This Cream Cheese Garlic Dip is the perfect combination of creamy and flavorful. The rich cheese combined with roasted garlic is so wonderful as a dip, spread, or condiment.
This blog post and recipe is sponsored by Zero Acre; all thoughts and opinions are my own.
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About this Dip
Football season is here, the holidays are upon us, it’s that time of year when there’s always something going on that you need a crowd pleasing dip for. Enter: Cream Cheese Garlic Dip.
This dip is a fan favorite and probably because of the mouth watering paring of soft, creamy cheese with rich, savory roasted garlic. It is so versatile and goes great with so many dipping vessels. Crackers, pita, toasts, pea pods, you name it.
Cream Cheese Garlic Dip is also extremely easy two make and includes just two simple steps: roast and blend. If you’ve never roasted whole garlic before, this dip is the perfect reason to try and recognize all of its greatness. You’ll try it and realize that you really can crave garlic breath; it’s that good.
And if you're all about the dips, you should also try this Whipped Feta Dip, this Avocado Crack Dip, Roasted Beet Dip, or this Dill Cheese Dip.
Recipe Ingredients
- Garlic - We will roast these at high heat with Cultured Oil to achieve a flavor much different than its raw form. Roasted Garlic is somewhat nutty and as it caramelizes its richness is enhanced.
- Zero Acre Cultured Oil - Cultured Oil is cooking oil made through a fermentation process (just like sourdough or your favorite wine!). The fermentation of oil creates elevated amounts of healthy fats, a reduced environmental footprint and a high smoke point (great for roasting!).
- Cream Cheese - Cream cheese is a mild, blank slate that’ll take on the flavors of the other ingredients in this dip recipe.
- Lemon - Some acidity will contrast the richness of the cream cheese and garlic nicely.
- Spicy Honey (optional)- Both sweetness and heat. I’m a big fan of adding this to salty and savory dishes.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
Substitutions and Variations
Make this Cream Cheese Garlic Dip your own! There are so many fun ways to switch it up. This would make for a great go-to dip recipe for EVERY party and you just add a little flair each time you make it. A few suggestions:
- Add hot sauce or red pepper flakes for a heated kick.
- Add bacon bits.
- Add sun dried tomatoes - I recommend sun dried over fresh because of their stronger punch of flavor as well as lack of moisture. Fresh tomatoes may make your dip too watery).
- Use goat cheese (or another soft cheese) instead of cream cheese.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the top ½ inch or so of each garlic bulb off so the cloves are exposed (no need to peel). Place the two full bulbs of garlic on a small oven safe baking dish and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of Cultured Oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the garlic is golden brown and sizzling. Allow it to cool before handling.
2. If you’re making homemade crostinis for the dip, leave the oven on, cut French bread into ½” thick pieces, drizzle with Cultured Oil and dill seasoning (of whatever you have on hand). Bake for 14 minutes, flipping halfway through.
3. In a food processor, combine fresh parsley, cream cheese, ¼ cup cultured oil, lemon juice, all seasonings (salt + pepper, green goddess seasoning, red pepper flakes) and roasted garlic.
4. Then, blend on high until the cream cheese block is fully blended and mixture is smooth throughout.
5. Remove the roasted garlic cream cheese dip from the food processor with a rubber spatula and place into a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cultured oil, fresh baked crostinis, and other seasonal dipping veggies of choice.
How to Serve this Dip
Use this Cream Cheese Garlic Dip anyway you please! A few ideas:
- Dip all of your favorites in this creamy goodness - chips, pita, veggies, crackers.
- Spread it on a sandwich (MY FAVORITE WAY). A simple turkey, lettuce, tomato on sourdough with this Cream Cheese Garlic dip spread onto it is simply delicious and takes your lunch from boring to magical.
- Use it on a charcuterie board.
- Mix it into pasta. YEP, do it. These cream cheese gets melty when mixed with warm pasta and it makes a rich and flavorful sauce.
Recipe FAQs
Store your Cream Cheese Garlic Dip in an airtight container for up to 5 days. This Dip can also last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
After roasting the garlic, use a knife or small spoon to lift the skin away from the edges of each glove. Then, pick up the bulb and squeeze if from the bottom up and the roasted gloves should slide right out. A similar action to squeezing tooth paste from the tube, bottom up style.
You can head to the Zero Acre Website and using this link you'll get free shipping on the oil! My discount code should automatically apply, but it's: APAIGEOFPOSITIVITY at checkout.
You COULD use pre-roasted and minced garlic (the kind you can find in a jar at the grocery store) to get a similar final result, but I’m not going to tell you it’s the same. Roasting whole garlic gives so much more flavor and requires such minimal effort, it is worth it 10x over in my opinion, especially in this Cream Cheese Garlic Dip.
A food processor makes this dip nice and smooth, and definitely my recommended method of preparation. You could also use a blender (a small, single serve blender if you have one). If you use a full size blender, you may want to double the recipe to ensure the ingredients touch the blades and do not just get pushed to the walls of the blender. The blender method to make Cream Cheese Garlic Dip may require multiple scrape downs of the sides with a rubber spatula.
Can I use a hand mixer? No equipment? You may also attempt to use a hand mixer to make this dip. If you do so, you’ll want to grate the garlic on a microplane so you don’t have any large chunks in your dip (that would otherwise be blended in the food processor). I would not try to hand mix this dip. You won’t be able to achieve the creamy, whipped texture that makes this Cream Cheese Garlic Dip so amazing.
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Recipe
Cream Cheese Garlic Dip Recipe
Equipment
- small oven safe baking dish
- Food Processor
- Rubber Spatula
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Handheld juicer
Ingredients
For the Roasted Garlic
- 2 fresh garlic bulbs
- 1 tbsp cultured oil, Zero Acres
- 1 tsp salt
For the Dip
- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ½ tsp each salt and pepper
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp green goddess seasoning
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 handful fresh parsley, 4-5 stalks
- 1 tbsp hot honey, optional
- ¼ cup + 1 tbsp cultured oil, divided, Zero Acres
For Serving:
- 1 small baguette
- pea pods
- crackers
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the top ½ inch or so of each garlic bulb off so the cloves are exposed (no need to peel). Place the two full bulbs of garlic on a small oven safe baking dish and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of Cultured Oil. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the garlic is golden brown and sizzling. Allow it to cool before handling.
- In a food processor, combine fresh parsley, cream cheese, ¼ cup cultured oil, lemon juice, all seasonings (salt + pepper, green goddess seasoning, red pepper flakes) and roasted garlic gloves. See recipe notes below for removing garlic from its skin.
- Then, blend on high until the cream cheese block is fully blended and mixture is smooth throughout.
- Remove the roasted garlic cream cheese dip from the food processor with a rubber spatula and place into a serving dish. Garnish with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cultured oil, fresh baked crostinis, and other seasonal dipping veggies of choice. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you're using MyFitnessPal, search 'A Paige Of Positivity' and find CREAM CHEESE GARLIC DIP calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
Courtney Paige says
I am so impressed with this dip!! The Cultured Oil makes it - highly recommend!
Sydney Van Acker says
roasted garlic bulbs unbelievably delicious, put it in dip form and WOW. so flavorful, so tasty, this recipe knocked my socks off