Classic Knorr Spinach Dip In A Bread Bowl

Knorr spinach dip is a classic appetizer or party snack that goes back to the 1970s. It’s easy to make and so delicious!

Video: Making Spinach Dip

Ingredients and Substitutions

To make this spinach dip recipe, there’s five main ingredients. You need:

• Frozen spinach
• Mayonnaise
• Sour cream
• Water chestnuts
• Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix

Need to make substitutions? Cottage cheese can be used for the mayonnaise. Greek yogurt can be used instead of sour cream. Just sour cream and no mayonnaise is fine too. The mayo just gives a nice bit of tang.

For the water chestnuts, you’ll be chopping them up before adding them. You can leave out entirely, if you want, but they give a nice subtle crunch, no real flavor. Honestly, if I didn’t know they were in there, I would think they were something else (crunchy cucumber bits, perhaps).

If you don’t want to use the spinach, I’d just leave it out. It’s not really spinach dip at that point, but it will be a tasty, creamy dip still! The recipe calls for frozen spinach that you thaw and then squeeze out. But:

Can I Use Fresh Spinach?

Yes, you can use fresh spinach, but it will add an extra step. Cook one pound of fresh spinach leaves however you’d like. I heated a few tablespoons of water in a big pan, piled in the spinach leaves, wilted them, let them cool, and then squeeze out the excess moisture in a sieve sets over a bowl.

If you want to use uncooked fresh spinach, you can do that too, it just has a different texture. What you’ll do is to very finely chop 2 cups of fresh spinach leaves. Then stir them right into the dip.

What is Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix? 

This handy seasoning package does a lot of the heavy lifting for this dip recipe. Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix has salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and various dried vegetables. If you’ve never encountered it before, don’t be shocked when you open it up and see those dried peas and carrots. That is totally correct. Once those veggies hit the dip ingredients, they hydrate and soften up to the point where you can no longer tell what they were.

The Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix is often found in the soup aisle of the grocery store.

Can’t find the Knorr vegetable mix? Lipton onion soup mix is great here and there’s a Knorr leek mix you can try too. You could also use our great homemade Ranch seasoning to get a lot of similar flavors, or buy some Hidden Valley Ranch powder.

How To Make A Bread Bowl

I love to serve this dip in a bread bowl. It makes for a great presentation and fresh bakery bread is delicious. You’ll want a round loaf of bread, ideally with a nice thick crust. I use pumpernickel for mine, but sourdough bread could work as well.

To turn the loaf into a bread bowl, use a bread knife to cut off the top of the bread. Then cut down into the bread with your knife at a diagonal, and go all the way around the crust edge. Make sure to leave a border around the edges and not cut through the crust. We need the dip to stay inside the bread bowl.

Use your hands to remove the soft interior of the bread. Cut the removed top and insides of the loaf into cubes to use for dipping.

Serving Spinach Dip

This dip is best if it has had at least 2 hours for the Knorr veggie mix to hydrate. Make the dip and cover it and refrigerate it for two hours. Do that before putting it into the bread bowl so that the bread doesn’t get soggy.

Having said that, you can serve the dip immediately, if needed. The veggies hydrate pretty quickly, just not quite as well as if the dip has time to soak in.

I like to serve with crudites (fresh cut veggies like carrot sticks, celery, cucumber rounds, and bell pepper slices) in addition to the bread cubes. You could also serve with crackers or pita chips.

Storing Leftover Dip

If you haven’t yet put the dip into the bread bowl, the dip can be refrigerated for 48 hours. Some liquid will start to leak out. Just stir it back in and you’re good to go.

Once the dip is in the bread bowl, it can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours. The bread starts getting soggy immediately, but is still fine after 2 hours. Keep the bread cubes for dipping in a plastic bag so that they stay fresh and don’t start to dry out.