If you’d told me spinach and artichoke dip was some upscale vintage recipe, I’d probably have believed you. After all, I’ve seen it in some fairly nice restaurants, accompanied by homemade tortilla chips or fancy artisanal breads. This is chic stuff … right?
You probably know where this is headed. Turns out, it appeared in the 1950s as a quick dip among families. The prevailing theory is that soldiers returned home from Europe after World War II craving some of the ingredients they’d experienced — spinach, artichokes, parmesan cheese, and so on — and wanted to experience them again. Whether it’s true or not, the dip remains an American favorite, including on more than a few appetizer menus.
You can make the stuff yourself, but if you don’t want to fuss with that, grocers will sell it. Aldi is such a grocer. In fact, Aldi has been selling spinach and artichoke dip for years now, including limited-time as Aldi Finds. The grocer, though, does also sell an everyday version.
Little Salad Bar Spinach Artichoke Dip is a Regular Buy. That means you can find it in stores all the time. It’s sold in a mixed case with Little Salad Bar Jalapeno Artichoke Dip. It comes in a 12-ounce clamshell container and costs $3.39, which comes out to 28.2 cents an ounce.
The package can be found in the store’s refrigerated section, and it should be kept refrigerated. Because it’s not frozen, it is perishable, so be sure to note the best-by date on the container.
Nutrition information and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)
There’s a fairly lengthy ingredients list here, and it doesn’t look stellar in the nutrition department, either. Each two-tablespoon serving — and, really, I dare you to eat just two tablespoons of spinach-artichoke dip — serves up 8 grams of fat (10% of your daily value), 3 grams of saturated fat (15% DV), 15 milligrams of cholesterol (5% DV), and 170 milligrams of sodium (7% DV). The sodium is of particular note, since many people will be eating this with equally salty tortilla chips. It’s probably a best-served-in-moderation dip.
The package doesn’t give any instructions on preparation. In our experience, it’s best served warm, so we put a small amount in the microwave and heated it for about 20-30 seconds. Your mileage there may vary.
Straight out of the container. It thins out some after being heated up.
It’s not bad. It has both the smooth cheese-spinach base and legitimately chunky bits of artichoke, with a few large pieces of artichoke. It goes on chips with ease, and our tasters all liked it. If we had one complaint, it’s a little on the savory side: we do like our dip with flavor, but it maybe could do with a bit less salt. On the whole, though, that didn’t stop our testers from devouring it.
The Verdict:
If you need a non-frozen, heat-and-eat spinach and artichoke dip and don’t want to make it yourself, you can swipe up a container of it from your local Aldi. The price isn’t bad, and while it’s maybe more salty than we’d prefer, it still earned good marks from our taste testers.
I agree this dip is very salty which is why we like to serve it with bell pepper strips, slices of baguette or low salt crackers. It tastes delicious if the dippers themselves are not salty.
That’s a good idea!
This dip used to be a favorite of mine, but, lately the recipe seems different. It is more ‘watery’ with less artichoke. I bought it a couple times like this hoping the first time was a fluke. The packaging is slightly different, too. I’m so bummed about it.