Do you fiddle with the Spinach Artichoke Dip recipie?

[rmg_CA]

Thought I’d start a thread on this since its always on everyone’s party menu! I make this recipe all the time for parties, potlucks, and it’s a favorite of hubby when we watch movies at home. I read in another thread that Stephanie made this for her party (where everything sounded AMAZING) and found it too thick and a chip breaker. Here are some things I do to it. I wanted to pass these things on and find out if others are also doctoring this yummy recipe!

* Skip the fat free cream cheese entirely (I can’t stand that stuff). I don’t even replace it with anything.
* Increase the sour cream by about ¼ cup (I use fat free sour cream).
* If you like spicy, it’s also yummy with about 3 tbsp of the sauce that chipotle peppers in adobo sauce comes with, sometimes I’ll even throw in a chipotle. It gives it a smoky spicy flavor that’s just delicious.
* Don’t ring the spinach till it’s bone dry, just press out the moisture in a colander but I don’t work that hard at it.

It always seems to have just the perfect consistency when I make it this way. Any other ideas?

[kristalsnow7]

Thanks for the tips! I hate fat-free cream cheese too (doesn't everybody?) so was thinking I may not like this recipe. I will just leave it out, and increase the sour cream. Sounds great. Thanks!

[shumanata]

I love spinach - so I used the whole 10-ou., which was great!

[RebeccaT]

I think I might have been the one reporting that the dip was a "chip breaker" in my thread earlier... I really like the idea of upping the sour cream! That might help a lot. I didn't mind the FF cream cheese, because IMO you couldn't taste it at all. It does add to the overall density of the dip, though.

Good call to double the spinach! What does one do with a half a package of frozen spinach, anyway?

I just loved this, and it got such amazing reviews. I can't believe I waited so long to try it.

[kristalsnow7]

It was so good! Thanks for all the tips! I omitted the ff cream cheese, increased the ff sour cream to about 1 cup, used the whole package of spinach and added one more clove of garlic, since I love the stuff. It was really, really good.

[Lynn B]

We love this, too! I always use fresh spinach (to me, it tastes SOOOO much better than frozen!) and a (generous!) sprinkling of crushed red pepper. MMMMMMMMMMMM!

Lynn

[Lrimerman]

Which recipe are you guys starting with? I have one I use from Menus.com, called Garlic Spinach Dip. It has artichokes, cream cheese, mayo, garlic, onion, spinach, lemon juice and parm cheese.

It is a thick dip but you can thin it out by adding sour cream.

Lisa

[Julia1Pin]

I use the spinach dip on the back of the bag of onion soup box:

16 oz. spinach (the recipe say 10 but my bags are 16 oz).
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo
1 packet KnorrOnion Soup
Water Chestnuts
Artichoke Hearts
Bread Bowl

Yummy!

[kristalsnow7]

Hi Lisa,

I believe we are referring to Cooking Light's recipe for Spinach-and-Artichoke dip. Here it is:

Spinach-and-Artichoke Dip


INGREDIENTS
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, andsqueezed dry
1 (13.5-ounce) package baked tortilla chips (about 16 cups)

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine 1-1/2 cups mozzarella, sour cream, 2 tablespoons Parmesan,and next 6 ingredients (2 tablespoons Parmesan through spinach) in a large bowl, and stir until well-blended. Spoon mixture into a 1-1/2-quart baking dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella and 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Serve with tortilla chips.

YIELD: 5-1/2 cups (serving size: 1/4 cup dip and about 6 chips).

NUTRITIONAL INFO
Calories 148 (30% from fat); fat 5g (sat 2.9g, mono 1.5g, poly 0.5g);protein 7.7g; carbohydrates 18.3g; fiber 1.5g; choelsterol 17mg; iron 0.6mg; sodium318mg; calcium 164mg


It is a really good recipe. Some people thought the dip was a bit too thick and suggested upping the sour cream, and omitting the ff cream cheese. I also used the whole package of spinach.

Kristal

[bkiaj]

I make this everytime I host a party and it always gets raves, even from those who confess to not liking spinach and/or artichokes. I never have tinkered with the ingredients, but I always serve it with celery sticks and carrot sticks. Sometimes I also add triscuits as a dipper, but I know they're horrible for your cholesterol count, so generally just stick with the veggies. Raw mushrooms and radishes also work well.