This hot spinach artichoke dip is pure comfort food. Sign me up. This dip recipe comes together in under 20 minutes with basic ingredients: spinach, artichoke, cream cheese, sour cream, plus green onions and poblano pepper or bell pepper.
We’ll cook the green onions until they’re a little golden and frazzled around the edges, which is an easy way to yield tons of flavor. I’m obsessed with using lightly spicy, tender poblanos in this recipe (a great twist on standard spinach artichoke dip) but you can use a red bell pepper for a mild dip (also delicious!).
The end result is not the most beautiful dip in the world, but it’s definitely amongst the most tasty. It’s creamy and indulgent, yet tastes fresh and full of flavor. This dip is fully loaded with veggies and greens, so it’s actually more redeeming than you might think.
I hope you’ll whip together this spinach artichoke dip on the holidays, or for movie nights, or just any time you get a hankering for it. I’m daydreaming about serving this dip at parties next year!
How to Make Spinach Artichoke Dip
This easy dip recipe comes together quickly on the stovetop. You’ll find the full recipe below, but here’s the gist:
1) Thaw frozen spinach.
I recommend using frozen spinach, rather than fresh, because it’s less expensive, easier to work with and honestly, it even tastes better in the end. We’ll use half of a 16-ounce bag for this recipe, so you can just save the rest for a future dip. To thaw the spinach, just place it in a fine mesh sieve or colander and run cool water over it until all of the ice is gone. Then, squeeze all of the excess water out of the spinach (this is key!) and set it aside.
2) Cook green onions and poblano (or bell pepper).
Next, we’ll sauté green onions and chopped pepper in olive oil with some salt and red pepper flakes (optional, for some heat). We’ll cook them longer than you think is necessary, until the green onions are golden and extra delicious.
3) Add cream cheese, sour cream and chopped artichoke.
You can use canned artichoke in water or jarred marinated artichoke. Whether the artichokes are halved or quartered, just chop them into smaller pieces and drain them well before using.
Simply stir the cream cheese, sour cream and artichoke into the skillet. Cook until the mixture is warmed through and steaming, which will only take a few minutes. Lastly, season with salt and pepper so the flavors really speak to you.
4) Serve warm.
You’ll find dipping vehicles below. Enjoy!
Spinach Artichoke Dip Serving Suggestions
This dip isn’t complete without one or more of the following:
- Tortilla chips
- Toasted pita wedges or pita chips
- Crostini
- Fresh bell pepper strips
- Carrot sticks
- Celery sticks
More Party Dips to Enjoy
- Baked Goat Cheese with Tomato Sauce
- The Best Hummus
- Guacamole
- Pimento Cheese
- Spicy Red Pepper & Feta Dip
For a baked version of this creamy dip, make my Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip. It features irresistible, golden cheese on top!
Please let me know how this recipe turns out for you. I love hearing from you.
Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Author:
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2 cups 1x
- Category: Dip
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
This hot and creamy spinach artichoke dip is the ULTIMATE comfort food! This super delicious recipe is easy to make with basic ingredients. Recipe as written yields 2 cups (enough for 4 to 6 snack servings). This recipe is easily doubled for a crowd (cook it in a medium skillet).
Ingredients
- 8 ounces (about 1 cup) frozen spinach
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped green onions (3 to 4 green onions), both green and white parts
- 1 chopped poblano pepper (for some spice) or red bell pepper (for mild flavor)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (scale down or omit for mild flavor)
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt, to taste
- 8 ounces cream cheese, sliced into 4 even pieces
- ½ cup (4 ounces) sour cream
- ½ cup (4 ounces) chopped artichoke, canned or marinated
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Serving suggestions: Tortilla chips, toasted pita wedges or pita chips, crostini, strips of bell pepper, carrot or celery sticks…
Instructions
- To thaw the frozen spinach, place it in a fine mesh sieve and run cool water over it until the ice is all gone. Squeeze out all of the excess moisture in a tea towel or in fistfuls over the sink. Set aside.
- In a small-to-medium skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil until shimmering. Add the green onions, poblano pepper, red pepper flakes (if using) and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the green onions are frazzled and lightly golden around the edges and the peppers are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the drained spinach, cream cheese, sour cream, drained artichoke, and several twists of black pepper. While stirring constantly, cook until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed together, warmed through and lightly steaming, about 2 to 4 minutes. Season with additional salt and pepper, to taste (careful, the dip is hot!).
- Serve warm with any desired accompaniments. Leftover dip will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days. Gently reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop before serving.
Notes
Make it dairy free/vegan: Use 1 ½ cups vegan sour cream in place of the cream cheese and regular sour cream combo (my vegan sour cream recipe as written yields just 1 cup, so double it and save the leftovers for garnishing your upcoming meals).
Slow cooker option: This dip is so good because the green onions are cooked until frazzled, so you really want to cook through step 2 on the stovetop as written. Then, however, you can stir in the ingredients as written in step 3. Once warmed through, transfer the mixture to a small slow cooker to keep the mixture warm (use the low or keep warm setting, as needed).
Vegetable enthusiast. Dog lover. I'm probably making a big mess in my Kansas City kitchen right now. 
Jill
Would this recipe also work with vegan cream cheese and vegan sour cream?
Kate
Hi! Yes, see my vegan note below the instructions.
Suzanne
This looks so fantastic — especially on a snow day. Can’t wait to make it!
Kate
I hope you love it! be sure to report back.
Marie
I have made this recipe but instead of the poblanos I used chili garlic sauce also 1/2 the cream cheese and monterey Jack cheese, OMG it soooo goooda!!!!
thanks for the share
Marie
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing! I’m delighted you loved it, Marie.
Marta
Do you think this would be good if you substituted vegan cream cheese?
Kate
Hi Marta! Yes, see my notes about a vegan alternative below the instructions.
Samantha
I made something like this for (small bubble) Friendsgiving, as a friendly appetizer. Puff pastry in muffin tin, spinach dip in each one, that way everyone gets their own.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you loved it! Thank you for taking the time to review.
Claudia
This is so delicious! Served it with fresh lightly toasted Turkish bread. It is a wonderful starter with a glass of wine. My partner who is normally no fan of artichoke could not stop dipping. Will repeat for sure. Might be also a very tasteful topping for baked oven potato. Thank you for your recipe and happy holiday greetings from Amsterdam
★★★★★
Kate
Thank you so much, Claudia! Love your potato topping idea—that sounds fantastic!
Aly
Could this be made in a regular pan instead of a skillet then just transferred to a bowl for serving? Or is the skillet imperative?
PS- Thank you for your amazing recipes. Everything I have tried including chickpea noodle soup, pumpkin muffins, maple banana muffins, pasta fagioli, minestrone, mashed sweet potatoes and mashed regular potatoes have been exceptional! I find myself always searching for something new as I know it will be beautiful and delicious. Happy holidays!
Kate
Hey Aly! You could cook this in a saucepan, yes! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed that long list of recipes. Thank you very much for letting me know!
Gabby
BEST ARTICHOKE DIP EVER! I absolutely love the addition of bell peppers and red chili flakes. It sets it off! Thank you for this incredible recipe. It barely lasted the first day of having it.
★★★★★
Kate
I’m glad you think so, Gabby! I appreciate you taking the time to review.
Mel
This looks delicious! Do you think adding chopped water chestnuts would be doable for this recipe?
Kate
I guess you could try it!
Bridget McLaughlin
Sounds amazing. I have all of the ingredients on hand except sour cream. Do you think I could sub greek yogurt for sour cream?
Kate
Hi! You could try it. Let me know.
Kathleen Ralf
This turned out great! Used a Jalepeño instead of a poblano.
★★★★
Kate
Sounds delicious, Kathleen!
Katie
SO GOOD and EASY! Made this for me and my husband for a Christmas appetizer lunch. Used a 10 oz brick of spinach, a red bell pepper, 1/4 tsp pep flakes and stirred in about 1 tsp of Trader Joe’s Chili Onion Crunch when the dip was finished. Served with fresh bread and tortilla chips. Reminds me a lot of the spin art dips you’ll get at American-style chain restaurants (TGIFriday’s, Applebee’s, etc.) only much tastier and less greasy!
Thanks Kate — your site is one of the very few I turn to for consistent results.
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful to hear! Thank you for sharing how you made it, Katie.
Beth
Kate, we love all your recipes and you are our go to for anything we make now. We made this and loved how creamy it was. We added more artichoke (used frozen) and love garlic so we added this. Served with crusty bread, yummy!
★★★★
Kate
Thank you for sharing how you made this dip, Beth! I appreciate your review.
Shirley
Made this for Christmas day snacks and it was great! I also enjoyed the leftovers cold.
★★★★★
SusanLynn
I’m definitely going to make this! Thank you for sharing your yummy recipes.
Marda
I am in love with this dip. I needed something fun to make for new year’s eve so naturally I came to Cookie & Kate for ideas. Can I just say this dip was A HUGE HIT! Making it was super simple as well; it is deliciously creamy and absolutely divine spread on a fresh piece of french baguette.
Will be adding this to my lists of make-again recipes!
★★★★★
Kate
Wonderful! Thank you, Marda, and so happy to hear that Cookie and Kate is your go-to. Happy New Year!
Kate
Hi Kate – just wondering for the vegan version why you recommend subbing the cream cheese and sour cream for just vegan sour cream? If i can find vegan cream cheese can i sub that instead?
Thanks! Love you blog!
Kate
Hi Kate! See my vegan/dairy free option in the notes. Let me know what you think.