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recipes side dish
November 12, 2014

skinny spinach dip {with just a quarter of the calories!}

One of my favorite “party” foods is creamy spinach dip, made using the Knorr Vegetable soup mix packet. Served with vegetables, crackers, or bread cubes, I could sit and eat this stuff all night. In fact, I think I have. Unfortunately, since the main ingredients in this stuff are mayonnaise and sour cream, even the spinach can’t change the fact that it’s really really bad for you. Now, I’m not opposed to eating plenty of fat and calories on occasion; I’d just prefer them in the form of premium ice cream. So when I figured out how to make this dip nonfat and with just a fraction of the calories (25%!), I was sold.

This skinny spinach dip has just a quarter the calories of the original! Perfect light dip for holidays and parties.

 

Obviously, the first step to lightening this guy up was to ditch the mayo. Luckily, most of the flavor in this dip comes straight from the seasoning packet, so switching out the mayo for something just as creamy but much healthier doesn’t change the taste much. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sour cream and 1 cup of mayonnaise, which together provide a total of 1901 calories and 174 grams of fat. Instead, substitute 1 cup of nonfat cottage cheese (blended until smooth) and 2 cups of nonfat sour cream, for a total of just under 500 calories and negligible amounts of fat. That takes the calories per quarter cup serving from 118 to 30, and the fat from 12 grams to almost none – not to mention you get extra protein from the cottage cheese. If you eat it with veggies, that makes a really healthy snack!

this skinny spinach dip recipe has just a quarter of the calories of the original, but still tastes great!

 

Just so you know, I hate cottage cheese. The texture absolutely grosses me out. But I recently discovered that if you blend it until it’s smooth, it makes a great substitute for mayo! Much better than greek yogurt, because there’s no sour yogurt tang to it.

So, for a {drastically} lightened up skinny spinach dip, combine 1 packet Knorr Vegetable soup seasoning packet, 1 cup of nonfat cottage cheese (blended until smooth), 2 cups of nonfat sour cream, 10 oz frozen spinach (thawed and squeezed to eliminate all water) and 3 chopped green onions. Basically, just follow the instructions on the back of the seasoning packet making the substitutions I mentioned above, and you’re set! In case you’re wondering, this is what the seasoning packet looks like:

skinny-spinach-dip

Now – I know it’s often recommended to avoid anything labeled “nonfat” because those items usually contains additives & chemicals. If you want to follow this recommendation, you can still save plenty of fat and calories using 1 cup regular sour cream and 2 cups regular cottage cheese instead of the 2 cups sour cream and 1 cup mayo listed on the back of the seasoning packet.

Happy dipping!

this skinny spinach dip recipe tastes just as good as the original with less than a fourth of the calories! the secret ingredient is blended cottage cheese!

 

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9 Comments

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Comments

  1. CTY says

    November 12, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    Nice tip using using & blending the cottage cheese. Thanks.
    Something I did once (with the high cal one) when there was a little the dip leftover and everyone wanted it. I added some buttermilk to it to make it pourable & tossed it into our dinner salad.

    Reply
  2. Melissa says

    November 13, 2014 at 1:01 pm

    Oh my gosh, this is brilliant! I am totally doing the cottage cheese trick from now on!

    Reply
  3. Anita says

    January 28, 2015 at 7:06 pm

    Could you sub the sour cream with greek yogurt?

    Reply
  4. Susan says

    January 25, 2016 at 8:36 am

    I have always used cottage cheese (pureed) as a sub for half the usual cream cheese in cheesecakes that would normally call for sour cream. Another great sub is canned pureed beans in ths dip. That eliminates some of the dairy and builds up the fiber component. I swear by Knorr mixes and my Eggs Benedicts come in at under 500 calories for two.

    Reply
  5. Linda says

    February 1, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    Great Recipe but Knorr mix has Gmos and has a bad after taste!

    Reply
  6. Kate says

    May 29, 2016 at 5:28 am

    This website is horrible when trying to read it on your phone. I can’t seem to find the recipe ever!!!!

    Reply
    • Kitty says

      March 6, 2018 at 1:18 am

      Same!

      Reply
  7. Kitty says

    March 6, 2018 at 1:19 am

    Can you make it so we can actually see the recipe?

    Reply
  8. Debbie says

    March 9, 2020 at 6:42 am

    Where can I find the printable recipe?

    Reply

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I'm Autumn, a mom of five who loves ice cream, Masterpiece Theatre, and clothes that hide the fact that I eat so much ice cream. When I was 18 I got a job at a craft store and told everyone (regularly) how much I hated crafts. Well, things change! Read More…

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