Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Creamy spinach dip is always a hit, whether it’s served in a bread bowl, with crisp crackers, or celery sticks. I’ll give you tips for making the dip a little healthier, including how to make it without buying a seasoning packet.
How long it takes: 15 minutes (or a little less if you take the shortcut)
Equipment you’ll need: mixing bowl, measuring utensils
Servings: makes 4 cups
My Kryptonite!
I’m a sucker for creamy spinach dip served in a big bread bowl. That is usually the first appetizer I go to at parties (and sometimes the last, you’ll find me just hanging out there).
While it’s easy to buy pre-made spinach dip, or deli-made dip, why not make your own healthy spinach dip? I bet you knew I would say that.
What makes mine special:
- Cool and creamy. This recipe is for spinach dip that’s served chilled, often in a bread bowl. Don’t confuse it with warm spinach artichoke dip, like this slow cooker spinach artichoke dip, which is also very popular.
- Two methods. I’ll show you how to make spinach dip two ways: from scratch or with Knorr’s Vegetable Recipe Mix seasoning packet. We tested both ways side by side and it really was impossible to tell the difference.
- Easy to customize. Another advantage to making your own seasoning mix is you can customize it as much as you want. Go heavy on what you like or skip what you don’t like. You can also choose to make the dip with Greek yogurt to cut back on some of the mayonnaise and sour cream.
By the way, if you’re a fan of spinach, be sure to try my spinach balls recipe. I like to make a batch ahead, freeze them, and then either bake or air fry them when needed.
“Thank you so much for this recipe! It is perfect as written and no one will taste a difference to the original recipe with the packaged mix…. I am really glad to have found this recipe and will now have to explore your other recipes!”
Ingredient Notes
- Spinach: You’ll need either a ten ounce box of frozen chopped spinach, or the equivalent. Sometimes it can be a little tricky to find boxes of frozen spinach. Frozen spinach in a bag is fine or use fresh spinach, chopped and sautéed lightly until wilted.
- Carrots: For best results, shred your own carrots. They’ll taste better and have a finer texture, making it easier to scoop the dip.
- Water Chestnuts: While water chestnuts don’t really have a lot of flavor, they provide a nice little crunch in the dip.
- Green Onions (Scallions): Onions add taste, texture, and appearance. Use both the green and white parts. If green onions aren’t available, yellow pantry onions can be substituted; be sure to mince them finely.
- Greek Yogurt: Here’s how we keep this dip a healthy choice: use 2% plain Greek yogurt. Nonfat yogurt just doesn’t have the same feel and whole milk yogurt has more fat and calories (but if you don’t care, neither do I!). Substitute sour cream if you like.
- Mayonnaise: We tested this recipe without mayonnaise and decided that mayo is pretty indispensable. If you want your dip to taste like real spinach dip, you just have to have a little mayo.
- Option #1: Most recipes call for a packet of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix. This is the shortcut method. Don’t feel bad about taking a shortcut; trust me, no one is going to judge you. However, if you have a well-stocked spice cabinet, why not try the second option and make your own seasoning mix?
- Option #2: Skip the packet and use dry onion flakes, salt and pepper, dried parsley, dried thyme, celery seed, and garlic powder. You’ll also be skipping lots of added starches, thickeners, chemical flavor enhancers, colors, and preservatives.
How To Make Spinach Dip
Scroll down for the complete recipe, including measurements! This is just an overview, with some helpful tips and ideas.
Thaw frozen spinach. Thaw your spinach overnight if you think of it, or leave the frozen block out on the counter for an hour or two. Make sure you set it on a plate or dish because liquid seeps out of the package and you don’t want that all over your refrigerator. If you use fresh spinach, simply steam or sauté it briefly until wilted.
Press out excess liquid. Once it’s soft, put the spinach into a strainer and press as much liquid out as possible. Squeeze it pretty hard. There’s no need to be gentle. You don’t want watery spinach dip. Put the spinach in a mixing bowl.
Prep veggies. Peel and finely grate the carrots (I use a box grater). Slice the green onions. You can use both the white and green parts. Open the can of water chestnuts and drain them (use the same strainer you used for the spinach). Chop them up a little too. Add it all to the mixing bowl with the spinach.
Add remaining ingredients. Measure out the yogurt and mayonnaise, and add it to the bowl. Measure out the dried herbs and spices and add them to the bowl. If you’re taking the shortcut, just open the packet and dump the contents into the bowl.
Stir well. Give everything in the bowl a good stir. Make sure all the spices get distributed evenly and the dip is well-mixed.
Chill. You can serve the spinach dip immediately, or cover the bowl and refrigerate to serve later. I think it tastes a bit better if you let the flavors blend a couple of hours in the refrigerator.
Serving Suggestions
Safety recommendations: You can safely leave spinach dip at room temperature for a couple of hours. To keep the dip fresh, set the bowl on ice. Since this recipe makes a big batch of dip, I don’t put it all out at once. I like to keep a second bowl of dip in the refrigerator and switch it out after a couple of hours, discarding the warm dip.
Serve in a bread bowl. You’ll often see spinach dip served in a loaf of bread. Use a round loaf of pumpernickel, rye, whole grain, or pretty much whatever bread you like. Cut out the center of the loaf and put the dip inside the bread bowl you’ve made. The bread you cut out can be used as dippers.
More ways to serve spinach dip: Feel free to try other dippers like pita triangles, crisp crackers, or crudités (veggies). In case you’re wondering, the correct pronunciation of crudités is kroo·dee·tay.
Easy Recipe Variations
- Add color. Sometimes I add very finely diced red bell pepper. This is especially nice around Christmas with the festive colors of red pepper and green spinach decking the halls.
- Make it cheesy. Stir in ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese. You may want to omit the added salt since Parmesan cheese can be a little salty.
Spinach dip actually tastes a bit better if it has a chance to sit. Make it a few hours ahead (or even the day before!), cover and refrigerate it. To serve, give it a good stir and spoon it into a serving dish or bread bowl.
You can also make the seasoning blend ahead of time and store it in a covered container or small jar. It’s a great blend that can also be used to season soups, meatloaf, chicken salad, or pasta salad.
Spinach dip can be refrigerated for up to four days. If the dip separates a bit, don’t worry. Yogurt has a tendency to separate. Just give it a good stir and it will be fine. Remember, if the dip has been sitting out at room temperature for more than two hours, it should probably be discarded.
Sandwich spread. Leftover spinach dip makes a great sandwich spread, much more exciting than plain mayonnaise. Try it in this roasted vegetable wrap with feta (substitute the dip for the mayo and pesto).
For breakfast (or lunch). Try an egg Florentine toast. Spread the dip generously on a slice of grainy toast, top it with a runny fried egg, and maybe a few slices of avocado or tomato. Ah, now that’s my kind of breakfast.
More Dip Recipes
Spinach Dip
Ingredients
- 1 package (12 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed (see note)
- ¼ cup finely shredded carrots (I use a box grater)
- 1 ¼ cups 2% plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and roughly chopped
- 2 green onions, finely chopped (both green and white parts)
- 1 tablespoon dry onion flakes (see note for shortcut method)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon celery seed
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Place thawed spinach in fine mesh strainer. Press or squeeze as much of the excess liquid out as you can.1 package (12 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed
- Add all ingredients to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix well. For best flavor, cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour.¼ cup finely shredded carrots, 1 ¼ cups 2% plain Greek yogurt or sour cream, ¾ cup mayonnaise, 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and roughly chopped, 2 green onions, finely chopped, 1 tablespoon dry onion flakes, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon dried thyme, ¼ teaspoon celery seed, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- Makes about 4 cups. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with crackers, rye, pumpernickel, or pita bread. If you prefer, hollow out a round loaf of bread; fill the bread with spinach dip, and serve it with the bread that you removed.
Notes
- Shortcut method: If desired, use 1 packet (1.4 ounces) Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix instead of the spices listed in recipe (onion flakes, salt, parsley, thyme, celery seed, black pepper, garlic powder). The nutrition information will be affected.
- Using fresh spinach: You’ll need at least 16 ounces of fresh spinach. If it isn’t baby spinach, remove large stems and chop it roughly. Steam or briefly sauté the spinach until wilted. Press out excess liquid.
- Make ahead tip: The seasoning mixture can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container or jar. It’s a nice seasoning blend and you can use it for soups, meatloaf, pasta salad or chicken salad.
- Variations: Add ½ cup finely chopped bright red bell pepper. Instead of green onions, you can use ¼ cup finely chopped yellow onion. For a creamy Parmesan spinach dip, stir in ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Omit salt.
- Storage: Dip will keep in the refrigerator up to 4 days. Stir well before serving.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
Thanks ladies!
This is a great recipe! I love the use of yogurt combined with the miracle whip. I bet it is delicious!
Mouth is watering! I love that you use Miracle Whip too-bless you! :)
My husband would love this!
You could sub regular mayonnaise Claire. Thanks for the comments!
I gotta give this a try :)
“Spice it Up”
That sounds delicious. Is there something I could use instead of miracle whip? We don’t get that in Australia.
I just posted a hot spinach dip the other day and I was thinking that I really need to make a “cold” one! LOVE that you use greek yogurt in yours.
I grew up in WI – just next door to you :-)
Who doesn’t love a good spinach dip.. I like the addition of grated carrot and the Greek Yogurt. Is the Miracle Whip less fat and calories that Mayo? I’ve never used it.. I’ll have to check it out. Thanks
I love a good spin dip recipe. Who can’t resist?!