A healthy (21 Day Fix Approved!) version of the classic Spinach and Artichoke dip, still loaded with cheese and served with crispy chips and sweet bell peppers? Yes, please!!
When I talk to people about the 21 Day Fix, here is a question I’m often asked: “What do you eat for snacks? Can you have something other than fruit and nuts?” Yes! Fruit and nuts are great and all, but seriously, there are more ways than one to enjoy your 21 day fix and I’m always on the hunt for them!
Since I’m all about fixifying my family’s favorites, I’ll often flip through one of my recipe binders for a new idea. When I came across this one, I knew that I could give it a delicious overhaul and it could be something that I could eat EVERY DAY if I wanted to, instead of just every once in a blue moon, made with full-fat cream cheese and served with deep fried tortilla chips and a side of guilt at, say… Applebees. Curious to know the stats on a serving at Applebees? I thought so. Drumroll, please! …A whopping 980 calories and 60 grams of fat! Ugh. Now to be fair, it’s a decent size that you’ll probably share with a friend. In that case, it’s still 490 calories and 30 grams of fat. That’s a lot of fat, people, and not the good kind.
So here is my “fixified” version of Spinach and Artichoke Dip, served with pita chips and sweet bell peppers and not to toot my own horn but it’s pretty fantastic. The main component to this dip (well, besides the obvious) is cottage cheese. That’s right, lowly, unassuming cottage cheese. Lowly no more! Around here, cottage cheese is held in high esteem and here’s my not-so-secret-anymore reason why: when you blend the crap out of it, it makes a pretty awesome cream cheese swap! I can’t make this stuff up, folks.
The other GREAT thing about this recipe is that you can fully assemble it the night before – or even days before (like on your prep day, if you’re into that. You should be. Prep day is where it’s at.) So go ahead, make a few at a time, but be sure to make an extra or two. I’ve found that if anyone in my family sees me eating this, they want some for themselves and mama’s not sharing. Sorry, my lovelies!
21 Day Fix Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
For the dip:
- 5 Tbs blended low-fat cottage cheese
- 1 Tbs plain fat-free or 1% greek yogurt (or an extra Tbs cottage cheese)
- 1/4 cup frozen, thawed chopped spinach, squeezed dry in a kitchen towel
- 1/4 cup chopped artichoke hearts in water, drained
- 1 Tbs grated pecorino-romano or parmesan cheese
- 2 1/2 Tbs shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- salt, pepper and garlic powder, to taste
For the pita chips:
- 1 half of a whole wheat pita, cut into 4 triangles, then because of the pocket, they can be separated to make 8
- Cooking spray
- salt and garlic powder, to lightly season
Sweet bell peppers:
- 1/2 cup red, yellow or orange bell peppers, sliced thick for dipping
Instructions
Make the dip:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the blended cottage cheese (be sure to blend, blend, blend until completely smooth!), greek yogurt, spinach, chopped artichoke hearts, pecorino and 2 tablespoons of the shredded mozzarella. Season with the black pepper and garlic powder. Taste. Add a pinch of salt if it needs it, depending on the cheese that you use it might not.
- Put in an oven-safe 6 - 8 ounce ramekin, top with the remaining mozzarella cheese (if making ahead, cover and refrigerate at this point,) place on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese on top has melted. If you've made this ahead, it'll take approximately 30 minutes in the oven.
For the pita chips:
- Place triangles on a baking sheet and spray both sides lightly with cooking spray. Season both sides with as much garlic powder as you'd like and a little bit of salt. Place in the oven with the dip when there is about 10 minutes left. Bake about 8-10 minutes, flipping once in the middle of baking time.
- Serve the dip with the pita chips and bell peppers, yum!
Notes
21 Day Fix Container Equivalents: 1/2 RED, 1 GREEN, 1/2 BLUE, AND 1/2 YELLOW
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: entire recipeAmount Per Serving: Calories: 240 Total Fat: 7.44g
This was absolutely amazing! Made it for game day today and the whole family, kids included devoured it.
That’s so awesome, Tamara! My kids love it too! (That’s always when I know I’ve done something right, they’re so tough!)
Do you have a cookbook? If you do, I definitely would buy it!
Thanks, Joanne! I’m working on one, but it’s a real labor of love and is taking me a while!
Oh my goodness, Stephanie, this is FANTASTIC!!! Who knew that blended cottage cheese could be so good?! I have a feeling I will be swapping that with cream cheese and yogurt in lots of dishes!
I feel like I’m being so “bad” eating this, but I’m not!! Delicious by the spoon…. and on bell peppers and carrots. I’m going to leave the pita chips out of it and save my carbs for meals.
Thank you for making snack time so much more satisfying!!!!!
Miss Suzy, thank you for putting a big goofy grin on my face! I agree, it totally feels like a cheat! I often leave the pita chips out too, just for that reason. I’m so glad you love it – I’m actually working on something right now using it 🙂 Stay tuned! XO
I’m blown away by the ideas you have for cottage cheese. I rather enjoy it all on it’s own, but it never crossed my mind to blend it into dressings and dips like this. The ranch dip brought me here, and then since the recipes use so little, I thought I’d keep looking around for more ideas to use the container. I have blended it with eggs before to make a scrambled egg dish that is really tasty, but you are a genius!
Thank you so much, Theresa! You seriously made my day! Cottage cheese is such a super hero ingredient, I love finding new ways to use it 🙂 I’ve never tried it blended with eggs though, can’t wait!
Is there something else it can be baked in if I don’t have an 8 ounce ramekin? Also, can I just take my raw spinach, cook it, and use that? I don’t normally buy frozen spinach but I have tons of fresh spinach on hand. Thank you!
Hi Portia! Since this is a single serving, if you wanted to bake it in something larger, I’m sure you could, you’d just have to make more than one serving at once. You could definitely use fresh spinach, just take care to get out all of the excess water after cooking. Enjoy! 🙂
Wow, everything you make looks amazing. I’ve never been so inspired by someone’s healthy recipes! Can’t wait to make literally everything on here – thank you!!!!
That’s about the nicest thing ever! Thank you so much, Molly!! <3<3
Mine came out really watery 🙁 not sure what I did wrong !
Oh no! My only thought is that maybe you didn’t get all of the water out of the spinach after you thawed it?
Holy flipping chicken!! This recipe just came out of the oven 3 minutes ago and it is fantastic!!!! Thanks for sharing this!!! I will make this again and again and again!!
Yay! Glad you liked it, Jasmin. I’m planning on prepping some this Sunday for next week 🙂
So I have like 10,000 pins. I cook for my family ALL the time. I have made my fair share of delicious Pinterest found dishes…AND I make a pretty killer spinach and artichoke dip for family functions (full of mayo, sour cream, and cream cheese). I have NEVER posted a comment before no matter how delicious the recipe I made was. I am just wrapping up my first 21 day fix set and I made this to go with my dinner tonight and I just HAD to post. To be honest…I wasn’t expecting much. But OH. MY. GOODNESS. This was amazing and I am already picturing something I can bring to parties that I can eat without guilt as well as turning this into a chicken and pasta dish that I can eat for days! Thanks for an amazing recipe that feels SOOOO sinful but keeps me on track for the next 21 days!! I can’t wait to try the rest of your recipes! God Bless!
Thank you so much, Katy! I totally did a little happy dance after reading your comment, you made my day! Btw, I LOVE your idea to use the spinach and artichoke dip in a pasta dish, I’m so doing that 🙂 Good luck on your second round!