Cold spinach dip in a bread bowl is easy to make and absolutely delicious. This show-stopping appetizer is packed with flavor and ready in minutes. It is perfect for parties, potlucks, or other gatherings, and this recipe is certain to be a crowd-pleaser and receive rave reviews.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Quick and Simple: The recipe is quick and easy to prepare, with basic ingredients and minimal steps. It is the perfect appetizer for the busy holiday season, special occasions, or last-minute entertaining.
- Two Treats in One: You get to enjoy the best spinach dip you could imagine with the added bonus of a delicious bread bowl for dipping.
- Impressive Presentation: Serving the dip in a hollowed-out bread bowl makes it a visually appealing appetizer for parties, potlucks, or other gatherings.
- Make-Ahead Convenience: This cold dip can be prepared in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge until needed, allowing for easy snacking or party preparation.
Ingredients - Here's What You'll Need
- The Spinach Dip: For the spinach dip, I used light sour cream, mayonnaise, Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix, chopped spinach that had been drained and squeezed dry, and chopped water chestnuts. The most time-consuming part of this delicious appetizer was squeezing the spinach!
- The Bread Bowl: I used a round loaf of store-bought bread for the bread bowl.
Making the Cold Spinach Dip
Making the cold spinach dip was super easy.
- I added sour cream, mayonnaise, and vegetable recipe mix to a medium bowl. Then, I used my electric mixer to thoroughly combine these three ingredients. I could have also added the ingredients to the bowl of my food processor fitted with a steel blade.
- Next, I added the thawed, drained, and squeezed-dry chopped spinach and chopped water chestnuts.
- I used a silicone spatula to fold the spinach and water chestnuts into the creamy mixture.
- I covered the spinach dip with plastic wrap and refrigerated it for at least an hour to allow the vegetable recipe mix to soften and meld with the other ingredients. This awesome dip is even better the next day. That's it for the spinach dip!
Making the Bread Bowl
I used a store-bought round loaf of bread as a starting point for the bread bowl.
- First, I used my bread knife to cut the top off of the bread round.
- Then, I used a utility knife to cut around the interior of the bread, leaving about an inch from the outside.
- Using my hand, I scooped out the bread in the interior, leaving a hollowed-out bread round for this bread bowl recipe.
Finishing the Appetizer
At this point, my cold spinach dip was ready, and the bread bowl was ready to be filled.
Therefore, I spooned the cold spinach dip into the bread bowl.
I lined a wooden platter with kale for a decorative touch and placed the bread bowl in the center. Then, I placed some fresh veggies - baby carrots, celery sticks, grape tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, along with Ritz crackers around the bread bowl. Tortilla chips would have also been good!
If you're searching for a show-stopping but easy appetizer, this is it. This super easy-to-make cold spinach dip in a bread bowl is packed with flavor and ready in minutes. It's certain to be a crowd-pleaser. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
To make a lighter version of the spinach dip, you can substitute fat-free Greek Yogurt for the sour cream and mayonnaise. This substitution will still give the dip a creamy texture but reduce the fat content. You could also substitute cream cheese for the sour cream, and/or add some freshly grated parmesan cheese for added creaminess.
Crackers and fresh veggies are the classics, but you can be creative with tortilla chips, breadsticks, pita chips, or even pretzel bites.
Ranch Seasoning, Salad Dressing and Recipe Mix can be easily substituted for the vegetable recipe mix. While onion soup mix could also be substituted, your dip will have a stronger taste.
Water chestnuts add a nice crunch to the spinach dip but can be omitted. You could also substitute green onions for the water chestnuts.
While some recipes call for cooking the spinach, I've found that it's really unnecessary. Just make sure that the spinach is thoroughly thawed and squeezed dry to remove as much water as possible.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Store this amazing dip separately from the bread bowl to maintain freshness if prepared beforehand. If the dip is added too soon to the bread bowl, you'll end up with soggy bread.
- When hollowing out the bottom part of the loaf, leave a thick shell to maintain the structure and to hold the dip. Cut or tear the top slice and inside bread into bite-sized pieces for dipping.
- Choose a round loaf of bread that is soft and chewy inside but has a thick crust that can hold up well for the dip.
- Frozen chopped spinach contains a lot of water. The spinach should be well-drained and squeezed dry. Otherwise, the dip could become watery. I like to start squeezing out the water with my hands and finish by placing the spinach in doubled paper towels and squeezing even more.
- Once the dip has been added to the bread bowl, it can be covered and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 hours. The bread will start getting soggy immediately but will still be fine for a few hours.
Other Delicious Dip Recipes
Serving dips at parties, potlucks, and other gatherings is popular. Here are some of my favorites:
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Cold Spinach Dip in a Bread Bowl
Ingredients
- 16 ounce carton light sour cream
- 1 cup (8 ounces) mayonnaise
- 1.4 ounce package Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix (See Tip 1)
- 12 ounce package chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (See Tip 2)
- 8 ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
- 1 round loaf of bread
Instructions
- Beat together the sour cream, mayonnaise, and Knorr Vegetable Mix in a medium bowl until well combined.
- Add chopped spinach and water chestnuts; stir to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate the spinach dip for at least one hour to allow the Vegetable Mix to soften and become incorporated into the dip.
- Cut off the top of the bread round (See Tip 3)
- Using a knife, cut around the inside of the bread round, leaving about an inch border; hollow out the bread bowl.
- Transfer the spinach dip to the hollowed bread bowl. Serve with veggies, crackers, etc.
- Yield: 24 servings. (See Tip 4)
Tips/Notes
- May substitute Ranch Seasoning, Salad Dressing, and Recipe Mix.
- I started with a 12-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach. By the time I squeezed the water from the spinach, I had around 7 ounces of chopped spinach. It's important that you squeeze as much water from the spinach as possible to avoid a runny dip.
- If desired, but the top of the bread round into pieces and serve with the spinach dip.
- If stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, this dip should last for three days. Freezing spinach dip, however, is not recommended. The reason is that the sour cream does not retain its texture well after thawing, affecting the overall quality of the dip
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