for an hour or so or put it in the microwave. Whichever route you take, make sure you squeeze out all the excess liquid.
- Salt & pepper: Kosher salt and black pepper always.
Step by step instructions
This homemade spinach artichoke dip is so good, like, better than restaurant quality good! I have forever been obsessed with the spinach dip from California Pizza Kitchen, so the fact that I prefer this one is huge.
High-level instructions: Defrost the spinach and squeeze out excess moisture. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, reserving ⅓ of the mozz cheese. Put into an oven safe dish and sprinkle remaining mozz cheese on top. Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.
Prep: Defrost the frozen spinach. Either microwave the spinach until just defrosted, or let the spinach sit out at room temp for an hour or so. Squeeze the excess moisture out as best you can.
1. Combine all ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, sour cream, chopped artichokes, drained spinach, grated garlic, ⅔ of the shredded mozzarella cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
2. Transfer to a baking dish. Transfer the dip mixture to an oven safe baking dish (sprayed with cooking spray if it's not non stick) and spread into an even layer. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
3. Bake. Bake the spinach artichoke dip at 350°F for 25 minutes, then broil on high for 5 minutes to get the cheese golden brown.
Tips and tricks
Hot spinach artichoke dip is so easy to make but check out the tips and tricks and FAQs further down on the page for any help you may need.
- Really squeeze as much excess water as you can out of the spinach. It might help to use a cheesecloth, paper towels, or thin kitchen towel.
- Ensure the cream cheese is well at room temperature so that it’s easy to mix with the other ingredients. If it’s too cold it’ll be stiff and won’t mix well. Let it sit out for 60 minutes to get it truly mixable.
- I like to cut up the artichokes into small pieces, but if you want a chunkier spinach artichoke dip you can leave them bigger.
- If you are using fresh spinach, sauté it in a skillet over medium heat first so that it wilts down. Let it cool, then squeeze out any excess moisture and continue as instructed.
- Broiling at the end is an optional step, but do it if you want the beautiful golden brown top.
- Serve fresh out of the oven so it’s nice and creamy. It’ll solidify as it sits and comes to room temperature.
- If you want to make this without sour cream, you can substitute in whole milk Greek yogurt or mayonnaise.
What to eat spinach artichoke dip with
This easy warm spinach artichoke dip is outright delicious with so many things dipped in there. Some of my favorite dippers are:
- Tortilla chips
- Kettle chips
- Pita chips
- Pita
- Vegetables / crudités (peppers, carrots, celery, snap peas, radishes)
- Garlic bread
- Toasted bread (baguette, Italian bread, rustic loaf, etc.)
- Crackers
Storage and reheating
- Storage: let the dip come to room temperature and transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheating: Warm in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. Alternatively, warm in the microwave in 1 minute intervals (stirring between each) until warmed through.
FAQs
Yes. Spinach artichoke dip can be prepped up to 2 days in advance. Keep it in the fridge and remove at least 30 minutes before you bake it to allow the chill to come off (this will help it cook evenly and ensure the baking dish doesn’t crack).
Yes, you can freeze this dip. Make sure it’s in an airtight container and it can stay for up to 3 months. You can bake it straight from frozen, but if it’s in a ceramic baking dish make sure you let it sit out at room temperature for a little first so the dish doesn’t crack.
No, you do not need to rinse the artichokes, but they do need to be drained.
If your spinach artichoke dip is watery it’s likely you didn’t squeeze enough of the extra liquid out of the spinach.
Stir in more cream cheese and shredded cheese. Put it back in the oven if necessary.
There are some spinach dip recipes that can be served cold, but this is not one of them as it would be too firm. The ingredients in this recipe are meant to be baked. Also, I am just generally not a fan of cold spinach dip and don't recommend it.
Yes, to make spinach artichoke dip in the crock pot / slow cooker, add all ingredients in and cook on low for 2-3 hours or high for 1 hour.
No, but spinach itself is. Some health benefits of it here.
More dip recipes
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📖 Recipe
Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip No Mayo
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese room temp
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese separated
- ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 3 cloves garlic grated
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts drained and chopped
- 8 oz frozen spinach thawed and squeezes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, sour cream, chopped artichokes, drained spinach, grated garlic, ⅔ of the shredded mozzarella cheese, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Mix until well combined.
- Transfer the dip mixture to an oven safe baking dish (sprayed with cooking spray if it's not non stick) and spread into an even layer. Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes, then broil on high for 5 minutes to get the cheese golden brown. Serve warm.
Notes
- Really squeeze as much excess water as you can out of the spinach. It might help to use a cheesecloth, paper towels, or thin kitchen towel.
- Ensure the cream cheese is well at room temperature so that it’s easy to mix with the other ingredients. If it’s too cold it’ll be stiff and won’t mix well. Let it sit out for 60 minutes to get it truly mixable.
- I like to cut up the artichokes into small pieces, but if you want a chunkier spinach artichoke dip you can leave them bigger.
- If you are using fresh spinach, sauté it in a skillet over medium heat first so that it wilts down. Let it cool, then squeeze out any excess moisture and continue as instructed.
- Broiling at the end is an optional step, but do it if you want the beautiful golden brown top.
- Serve fresh out of the oven so it’s nice and creamy. It’ll solidify as it sits and comes to room temperature.
- If you want to make this without sour cream, you can substitute in whole milk Greek yogurt or mayonnaise.
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