Spinach Cob Loaf Dip

🤍 Recipe Highlights

I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:

• Cob loaf dip: yup you know what I am saying. I have never seen one leave a party, but I have seen many at a lot of parties 😂👍
• Fuss free and effortless: some appetizers like canapes can be quite fiddly and time consuming to bring together. This bread bowl dip recipe is the opposite. It uses simple ingredients with basic steps and straightforward techniques to bring it together.
• Taste, texture and flavour: Spinach and cream cheese is a winning combination any day of the week. Spinach, cream cheese, French onion soup mix and Greek yoghurt mixed together and baked in a loaf of bread is simply heavenly!
• Freezer friendly: you can make this easy recipe and freeze as a whole for serving at a later date when you simply have to cook it in the oven.
• Vegetarian recipe: this vegetarian spinach cob dip is perfect if you are feeding a crowd as it caters to guests who are non meat eaters.

🥗 Ingredients

The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the cheesy spinach cob loaf 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:

• French onion soup mix: this will be in the soup section of the shops, in packet form. It is full of flavour and a great addition to a recipe needing taste without loads of time.
• Cream cheese: I am using the spreadable tubs version of cream cheese. You can also use the block versions to the equivalent amount. I do like to chop this up a little so that the food processor can be balanced when blitzing it.
• Greek yoghurt: I use Greek Yogurt as an alternative to sour cream in many of my recipes. I find it better for you as well as containing less unhealthy fats. It is still thick and creamy in texture.
• Olive oil: we use a little olive oil around the cut top of the bread to help it crisp up as the bread bowl cooks.
• Spinach (fresh is best): you can use frozen spinach an alternative, however, I find the taste is better with fresh spinach that we blitz in the food processor (less watery).
• Cob loaf: this is best from the bakery or bakery section of the supermarket. It is a round loaf that is perfect as a bread bowl dip as you can literally dunk into the bread.

Top Tip: I like to provide you with a number of substitutions and variations giving you an array of options when making my recipes. If in doubt of any of the above ingredients, or wanting alternatives, read this section (further below) before jumping into the instructions on how to make the recipe which are coming next 😉👌.

🍳 Instructions

Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by processing the fresh spinach leaves.

• Add the spinach leaves to the food processor (Photo 1)
• Remove the top of the cob loaf (Photo 2)
• Make a hole in the bread (Photo 3)
• Make cuts around the perimeter (Photo 4)

👩‍🍳 How to Make Spinach Cob Loaf

Start the recipe by preparing the spinach.

To do this add the fresh spinach leaves to the bowl of a food processor and blitz to combine. Then use a spatula to scrape down the insides of the bowl.

Next prepare the cob loaf. To do this place the bread into the centre of a chopping board and use a serrated knife to cut the top of your cob loaf off. Put this to the side for now as we will use it later in the recipe.

Next trace a dip sized circle in the top of the bread and then pull that soft white filling out to create a hole.

Once done make cuts in the circumference of the top edge of the bread and then use a basting bread to coat this surface with olive oil.

• Add the cream cheese (Photo 5)
• Then the Greek yogurt (Photo 6)
• Add the French onion soup mix (Photo 7)
• Blitz to combine (Photo 8)

🧀 Cob Loaf Dip

Next return to the chopped spinach in the food processor and to that add the cream cheese, Greek yogurt and French onion Soup mix and give it all a blitz to combine.

You can see me having done this in the photos above.

Once the spinach dip mixture is combined, we can transfer it into the hollowed cob loaf.

• Chop bread into pieces (Photo 9)
• Add spinach mixture to the empty bread bowl (Photo 10)
• Brush olive oil around the top of the bread (Photo 11)
• Oven bake (Photo 12)

Next chop the leftover bread into pieces. These are going to be used to serve the dip and we toast them in the oven alongside the bread bowl.

Then place the baking tray with dip and bread pieces into the oven on the middle shelf. Allow the bread chunks to toast for 10 minutes.

Then use oven mitts to remove the baking tray and transfer these pieces to a serving platter.

Then return the spinach cob loaf to the oven and let it bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Once done, again you can use the oven mitts to remove the baking tray, place it onto a heatproof surface and then use the mitts to transfer the (hot!) bread bowl to a serving platter.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

When it comes to serving the cheesy spinach dip you have a wide variety of choices available.

For healthy options try pairing the bread with celery sticks, carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets and snap peas 😁👌.

Or for an easy serving option that doesn't require as much prep work, do what you can see in the photo below and simply load the toasted bread pieces around the base of the dip.

It is easy, it works well for scooping up the creamy spinach dip and you won't have anyone complaining that the party food is 'too healthy'!! 😂👍

👍 How to Guide

How to Store

Store leftovers (highly likely that there won't be any) in a sealed airtight container in the fridge. The can be kept for 2 days.

How to Freeze

You can make the dip, put the top back on and freeze it in the original plastic bag that the bread came in if you wish too.

Then when needed remove it from the freezer and oven bake until it is heated through.

It is not recommended however, to freeze leftovers of the cooked dip.

How to Reheat

Place leftovers of the cob loaf dip into the oven and reheat for 5 to 10 minutes until warmed through.

😉 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:

• You can use sour cream or mayonnaise in place of the Greek yogurt (equivalent amount).
• You can add a teaspoon of garlic powder and onion powder to the combined spinach dip if you wish too.
• If you want to use a different type of bread such as sourdough, you can. A round shape is best to create the 'bread bowl dip' experience.
• For extra cheese flavour you can add ¼ cup of finely grated parmesan cheese or pecorino romano cheese.
• Use veggie sticks to serve the dip in place or in addition to the toasted bread pieces.
• As you can see I am garnishing the dip with chopped chives. You can also use thinly chopped spring onion.

💡 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:

• If you remove the cream cheese from the fridge as soon as you know you will be making the recipe (that day) it will give it a chance to soften.
• When cutting the hole in the top of the loaf, we need to make sure we don't cut through the base of the bread (so that the dip doesn't leak out!).
• Brushing the top cut surface of the bread with olive oil helps it to crisp up when it is oven baked.

🤓 Frequently Asked Questions

How to cut a bread bowl for spinach dip?

Start by placing the bread loaf into the centre of a chopping board and then use a serrated knife to cut the top off. Next use a smaller knife to trace a circle in the bread which you will fill with the dip. We need to be careful to not cut all the way down into the base of the bread. Next pull the white soft fluffy bread from the centre to create a hole for the dip.

What do you eat with cob loaf?

Cob loaf is traditionally served with the leftover bread (toasted) that was inside the loaf as well as healthy pairings like celery sticks, carrots sticks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets and snap peas.

Can you freeze cob loaf filling?

Yes, you can freeze cob loaf filling. The best way to do this is to make the dip and fill the bread bowl with the spinach filling. Then place the part of the cob loaf back on top of the round bread, put it back into the plastic bag that it came in, tie it to seal and freeze it like this. Then when read to use bake the dip in the bread bowl from frozen (no need to thaw).

😍 More Easy Dips And Spreads Recipes

If you love dipping, dunking and dolloping your way through parties, then I have some more ideas that I know you will love! Try these recipes throughout the holiday season:

• Cream Cheese Jalapeno Dip
• Green Olive Dip
• Cottage Cheese Dip
• Baked Camembert with Cranberry Sauce
• Thanksgiving Dip
• Cream Cheese Salsa Dip 
• Bacon And Cheese Cob Loaf
• Labneh Dip
• Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Dip
• Christmas Dip

It is time to get our cob loaf on my friend! Try it at your next party 😉👌. You can also find all of my dips and spreads recipes or appetizer recipes in the one spot.

Adrianne

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