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Spinach Dip

Spinach dip is a green colored, healthy, and savory dipping sauce that is made from frozen or fresh spinach, and several other ingredients which may consist of artichokes, cheese, yogurt, mayonnaise, and seasonings. When using frozen spinach, it is suggested to thaw it properly and get rid of the moisture content, before using it to prepare the dip. Cheese, sour cream, or yogurt is often used as the base for the dipping sauce. The spinach dip is considered good for any party and is packed with the goodness of spinach and has high vitamin (A and K) content. Use of hot sauce would help in imparting some spiciness to the dip. The dip can be served both warm and chilled, along with crudités, crackers, bread, or chips. There are several recipe variations of the dip, with most of the recipes calling for the use of garlic to impart a slight garlicky and appealing flavor to it.

 

Commonly Used Ingredients and Preparation Overview of Spinach Dips

The most popular spinach dip recipe suggests using frozen spinach, chopped artichoke hearts, green chilies, mayonnaise, grated parmesan cheese, grated Monterey jack cheese, and minced garlic cloves as the vital ingredients.

 

The dip is prepared by draining out excess moisture from thawed spinach and then combining it with the remaining ingredients, while reserving some of Monterey jack cheese for topping. The dip is baked, after toping it with reserved cheese, until the top gets bubbly. It is served warm with vegetables sticks or chips. A recipe variant of this dip suggests the use of Muenster cheese or Mozzarella cheese in place of Monterey jack cheese.

 

Spinach Dip Recipe Variations

There are numerous spinach dip recipe variations which can be explained in terms of use of distinct ingredients, with spinach remaining the key ingredient in all the recipes.

 

  • Low fat variant- it is a combination of fat free yogurt, cream cheese, and spinach. Other ingredients used to prepare the dip consist of mayonnaise, spring onions, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and minced garlic. All the ingredients are blended together until smooth, and the dip is served chilled along with breadsticks. The dip can be made spicy by adding little amount of hot sauce. The dip may also contain dill.

 

  • Avocado based variant- this is an iron rich dip which combines together spinach, ginger, and avocado. Other ingredients used in the dip consist of yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, salt, curry powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and cumin seeds. The dip is served chilled with chips. It can also be used as a dressing for salad.

 

  • Spinach dip with water chestnuts- defrosted and dried spinach leaves are combined with chopped water chestnuts, sour cream, cream cheese, green onions, and dry vegetable soup mix, and chilled before serving it with crackers of veggies.

                   

  •  Mushroom soup based hot spinach dip- frozen spinach is thawed and drained off with the excess moisture before cooking it with mushroom soup, jalapeno cheez whiz (jalapeno based thick cheese sauce), cream cheese, and minced onions in slow cooker for a couple of hours. The dip is served warm in chafing dish with corn chips.

 

  • Spinach bread dip- dry vegetable soup mix is combined with sour cream, before stirring in thawed spinach and placing the dip in refrigerator for a few hours. The dip is placed in hollowed out bread, and served with cubed bread loaves.

 

  • Creamy seafood spinach & artichoke dip- chopped artichoke hearts, water chestnuts, garlic, and crab are combined with defrosted and chopped spinach leaves, cheese, lemon juice, mayonnaise, parsley, and seasonings, and baked for some time, before serving it warm. The dip can be prepared a day ahead and baked the next day.

 

  • Cucumber and radish based spinach dip- cooked and chopped spinach leaves are combined with yogurt, finely chopped cucumber and radish, minced onions, minced scallions, mayonnaise, tarragon, garlic paste, white wine vinegar, and seasonings to prepare a refreshing dip, perfect to be served along with crudités or pita bread.  

 

Serving Spinach Dips

A few serving suggestions associated with spinach dips are revealed hereunder:

 

  • Spinach dips are perfect accompaniments to crudités (vegetable sticks like carrots and cucumbers).

 

  • The dip also pairs well with pita or tortilla chips. It goes well with baked chips too.

 

  • Spinach dips can be served with breadsticks. Rye bread, pita bread, roasted French bread (baguettes) are perfect accompaniments.

 

  • The dip also serves as a very good salad dressing.

 

  • Spinach dip can also be accompanied along with crackers.