Roasted Garlic and Bacon Spinach Dip
Creamy warm spinach dip made with roasted garlic, crispy bacon, and parmesan cheese. This dip was gone in minutes. Do yourself a favor and double the recipe!
Yield: serves 6
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 5 slices bacon
- 4 cups fresh spinach*
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (I used low fat Greek)
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, or to taste
- 2-3 cloves roasted garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese (shredded works too!)
- for serving: Wheat Thins Toasted Pita Chips, crackers, carrots, celery, etc.
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
- Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Turn off the heat, leave the grease in the pan, and transfer the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Set bacon aside.
- Wilt the spinach in the still-warm skillet for a minute or two. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, yogurt, and mayonnaise together on medium-high speed until creamy and smooth. Add the shredded parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and roasted garlic. Beat on high speed until combined. Taste; add more salt or pepper if desired. Crumble up 4 slices of bacon and add it to the cream cheese mixture, along with the wilted spinach. Fold them into the mixture until combined.
- Spoon the mixture into an 8-inch (or similar size) casserole/baking pan. Or you can spoon it evenly into smaller ramekins. I used four 6-ounce ramekins. Top evenly with the shaved parmesan cheese. Crumble the last piece of bacon and sprinkle on top. I sprinkled a little fresh ground pepper on top, but that is optional.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese on top is melted and the sides are bubbling. Dip is best enjoyed immediately. Cover leftovers tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 300F degree oven until the sides are bubbly again.
Additional Notes:
*For the spinach, use anywhere around 4 cups. The recipe is very forgiving. If you like a lot of spinach, pack down the 4 cups when measuring. If you do not like a lot of spinach, do not pack it down. You can use two 10-ounce packages of frozen spinach instead and skip step #3 (though you will lose some flavor). Make sure the frozen spinach is thawed and patted very, very dry.
