Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip (in a Bread Bowl!)

This is my favorite way to make spinach artichoke dip – hot, cheesy and baked right into a crispy bread bowl! Perfect for holiday parties, as a game day snack for football or anytime you need an easy but impressive appetizer.

There’s nothing like a hot, cheesy dip to serve as an appetizer for a special occasion. Be it football or the Oscars, I firmly believe you can never go wrong with a Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

Bonus points: My kids LOVE the toasted bread I make from the bread I remove from the loaf for the bowl, and I always serve it with celery and cucumber slices, too. A great finger food!

Ingredient notes

Bread: Something like a country loaf or round French bread is perfect. You can also make my no knead bread for this!

Spinach: You can also use a 12-oz bag of fresh spinach. Sauté the fresh spinach on its own until wilted, then chop and proceed as you would with frozen.

Cheese: If you’d rather use a different cheese mix than me, feel free to substitute your favorites. I do, however, recommend using one kind that’s very melty (mozzarella for me) and one kind to add flavor (Parmesan is what I usually use).

Sour cream: Feel free to skip, I use it to add some extra flavor, and to make a creamier dip. Without the sour cream, the mozzarella is very melty/stringy. If you prefer it stringy with lots of cheese pulls, don’t add the sour cream.

Cooking tips

Don’t skip seasoning/toasting the bread before adding the dip. It helps to keep the bowl from getting soggy too fast. Also, that seasoned and toasted bread is SO good!

Make sure you chop the spinach and artichoke hearts well, but don’t mince them. You want the dip to be scoop-able as an appetizer without huge chunks in it, but you don’t want everything to disintegrate either. About ¼ inch pieces or just a bit smaller for the artichoke hearts is what I do.

Baking dish and crockpot instructions

To bake in a baking dish: If you want to make the dip in a baking dish instead of a bread bowl, just skip the instructions for the bread. Spread the dip in a 7×11 inch casserole dish, sprinkle with cheese and bake as directed.

To make in the crockpot: Combine all ingredients for the dip in a small (around 3 quart) crockpot and heat on high setting until bubbly around the edges, around 1.5 hours. Stir well, then top with shredded cheese and cook on low setting for 15 minutes. Serve straight from the crock, or transfer to a bread bowl before sprinkling with cheese and bake as directed in the recipe above.

Can you make the dip ahead?

I’m a huge stickler about food safety, and it is not recommended to reheat spinach. I do not recommend making this dip ahead.

Serving ideas

Like I said earlier, I love serving some veggie sticks with this particular dip. They work really well, and are nice and refreshing against the creaminess and cheesiness. I think celery and carrot work very well, but so does cucumber.

If you’re making the dip in a bread bowl, obviously the toasted bread is super tasty to serve with it. If you’re making it in the crockpot or in a baking dish, toasted French bread is delicious! So are breadsticks, bagel chips or even pita wedges!

I’ve had people dip meatballs in there… I guess if you’re serving multiple appetizers, be prepared for some crossovers 😉

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Printable recipe

More appetizers to try