Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Here’s one of my favorite dips besides pico de gallo and guacamole. I get it all the time at Applebees in their 2 for $20 menu and I think it’s about time I take a stab at making it at home. And it turned out great! So so very yummy. It was one of the few times I was shooting pics while snacking cause I just couldn’t resist!

The great thing about cooking it in the slow cooker is you can serve it at potlucks and keep it on the warm setting. Just make sure to get the small portable-type slow cookers and not the big honking 6 quart ones.

It’s super rich and creamy and full of cheeses to compliment the spinach and artichoke. Serve them with bread, chips or crackers and everyone will love you at that potluck! And it really doesn’t take a lot of prep time. So let’s get started.

I used a standard 3 quart crock pot and it was just the right size. This should serve about 8-10 people depending on how many ambitious dippers you have in your crowd.

You’ll want to spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray before starting just in case. I was a little apprehensive about slow cooking cheese on a high setting since I’ve had stuff curdle before but it worked out okay. I guess I can attribute that to the short cooking time.

You can use fresh or frozen chopped spinach. I chose to go with frozen to minimize the bulk that comes with fresh spinach leaves. If you do use frozen, make sure to squeeze out any excess water in a colander so the dip isn’t watered down. You can sub Asiago cheese for mozzarella if you want. I’ve also seen recipes that use feta cheese instead of mozzarella so pick your favorites.

There’s a little bit of dicing needed for the artichoke hearts, onion and garlic, but that’s about it. The last thing you’ll need your knife for is cubing the cream cheese and then it’s onto the mixing. Mix everything in a large bowl. Everything! Take everything and just mix, mix, mix! This is about as easy as it gets for instructions for a recipe. Just make sure you mix well so everyone gets a fair share of the full flavor.

Then you transfer all of it to the slow cooker and start cooking it on high for 2 hours. At this point, you can go watch tv, clean up the kitchen, cook something else…just don’t peek! I read somewhere that each time you lift the lid you lose about 20 minutes cooking time! So just let it be and around the 1 hour mark, the kitchen will start smelling really good.

If the dip is too thick for your liking, add some warm milk or heavy cream in small increments and stir until it’s the way you like it. And that’s all there is to it!

Slice up your baguettes, prep your appetizer platter and you’re ready to serve!

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