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This creamy, rich gluten free spinach dip has tons of flavor and texture. There's no cooking involved. And with so many ways to serve it and tons of flavor variations, it's easy to customize it to your taste.
Why I love this recipe
- Like onion dip, spinach dip is a classic appetizer that everyone knows and loves.
- It's mostly naturally gluten free (but watch that gluten free onion soup mix to make sure it's safe—or better yet, make your own!) and doesn't call for any special ingredients.
- The creamy, rich texture of sour cream and a touch of mayo is perfectly balanced by all that nutritious spinach.
- There's no cooking involved. All you have to do is defrost the frozen spinach, and if you plan ahead, you can even let it defrost in the refrigerator overnight rather than in the microwave.
Recipe ingredients
- Spinach: The main ingredient, spinach adds flavor, texture, a subtle earthiness. I won't pretend that it makes the overall dish “healthy,” but this leafy green does have a lot of nutrients.
- Sour cream: Adds creamy tanginess and makes the dip smooth and rich.
- Mayonnaise: Adds richness and a bit of thickness to the sour cream which is much looser.
- Parmesan: Adds cheesy depth of flavor. We grate it finely so it doesn't really add much texture, just taste.
- Celery: For a little texture, finely minced celery also adds some flavor. This really is an optional ingredient.
- Worcestershire sauce: That umami flavor that adds depth to the dip
- Dry onion soup mix: With a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, minced dried onion, salt, a touch of sugar, and cornstarch, it adds the perfect balance of onion flavor and thickness without the trouble of mincing and cooking fresh onions. If you're using my homemade gluten free onion soup mix, I suggest leaving out the beef bouillon granules, which can distract from the flavor of the dip. If you're using a packed dry mix, make sure it's gluten free.
- Black pepper: Adds some spice and bite to the mixture.
How to make gluten free spinach dip
Prepare soup mix and spinach
- If you are making your own onion soup mix (be sure to omit the beef granules if you're using my recipe), assemble those dry ingredients first, and whisk to combine.
- Defrost the chopped spinach.
- Scatter the defrosted spinach toward the center of a tea towel, and roll up the towel to wrap the spinach tightly inside.
- Holding the rolled up towel with both hands over a bowl or the sink, twist the in opposite directions until little to no liquid remains.
Combine all ingredients
- In a large bowl, place the mayonnaise, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, onion soup mix ingredients, and black pepper. Whisk to combine.
- Add the (optional) minced celery, drained chopped spinach, and grated Parm.
- Using a mixing spoon or spatula, mix everything together until fully combined.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the minced onions to soften. Serve chilled.
Serving suggestions
I love to serve gluten free spinach dip in a gluten free bread bowl. The dip flavors the bread bowl as it sits. Score the edges of the bread bowl to make it easier to tear off pieces to use to scoop the dip.
Try using our recipe for gluten free artisan bread. Let the bread cool completely, then cut out the top, pull out as much of the fluffy inside as possible, and fill it with plenty of dip!
There are tons of other ways to enjoy this creamy dip, though. Here are some more suggestions:
- Hollow out some bell peppers and stuff them with the spinach dip
- Slice up carrots, celery, and other vegetables for dipping
- Set out a spread of gluten free crackers — try my gluten free ritz crackers or gluten free parmesan crackers
- Serve it with classic tortilla chips or corn chips like Fritos
- Serve it hot! Don't mix the grated Parmesan cheese on top. Instead, spread the prepared dip in an 8-inch square or round baking dish, sprinkle the Parmesan with 2 to 3 ounces of grated mozzarella cheese, and bake uncovered at 325°F for about 15 minutes or until bubbly.
Substitutions
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Spinach dip calls for plenty of sour cream. If you're avoiding dairy, and you can find a dairy free sour cream brand that you like, try using that. I like Violife brand best. Mayonnaise is already dairy-free (even though it's creamy!). You can use a finely grated dairy-free Parmesan cheese, use 1/4 to 1/2 cup nutritional yeast instead (to taste), or just leave the ingredient out entirely.
Mayonnaise
If you need this to be egg-free and you have a favorite vegan mayo brand, use that. If you just hate mayonnaise (it happens!), you can replace it with 2 ounces whipped cream cheese or more sour cream.
Worcestershire sauce
Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce is gluten free in the U.S. If you don't have any on hand or just don't like it, you can leave it out entirely, replace it with an equal amount of gluten free soy sauce/tamari, half tamari plus half lemon juice, or a bit of gluten free oyster sauce. I would add that ingredient a tiny bit at a time and last, though, tasting as you go.
Celery
If you can't or don't have celery, you can replace it with a can of drained and diced canned water chestnuts (as many or as few as you like). Also try grated fresh carrots instead, or just leave out the celery without a replacement. It really is an optional ingredient for some texture.
Onion soup mix
If you're using my gluten free onion soup mix, please refer to that recipe for substitution suggestions.
Recipe tips
Expert tips
Make sure your onion soup mix is gluten free
Most prepared onion soup mixes contain gluten in one form or another (Knorr onion soup mixes have wheat-containing soy sauce and other questionable ingredients like yeast extract and caramel color). I use my homemade mix, without the beef bouillon granules as a personal choice.
Drain the spinach fully
Like zucchini, spinach is a vegetable that has a ton of natural moisture. To avoid a watery dip, place all of the defrosted spinach in the center of a tea towel (not a fluffy terry cloth towel; you want something with a flat weave). Roll it up tightly and wring it out until almost no moisture remains.
FAQs
Yes, spinach dip gets better as it sits in the refrigerator for at least an hour, and even better after a full day, this is a great make-ahead option. After about 3 days, the flavors may become too intense, though.
Yes! One cup of cooked fresh spinach equals about 5 ounces of frozen spinach (before wringing out the moisture). This recipe calls for 12 ounces of frozen chopped spinach, so you'd need about 2 1/2 cups cooked fresh spinach for this recipe. After it's cooked, chop the spinach leaves roughly, and then wring out the moisture and proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.
No! The Knorr vegetable recipe mix that everyone (including my family when I was young!) loves to use for spinach dip is not gluten free. It contains soy sauce made from wheat, and yeast extract, which is usually made from brewer's yeast, which is not gluten free. Be careful, though, since the label only says “may contain milk,” but wheat is one of the ingredients of the soy sauce.
Yes! You can replace the sour cream with Greek-style plain yogurt. The texture should be the same, but the dip will be a lot more tangy and less rich. Be sure it's thick, Greek yogurt or the dip will be too watery, and don't use flavored yogurt.
Yes! Drain a small can of artichoke hearts packed in water (not oil), and roughly chop them. Mix up to 3 ounces into the dip without changing anything else, or reduce the spinach to 10 ounces and add up to 6 ounces of chopped artichokes.
Make ahead or leftovers
Storage
Dips made using my gluten free dry onion soup mix taste amazing within 1 hour. They'll need that long, at least, to sit after mixing so the dehydrated onion flakes have a chance to soften.
If you have leftovers you'd like to save, transfer the dip to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
I don't recommend freezing this dip, since the sour cream can separate, but you can defrost and drain the frozen spinach up to 3 days ahead of time. You can also prepare the onion soup mix dry ingredients (minus the bouillon granules) and store in a sealed glass container for up to 3 months.
Gluten Free Spinach Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 ounces frozen chopped spinach
- ⅓ cup (75 g) mayonnaise, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (336 g) sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoons gluten free Worcestershire sauce, Lea & Perrins brand is gluten free in the U.S.
- 1 recipe gluten free onion soup mix, See Recipe Notes
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese finely grated
- 2 medium stalks celery heart, chopped fine (optional)
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Gluten free chips,, crackers, and/or celery and carrot sticks, for dipping
Instructions
- Defrost the spinach according to the package directions.
- Place the thawed spinach in a tea towel with a flat weave, and squeeze it until as much of the moisture as possible has been removed.
- Discard the liquid, and set the spinach aside. If your frozen spinach was whole leaf or you wilted fresh spinach instead, roughly chop the drained spinach first.
- In a large mixing bowl, place the mayonnaise, sour cream and Worcestershire sauce, the onion soup mix, and black pepper. Whisk to combine well.
- Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano, optional celery, and prepared spinach, and mix to combine, breaking up any clumps in the spinach.
- Taste the dip and add salt to adjust for taste.
- Cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour (to allow the dried onions to soften) and up to 3 days.
- Serve in a gf bread bowl or serving bowl, with chips or celery for dipping.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
