5-Cheese Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Spinach-artichoke dip is a classic comfort food (and an admitted weakness of Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond), but there's always room for improvement. Many recipes call for just three cheeses: cream, mozzarella, and parmesan. Drummond changes things up by adding feta and swapping the mozzarella for pepper Jack, but that's still only four cheeses. Recipe developer Patterson Watkins, however, ups the ante even further in her five-cheese spinach artichoke dip recipe. Watkins was inspired by a "Saturday Night Live" skit, where a character jokes about refusing to eat only three cheeses (four cheeses, on the other hand, would be acceptable). While that particular skit was about lasagna, she feels it's a good motto for any cheesy dish — especially a spinach artichoke dip — and as she describes her recipe, "This dip is super cheesy."

The five-cheese mix isn't just here to prove a point, though. "Each cheese is serving a purpose here — cream cheese adds the smooth richness, Parmesan adds pungency, Gruyere brings a nice nutty sharpness, feta adds salty twang, and the cheddar contributes to some epic cheese-pulls," explains Watkins. As a counterpoint, the garlic adds pungency, the spinach and artichoke bring a hint of vegetal bitterness, while crushed red pepper finishes things off with a touch of palate-cleansing heat.

The five cheeses in this recipe are Parmesan, Gruyere, feta, cheddar, and cream cheese. The other ingredients required are frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained), canned artichoke hearts, mayonnaise, sour cream, olive oil, garlic, yellow onion, and crushed red pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Lightly spritz a casserole dish with cooking spray.

Place the softened cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the garlic, onion, and crushed red pepper flakes and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the spinach and artichoke hearts to the skillet, stir to combine, and continue to saute for 2 minutes more.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sauteed veggies to the bowl with the cream cheese mixture.

Add the Parmesan, Gruyere, cheddar, and feta cheeses to the bowl and stir to combine.

Transfer the dip mixture to the prepared casserole dish, spreading out in an even layer.

Place the dip in the oven (place the casserole dish on a baking sheet to catch any drips) and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the dip is bubbly and brown.

Remove the dip from the oven and serve with crackers and crostini.

• Loaded Baked Potato Cheese Ball Recipe
• Pepperoni Pizza-Inspired Mozzarella Sticks Recipe
• 5-Ingredient Cowboy Caviar Recipe
• Classic 5-Ingredient Pico De Gallo Recipe

The suggested dippers here are hearty crackers and bready crostini, while toast points or pita triangles would also work well. Soft pretzels would be another option, as would thick-cut tortilla chips or ridged, kettle-cooked potato chips. With more delicate dippers, you run the risk of their breaking off in this thick, cheesy mix. For a dipper that's guaranteed to stand up and will also make your snack much more nutritious, your best bet might be crudites such as baby carrots, bell peppers, broccoli florets, and celery sticks.

If you have leftovers, there are several different ways to make use of them that don't require dipping. One idea is to mix it into mashed potatoes or pasta, although in the latter case you may need to add a little pasta water or white wine to thin it out. You could also use it to stuff chicken breasts before rolling and baking them. (A few toothpicks will help the chicken hold its shape and seal the cheesy filling inside.)

The reason why you absolutely must thaw and drain the spinach before cooking it is that spinach is super watery, and if you just dump it into the pan as-is, it will release a lot of liquid that will make the dip way too runny. An easy way to prepare this ingredient is to put the package in a bowl to catch any drips, then stick it in the fridge overnight. Once it has thawed, open the bag into a fine-mesh strainer that is sitting over a bowl. Press down on the spinach to get as much liquid out as possible. If you really want to make sure you've wrung out every last drop, you can also roll it inside a clean dishtowel.

If you'll be using fresh spinach instead of frozen (yes, this is permissible), you will need a pound and a half to start off with in order to have it cook down to the 10 ounces called for here. Saute it, then strain it as above. Straining will also be necessary if you opt for canned spinach, although this option isn't nearly as desirable, flavor-wise, as fresh or frozen greens.

• The Best Beer Cheese Pretzel Dip Recipe
• Spicy, Creamy Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe
• Sicilian-Style Stuffed Artichokes Recipe
• Warm Elote Corn Dip Recipe