This incredible
Cheesy Spinach Dip is best served chilled with cut up veggies, crackers or
pretzel bites. Perfect for parties and entertaining!
This post is sponsored by AE Dairy, but all opinions are my own.
Warm weather has finally arrived and that means fun dips and
appetizers for all of our outdoor parties and gatherings. This new cold dip
comes together in a flash and is perfect to serve alongside any main meal as a starter
or side.
I’ve partnered with AE
Dairy for this fun recipe – and as a Midwest girl through and through
– I knew it would be a great fit for my food blog, which has been delivering
Midwest comfort foods for close to 14 years.
AE Dairy, known as
“Iowa’s Favorite Milk, Yogurt and Cottage Cheese” brand has been in operation
for nearly a century. With just $15.000 in 1930 the original two investors
bought the necessary equipment, property and vehicles, at the beginning of the
Great Depression nonetheless, and immersed themselves in work and all things
dairy.
Today AE Dairy can be
found all across Iowa and parts of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Illinois and
Minnesota. Their traditions still holding strong.
Together we wanted to highlight cottage cheese. Have you
been following the cottage cheese scene as of late? People are creating ALL
MATTERS OF THINGS with cottage cheese.
Everything from whipped ice cream to “cottage cheese”
grazing boards. Really the possibilities are endless with this creamy and soft
natural protein.
Today we wanted to make a fun dip!
Years and years ago I used to make veggie dips with cottage
cheese. I like to think I was way ahead of any trends. This was well before
social media!
I used to put cottage cheese and a ranch seasoning packet
into a blender and call it a day. That was my veggie dip! Today my friends, I
made one even better and much more superior. I used AE Dairy’s Garden
Vegetable Cottage Cheese.
You read that correct! A fun flavored cottage cheese. This
one was originally created in the 1960’s and with the recipe revamped in 2005
it’s now even better. A fresh blend of bell peppers, carrots, onions, celery,
garlic and tomatoes rounds out this seasonal variety which tastes like a garden
party in your mouth.
Into a food processor I also added cream cheese, Parmesan
cheese, fresh garlic, salt and spinach. Together when pulsed together it makes
the most flavorful cold spinach dip.
I served this with a variety of dippers (always good to give
your crowd choices) – carrot and cucumber sticks, woven crackers and fun
pretzel bites. A little bit of something for everyone.
This dip is ideal for our busy Summer lives, it can easily
be prepped the day ahead, wrapped up and kept in the fridge until ready to eat.
Little prep, little fuss!
This Cheesy Spinach Dip has a smooth texture yet is robust
enough (lots of veggies!) to fill up bellies. My kids loved it as a dip and
guess what? I added a healthy spread of it on my turkey sandwich the next day
and WOWZA that was amazing too.
Who knew cottage cheese was so versatile?
I cannot wait to continue to share some fun AE Dairy products in the coming months.
It’s fun to work with quality dairy products!
