This No Mayo Spinach Artichoke Dip is a fantastic party starter! With a creamy cheesy filling and crisp bread bowl we create a crowd pleasing appetizer. The dip combines spinach, onion, artichokes and cheese with sour cream for tang and creaminess. This spinach and artichoke cob loaf dip will be popular, devoured in lightening fast speed and a handy recipe to whip out as the festive season arrives.
Recipe like the Spinach And Bacon Cob Loaf, French Onion Cob Loaf, Bacon And Cheese Cob Loaf and the Spinach Cob Loaf Dip give us dips that feed a crowd.
The Baked Feta With Honey, Baked Camembert Platter, Grazing Platter and the Baked Brie With Red Pepper Jelly are other great appetizers with a ton of flavor!
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🤍 Recipe Highlights
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:
- Simple ingredients: this dip needs only simple ingredients that can be sought from your local grocery store. They are each year round available so it will be easy to get your hands on them.
- Entertaining: everyone loves a little bit of this and that for finger food. When entertaining it is a good idea to have lots of options to choose from. This spinach and artichoke dip is perfect to entertain with due to its various tastes and texures as well as being a popular flavor combination.
- Vegetarian: when feeding a wide variety of people, it is impossible to please everyone. But what you can do is provide both vegetarian and non vegetarian options. This will ensure that everyone has a choice in the matter and that no one goes hungry!
🥗 Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the hot spinach artichoke dip recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the recipe calls for:
- Olive oil: you will see it twice in the photo above. This is because we use it to cook the onion, spinach and artichoke mixture as well as basting it onto the top of the bread to crisp it up.
- Salt and pepper: for seasoning.
- Onion: one large brown onion adds layers of flavor and texture to the dip.
- Spinach: we use frozen spinach for convenience.
- Garlic: either 2-3 fresh garlic cloves or chunky chopped garlic like you see in the photo above.
- Sour cream: adds creaminess and a distinct tang.
- Cream cheese: helps to give the dip a thick and creamy base texture.
- Artichokes: 2 jars of marinated artichoke hearts that we drain but don't rinse.
- Cheddar cheese: or ½ cheddar cheese and ½ parmesan cheese. A store bought cheese blend will also work!
- Cob loaf: this is my favourite way to serve this dip! Poured into a hollowed bread bowl, filled to the brim and oven baked to perfection 😉👌.
😉 Substitutions and Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- Spinach: if you want to use fresh spinach in place of the frozen spinach you can. This won't need to be pan fried, it will however, need to be blitzed.
- Onion: you can use 4 small shallots in place of the one large onion. Or you can use 1 red onion in place of the brown onion.
- Cheese: we want a bold cheese with tang and flavor (the grated one). Cheddar cheese is a great choice. Or use a combination of cheddar and parmesan cheese or pecorino romano cheese. Pre-shredded cheese keeps things easy! Add some crumbled blue cheese for artichoke and blue cheese lovers, feta cubes or your favorite melt worthy gooey cheese.
- Hot sauce: if you want to add a little kick of heat you can add 1 to 2 tablespoons of hot sauce to the dip when you are combining the cheese, spinach and artichoke mixture. Or add 1-2 teaspoons or red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper as other options.
- Bread bowl: if you want to skip serving the dip in a bread bowl, you can simply transfer it to an oven tray and bake it. This will take only 20 minutes cook time.
- Garnish: if you want to chop some chives or slice some green onions, these can then be sprinkled over the top of the dip for serving.
👩🍳 How to Make No Mayo Spinach Artichoke Dip
To make the no mayo spinach and artichoke dip we start by preparing the onion and artichokes. To do this use a sharp knife and cutting board. Peel then dice the onion and then roughly chop the artichokes.
- Dice the onion (Photo 1)
- Chop the artichokes (Photo 2)
- Cook garlic, onion and spinach (Photo 3)
- Add the artichokes, salt and pepper (Photo 4)
🍳 Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by sautéing the garlic, onion and spinach. Then we add the chopped artichokes, salt and pepper to the mix. Combine these so that they will look like the photo below.
- Consistently combine (Photo 5)
- Add the cream cheese, sour cream and cheese (Photo 6)
- Stir to combine (Photo 7)
- Add the spinach artichoke mix to the combined cheese (Photo 8)
Next grab a large mixing bowl. To that add the cream cheese, sour cream and grated cheddar cheese. Then stir till it is consistently combined. Once it is add the artichoke and spinach mixture like you see in the photos above.
Then when ready stir everything in the bowl until it is evenly mixed together.
- Stir to combine (Photo 9)
- Prepare the bread (Photo 10)
- Fill with dip and brush with oil (Photo 11)
- Oven bake (Photo 12)
Next place the cob loaf onto a clean, dry cutting board and slice the top off. Once done, pull the fluffy white bread bits out and set them aside.
When ready transfer the combined dip into the hollowed bread bowl. Then use a basting brush and coat the cut surface of the bread with olive oil like you see in the photo above.
The next step is to then transfer the dip and bread bits to a silicon mat and use cooking spray to spray the bread bits. These will help them turn a lovely golden brown as they cook.
We want to bake the dip for 10 minutes, then use oven mitts to remove the baking tray and place it onto a heatproof surface. Use tongs to remove the toasted bread bits and then return the dip to the oven for a further 20 minutes.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
If you are looking for some healthy serving ideas then cutting some carrot sticks, celery pieces and bell peppers to dip into the bread is a great idea! Everyone loves crisp crudites 😉👌.
Some other options are simply to use the hollowed bread bits (torn and toasted) like you see in the photos and video for this post. Or other firm crackers, tortilla chips, pita chips or potato chips.
👍 How to Guide
You can make the dip in advance and stir covered in a bowl with cling wrap in the refrigerator. Then on the day you are entertaining you can transfer the dip into the bread bowl or baking dish if you are choosing to make the dip bread bowl free. To do this it is best to take the dip out of the fridge and let it soften so that it is easier to transfer from the bowl. Leftovers can be stored in a sealed airtight container.
You can make the whole dip and transfer it into the bread bowl and then put the top back on and freeze this. Store in the plastic bag with the tie that the bread comes in. This can then be cooked from frozen at a later date. Freezing leftovers of the dip is not recommended.
Please the bread bowl still with leftover dip in it) into the oven and reheat for 10 to 15 minutes until warmed through. Leftovers should only be reheated once before being consumed.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- Spinach: lightly sautéing the onion with the frozen spinach allows us to combine the flavor profile early as well as to drain off the excess water from the spinach. If you choose to skip this step, you will still need to drain the water as to not have this added to the dip.
- Artichokes: we drain but don't rinse these. The marinade that they come in adds flavor to the dip. We don't want to wash this off.
- Method: I find the easiest way to combine the ingredients is to add the artichokes to the spinach mixture before combining it with the cheese. You can however, skip this and simply tip the chopped artichoke pieces into the bowl on top of the spinach mixture.
- Baking dish: if you prefer to bake this dip without the bread then you can simply grease a small baking dish and transfer the dip into it. I would then sprinkle it with a layer of cheese to have a golden brown cheesy topping.
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Spinach artichoke dip can be eaten hot or cold. It tastes great at both temperatures.
Greek yogurt, sour cream, blue cheese and cream cheese are all great choices to use in place of mayo in spinach artichoke dip.
Removing cream cheese from the fridge and discarding the packaging before placing on a plate and letting it come to room temperature is the best way to soften it.
😍 More Easy Entertaining Recipes
When it comes to entertaining, you can never have enough ideas to try! The recipes below are to offer you a wide variety of ideas to inspire and delight. They also offer a mixture of vegetarian and non vegetarian ideas so that your game plan can have a mixture of both!
- Vegetarian ideas: Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates, Goat Cheese Log, Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Bites, Caramelised Onion Tarts.
- Other dips: Smoked Trout Dip, Green Olive Dip, Black Olive Dip. Easy Green Olive Tapenade, Black Olive Dip, Kalamata Olive Dip.
- Cream cheese starters: Honey Pecan Cream Cheese, Honey Walnut Cream Cheese.
- Savoury ideas: Savoury Mince Pies, Cheeseburger Sausage Rolls, Caramelised Onion Sausage Rolls.
- More cheese: Baked Brie with Garlic, Microwave Brie, Caramelized Onion Brie, Baked Camembert with Cranberry Sauce.
- Spreads: Chilli Tomato Jam, Tomato Bacon Jam.
- Small and snack like Bacon Crackers.
Its time to whip up your no mayo spinach and artichoke dip recipe! You can also find all of my dips and spreads or popular recipes in the one spot.
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
No Mayo Spinach Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 500 grams/18 oz frozen spinach Note 1
- 500 grams/18 oz marinated artichoke hearts Note 2
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 250 grams/8 oz cream cheese
- 300 grams/10 oz sour cream
- 2 cups cheddar cheese grated
- 1 cob loaf with or without sesame seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: preheat the oven to 180°C / 350-375°F / Gas Mark 4-5.
- Spinach, onion and artichokes: place a large frying pan onto the stove top and turn the heat to high. Add the olive oil, garlic and diced onion, sauté for 1-2 minutes, then add the frozen spinach. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the spinach softens and thaws. Then add the chopped artichokes, salt and pepper. Cook for an additional minute, stirring to combine consistently.
- Bread bowl: use a sharp knife and cutting board to slice the top of the cob loaf then make a circle with a border in the remaining bread. Use your fingers to pull the soft white bits out and set them aside. Take a basting brush and use this to baste olive oil over the cut surface of the bread.
- Combine: use a spatula to transfer the combined dip into the hollowed bread bowl. Then place it onto a silicon baking mat in the centre of a baking tray with the extra bread bits around the side. Use cooking oil to spray the extra bread bits with olive oil.
- Bake: place the baking tray into the oven and let it bake for an initial 10 minute period. Once this time us up, use oven mitts to remove the baking tray, set it on a heatproof surface and use tongs to remove the cooked bread bits. Once done return the baking tray to the oven and let the dip book for a further 20 minutes.
- To serve: remove the dip from the oven when the cook time is up, use oven mitts to transfer it from the baking tray to the centre of a large serving platter. spread the extra toasted bits of bread around the base and serve warm!
Video
Notes
- Note 1 - Frozen spinach: I like to use frozen spinach for the recipe as it saves using the food processor to blitz fresh spinach leaves. The quanity is 2 x 250 gram bags of frozen spinach. These are $1 each at my local grocery store. This is also slightly cheaper than a large bag if spinach will will cost around the $5-6 mark.
- Note 2 - Artichokes: you will find artichokes in te supermarket aisle where the olives and sun dried tomatoes are. These are 'marinated artichoke hearts' or 'quartiers'. We drain the liquid but don't rinse them and then simply give them a chop before adding them to the dip.
Wendy O'Bourne says
You had me at spinach and artichoke.
Adrianne says
Haha thanks Wendy 😊.