Ultimate Party Dip

It’s finally here! Well, less than a week away. Yes, I’m talking about THANKSGIVING!!! It’s the most wonderful time of the year. People getting together. Eating. Family laughing and telling the same old stories. Eating. Dressing up just to stay in your own house. EATING! It’s literally my favorite holiday. And one thing I absolutely love about Thanksgiving isn’t even the main meal, but the appetizers. The little bites and nibbles that you get before dinner is ready, but are super selective about because you don’t want to waste your time eating things that aren’t worth it I know some of you are like, “Appetizers at Thanksgiving. I just wait all day and eat at dinner.” And I guess I get it, but real eaters pregame their turkey day meal! Besides, whenever you wait all day to eat, you eat less because your stomach is just happy you finally gave it food. You wouldn’t work out without warming up and you shouldn’t attack T-day dinner without appetizers.

Now that I’ve done my share to promote appetizers on Thanksgiving, let me introduce you to my favorite kind of appetizer: The Dip! Dips are great because they are so versatile. You can eat it with chips, veggies, on bread, as a grilled cheese…I told ya’ll I’m a professional eater! Lol. But the issue I generally have with dips is that people tend to make only one kind…and let’s be honest. On Thanksgiving, shouldn’t we have it all? Enter my Ultimate Party Dip! It’s a hybrid of spinach-artichoke, french onion AND Maryland baked crab dip. I mean seriously, how could you not love it?! It delivers everything you want in a dip: creaminess, a hint of spice, a dash of tang and just a touch of salty-sweetness!

The absolute best part of this dip is by making very simple substitutions, you’re able to save fat and calories in this combo dip than you would in any one of these dips alone! So you won’t break the bank indulging. Save even more calories by enjoying this with sliced vegetables, such as bell peppers and endive! Another thing I love about this dip is that you can spend less money on back fin or special crab meat instead of jumbo lump. Because you want crab in every bite and you will break it up a bit mixing it all together, you don’t have to worry about purchasing jumbo lump, meaning your pockets will thank you and you’ll only need 1 8oz package of crab. Win! If you’re not so much into appetizers on Thanksgiving, this is also the perfect dish to bring to a potluck or holiday party. Try it alone, or make it along side my Lightened Up Buffalo Chicken Dip!  I actually did a Facebook Live cooking demo of this dip (where I kept the camera sideways, OMG!) and my FIRST(!!) YouTube quick tutorial. Check them both out and let me know what you think!

Are you a grazer or a waiter when it comes to Thanksgiving eating? Find the recipe below!

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Ultimate Party Dip

by Monique Manning November-18-2017

Spinach Artichoke, French Onion and MD Baked Crab Dip all combined into a dish that will soon become the party favorite!

Nutrition per 1/4 cup serving: 138 calories, 7g carbs, 9g fat, 8g protein

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup Fat-Free Sour Cream
• 1/3 cup Duke’s Light Mayo
• 8 oz Low Fat Cream Cheese
• 4 oz Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
• 2 oz Swiss/Gruyere Cheese, shredded
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp Sherry Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Hot Sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 tsp Old Bay
• 1/2 tsp or to taste Crushed Red Pepper (optional)
• 8 oz Crab Meat, Special or Backfin
• 14 oz can Artichoke Hearts
• 10 oz package Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed
• 1 cup Caramelized Onions
• 2 tbsp Old Bay Breadcrumbs (optional. recipe below)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9×9 baking dish. Set aside.2. In a large bowl, add crab meat. Check crab meat to make sure there is no shell or cartilage. Add the caramelized onion to the crab.3. Remove spinach from package and in a fine strainer, cheesecloth or towel, squeeze all water out of the spinach. You want the spinach to be as dry as possible. Add to crab meat.4. Drain the liquid from the artichokes and place artichokes on cutting board. Roughly chop until you have small, peanut size chunks. Add to crab mixture.5. Toss together the “dry” ingredients until everything is well distributed. Set Aside.6. In a separate bowl, bring together remaining ingredients, except 1/3 of the cheese, leaving to sprinkle on the top. Mix thoroughly until well combined and mostly smooth.7. Fold together wet and dry ingredients until well mixed. Empty contents into the prepared dish and top with remaining cheese. If desired, mix 2 tbsp panko bread crumbs with 1/4 tsp of old bay and sprinkle on top of cheese.8. Bake on middle rack for 15 minutes and broil for the last 5 minutes to get brown, crispy top. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before eating. Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 15 hour Cook time: 20 hour Total time: 30 hour Yield: 3-4 cups