Artichoke Spinach Dip

I buy all of my ingredients for this recipe from Trader Joe’s except for the mayo. The great thing about this dip recipe is that you can add ingredients or use less of something that’s called for. The original recipe called for a can of roasted red peppers, drained and chopped. I’m not a fan of red peppers, so I left it out. If you don’t like artichoke much, you could use one can instead of two. This is a dip, I’ll dare to say that it’s mostly fail proof, so if there’s an ingredient you don’t love, go ahead and experiment!

Spinach: I use a 12 oz bag of baby spinach from Trader Joe’s. I’ve seen recipes that use a bag of frozen chopped spinach. You could use that as a substitute if you wanted, but I always would use fresh when possible. If you don’t like as much spinach you can use less, but it's an easy way to make this dip a bit healthier.

Artichoke Hearts: You’ll want to drain and chop the artichoke hearts well. If you’re not handy with a knife, you can always use a kitchen food scissor to help you. I wouldn’t suggest using a food processor or blender, unless you want the dip to not be chunky at all. I personally prefer it with a little texture, but if you want a completely smooth dip, you could throw this all in a food processor, like when you make hummus.

Parmesan Cheese: I use a 12 oz bag of freshly shredded parmesan cheese. This is mainly where the calories and fat are coming from in this recipe, so if you were looking to make it healthier, you could use less than a full bag. I think this is the best part, so I wouldn’t suggest it, but you’re more than welcome to cut back on this one a bit if you choose to.

Mayo: I personally use light or fat free mayo for this recipe, but you could use regular mayo if you prefer (but you'll be adding tons of extra calories and fat!). I don’t think anyone can tell the difference, and it’s unnecessary fat and calories when the light stuff works just as well.

Garlic: I don’t know about you, but I LOVE garlic… but I hate chopping it because the smell lingers on my hands for days! Trader Joe’s sells a small can of chopped garlic that eliminates this problem for me. I keep it on hand and toss in a teaspoon whenever I want to cook with garlic. It’s an extremely useful ingredient to keep on hand for any garlic lover out there. I used 2 teaspoons of this in the recipe, though you could use freshly crushed garlic that you’ve made yourself.

I’d love to know what you think of this recipe. If you like the recipe, please share it on social media or Pinterest so that others can try it too!