This bacon spinach artichoke asiago dip is totally worth the mouthful it takes to say it! It’s loaded with flavor, contains NO MAYO, and is made with simple ingredients. Make this your holiday appetizer table’s centerpiece and you’ll have a lot of really happy guests!
Baked Spinach Bacon Artichoke Dip
Spinach dip is one of my favorite appetizers – ever. I make it every year, and every year I try and change it up a bit and just give it a little more YUUUUMMMM than the year before. This year – I have to say – I bested myself.
This spinach dip is loaded with spinach, artichoke hearts, parmesan, cream cheese, bacon, and asiago cheese. It’s over-the-top delicious, and I can’t wait for you to try it!
It’s also really really easy to make, and what makes it even better than your average dip? It’s baked in a great big bread bowl. It provides the perfect self-cleaning vehicle to bake this dip in, and ALSO the very best way EVER to consume it.
How to make spinach bacon artichoke dip in a bread bowl?
To start, fry up about 6 slices of thick-cut bacon.
Once it is nice and crispy, remove it from the pan, but reserve the bacon grease! You’re going to need it. Remove all the bacon grease into a heat-safe container except for about a tablespoon.
Let it get nice and hot over medium-high heat, and toss in your drained and quartered artichoke hearts.
Let those develop some color, flip them over, let that side get some color, and then remove from the pan and set aside. If you need a little more bacon grease, go ahead and add a bit.
Now you toss in a whole bag of baby spinach. The size you find with all the other bagged salads in the produce aisle. You can also use one box of frozen chopped spinach if you’d like, but make sure it’s thawed and squeezed if you go that route. That kind has a lot of excess water!
Saute the spinach until it’s all just barely wilted, and then remove it from your pan. Give both of them a rough chop and set aside.
Add in another couple tablespoons of bacon grease and then saute your garlic and add your cream. Let it simmer for a few minutes.
Once it’s cooked down a bit, add in the softened cream cheese, parmesan, and asiago. Stir it well until it’s incorporated into the sauce.
Now add in the spinach, artichokes, and half the bacon.
Give it a good stir, remove from the heat and set it aside.
Now hollow out that bread bowl! Try and keep the pieces semi-large. A good bread knife can help you get the initial piece out so you can chunk it up.
Put all that awesome dip into the bread bowl you’ve just created, and stick it into a preheated 300-degree oven.
Bake it for about 25 minutes, and you are done! Pull it out, put the pieces of bread in a vicinity that is semi-near it, and watch it disappear.
Bacon Spinach Artichoke Asiago Dip
This is the ultimate party dip full of artichokes, spinach, and bacon. Serve up in a big bread bowl and let your family go nuts!
Ingredients
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon
- 1 - 14 ounce can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
- 1 - 6 ounce bag baby spinach
- 2 1/2 teaspoons garlic, finely minced
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 - 8 ounce brick cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1 cup shredded asiago, divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300.
- Dice up the bacon and fry it over medium heat until it is crispy, and then remove from the pan to a paper towel to drain, reserving the grease.
- Put a couple tablespoons of grease back into the pan and saute the artichoke hearts until lightly browned, or about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the pan, add in a little additional grease if necessary, and saute spinach until wilted. Remove from pan and set aside. Give the spinach and artichoke hearts a rough chop.
- Add in another tablespoon or so of bacon grease (its flavor! I promise! Relax!) to the pan and saute your garlic paste (or fresh garlic) for about 30 seconds. Add in cream and let simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add in the softened cream cheese, parmesan, and half the asiago. Stir well until its all melted and combined, and remove from heat. Mix in the
- Take your King's Hawaiian Sweet Round Bread and cut a large hole in the middle pull it out and then tear chunks out of the interior to form a bread bowl. Reserve bread chunks for dipping later.
- Put the prepared dip into the bread bowl. Place the bowl (keep it inside its metal baking pan that it comes in!) onto a large baking sheet and place on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
- Remove, and serve on a platter surrounded by all the bread chunks you reserved from the making of the bread bowl.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 328Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 89mgSodium: 372mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 10g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate. If you are tracking these things for medical purposes please consult an outside, trusted source. Thanks!
MeyerFoodBlog.com
Sunday 4th of March 2018
well you definitely are amazing :) I'm 100% coming backhere for more!
Teri Giese
Tuesday 22nd of December 2015
Amazing, is all that can be said of your dip! Maybe cuz have had my paws in so much chocolate and sweet stuff, the gooey cheesy,savory,crusty bread, looks oh sooo inviting! Thanks for the recipe! Pinned, printed. Happy Holidays and a very Blessed, Prosperous, New Year!
Nicole Johnson
Tuesday 22nd of December 2015
Thanks, Teri! I think you're going to LOVE it!