Creamy Stovetop Spinach Dip
This Stove Top Spinach Dip recipe is a reader favorite since 2009. One of my brothers inspired this stovetop version and ever since, hot spinach dip has never been the same for us. It is so good!
Stove Top Spinach Dip Recipe
I’m admitting that I have an eating issue when it comes to anything warm, rich, cheesy and gooey. Add a bold red glass of wine and a crusty baguette, I’ll inhale a big bowl of any cheese dip that was accidentally left in front of me.
It’s not often that I make my appetizer dips outside of the oven. The slow, warm love that the oven lathers on to my cheese dip is amazing and there’s no substitution to how well the oven melts everything together.
But when my brother #2, who also happens to be my #1 dip fan, made one of my appetizer dips on the stove top, I screamed out loud in dip mutiny. How could he rip apart my recipe and cook it in 10 minutes in a FRYING PAN?! I’ve always nurtured all my dips in the oven for about one hour and patiently waited out the long bake time. The results for my dip recipes were always so wonderful that I never, ever considered changing my cooking technique. Why mess with perfection?
“It’s good, try it,” he told me. Brother #2 has always been a quiet, gentle guy of few words. So when he made the effort to share his ideas, it was powerful enough to convince me to pull out my cast iron pan, think out side of the oven and give my warm spinach dip a try via the stove top.
Quick and Easy Spinach Dip in 10 Minutes
Lo and behold, he was right on the money. I made my spinach dip in a frying pan and within 10 minutes I had a rich, cheesy, beautifully melted and flavored dip that rivaled the 60 long minutes of oven cooking. I couldn’t believe how fast, and well combined all the ingredients came together in the frying pan. The flavors of this spinach dip were actually BETTER in this stove top method because I was able to caramelize the onions and garlic until they became fragrant. The oven version never had that same caramelized epiphany.
I’m completely hooked to my brothers fast technique on this spinach dip and am thankful for his bachelor style cooking methods. But I blame him for making me eat this spinach dip more often because it’s so EASY! Thanks Bro!
– Diane
Stove-top Spinach Dip
Ingredients
- 10 oz. (284 g) package frozen chopped spinach , thawed & squeezed dry of excess water
- 8 oz. (227 g) canned water chestnuts , drained & chopped
- 8 oz. (227 g) cream cheese
- 1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons (22 ml) grapeseed or olive oil
- 1 medium onion , minced
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk
- 1/4 cup (56 g) mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
- lots of fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- crusty bread or crackers
Instructions
- Over medium heat, heat oil in large saucepan. Then add onions and garlic. Saute until fragrant and light golden brown.
- Add spinach and water chestnuts and continue to saute for a minute or two or until the spinach and chestnuts are heated through. Add salt and pepper
- Add milk, cream cheese, grated Parmesan cheese and mayo. When cheese melts, turn down heat to low.
- Continue stirring and allow dip to simmer until cheese and rest of ingredients are blended well together. Add additional salt/pepper to personal taste.Serve warm with bread and/or crackers.
Nutrition
More Easy Dip Recipes:
- kiwi margarita pairs great with this dip
- try our stove top crab dip
- creamy avocado dip
This is a wonderful recipe. I totally agree with the saute pan method and maybe a vidalia onion. I love anything warm and cheesy especially where artisan bresd comes in. The possibilites abound. anyway thanks for a great job. I can see the passion in it.
this was great! perfect for a cold rainy day. i’m going to make stuffed mushrooms with the leftovers 🙂
Kim – I too had the same recipe and was looking tonight and also found I had lost my printed copy…here’s one I found on the net…looks very similar to the original I remember:
Spinach Artichoke Dip*
Serves 6
* 1½ packages frozen, chopped spinach
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 14 oz jar artichoke hearts, chopped
* 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
* 1½ teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon white pepper
* ½ teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
* ½ cup whipping cream
* 1 heaping cup grated Baby Swiss cheese
* 1 heaping cup Monterey Jack cheese
* Tortilla chips
Thaw spinach in refrigerator or in microwave. Cook in microwave on high for 5 minutes. Drain, pressing out excess water. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic and artichoke hearts. Add salt, pepper and Tabasco Sauce, stir well. Reduce heat to low and add spinach. Add cream and all but 1/4 cup of each cheese. Stir until mixed and heated through. Pour into serving dish; put the rest of the cheese over the top. Place in hot oven or microwave until cheese is melted. Serve with tortilla chips.
*Adapted from recipe attributed to Mason Jar Restaurant in Houston, Texas.
I had a similar recipe from a Houston restaurant called the Mason Jar, but it called for shredded Swiss cheese and Monterrey Jack cheese. It also had light cream, but no cream cheese. I cannot find my recipe, which I cut from the Houston
Chronicle a long time ago. Can anyone help me out?
I took this to a Halloween party this weekend and everyone loved it! It will definitely be my go-to dip from now on.
The pictures on your site are beautiful and delicious looking. Thank you for sharing
I love spinach dip and yours looks really good. Wish I would’ve seen this recipe before the superbowl.
OK, I recently had warm spinach dip for the first time and was an instant convert. Now I can make it myself…Thank you thank you!
Any tips on making ahead and reheating??
Aimee- You can definitely make this ahead of time and re-heat it in the oven or microwave! Either way, the dip still tastes wonderful .
its not right to read such a post while stuck in a hotel in Toluca Mexico without a stove and my cast iron pan in shipment somewhere between Michigan and here…I so love spinach dip
Oh, this looks so good – and I’m with you on the eating disorder that involves cheesy goodness and crusty bread!