Hot Crab & Artichoke Dip

A creamy, hot crab and artichoke dip that comes together incredibly easily with precooked lump crab meat, artichokes, and fresh jalapenos for a subtle kick. 

The past few weekends have been considerably busy.  Between family weddings, wine festivals and surgeries (Zach’s third and final in the past 6 months), I’ve felt like we’ve been going nonstop.

While the festivities have been a lot of fun, it was surprisingly nice this weekend not to have any structured plans (and, most importantly, not to be in the hospital).

This weekend was free-form and we spent the days playing with the dogs and catching up on housework (including weeding our small space of landscaping that’s evidently prime breeding ground for spring onions, dandelions, and rabbits alike), picking strawberries, eating ice cream, and getting caught in unexpected thunderstorms (which are not nearly as romantic as they sound and resulted in rain-salted ice cream and muddy pawprints on my car seats).

Our nights on the weekends, I’ll admit, are rather predictable.  This past Friday and Saturday evening, as with so many before, we shared a homemade pizza (made from scratch by Zach), popped open a bottle of sweet, fruit flavored wine, flipped through the TV and  just enjoyed each other’s company, phones set aside, dogs lying at our feet.

For something a little different to accompany our evening, I wanted an easy, savory snack to enjoy.  I created this hot crab and artichoke dip out of a hunger for something that was hearty, but not too heavy, warm, but fresh with flavors of summertime, slightly spicy, but not in a set-your-mouth-on-fire way.  This dip combines all of those elements in a wonderful fusion of flavors.

Cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise serve as a classic, creamy base and smooth background to an abundance of lump crab meat and chopped artichokes, and a light-handed sprinkling of peppers.  Fresh jalapenos do a brilliant job here of perfectly accentuating the dip without overpowering the other flavors (even someone who doesn’t like spicy foods will be able to manage the light kick of additional heat).

This combination of easily acquired ingredients make this dip perfect for anytime of year, but I think you’ll find it’s a particularly lovely summertime side-dish.

5 from 2 votes

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Crab & Artichoke Dip

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup mayo
• 1-2 cloves garlic pressed (1 large or 2 small)
• 14 oz canned artichoke hearts drained, rinsed, patted dry and chopped
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz lump crab meat precooked
• 1/3 cup roasted red pepper chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh jalapenos seeds removed, finely chopped
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In large bowl combine cream cheese*, sour cream, mayo and pressed garlic.
3. Stir in chopped artichoke hearts, mozzarella cheese, crab meat, roasted red pepper and jalapenos.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Transfer to cast iron skillet (or oven-safe dish such as a 9x9 glass baking dish) and bake on 375F for 25-30 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and enjoy hot with pita chips, crackers, tortilla chips, etc.

Recipe Notes

*I'll usually microwave the cream cheese in a microwave-safe bowl at 10 second increments until it is easily stirrable