How To Reuse Leftover Spinach And Artichoke Dip In New Dishes

With football season and the holidays about to kick off in rapid succession, at some point, you'll likely have guests over to watch a game, cozy up with a movie, or mingle over snacks and cocktails. But those hosting (we see you and appreciate you) will inevitably end up with leftovers, and that includes things like loads of spinach and artichoke dip. 

The thing is, as wonderful as spinach and artichoke dip is, eating it with chips alone can get pretty monotonous. Especially if you bought in bulk. Fortunately, this dip can be reused in lots of other quick meal options that will stop you from having to eat the same thing over and over again.

Use it to give your sandwiches a bit of extra love and dollop on a generous spread. Sure, it's technically a dip, but one of the main components is mayonnaise — a quintessential sandwich ingredient. I recommend using spinach and artichoke dip with a more neutral poultry-based deli meat like chicken or turkey. Even shredded roast chicken leftovers would be a perfect filling for a sandwich like this.

Vegetarians also have plenty of room to play here. Use the dip as a landing for your favorite veggie sandwich fillings — a nice slice or two of fresh mozzarella can go a long way to giving this sandwich some more heft. But the possibilities don't end there. We've got tons of great ideas for reusing that overly ambitious quantity of spinach and artichoke dip.

Speaking of sandwiches, you can also use spinach and artichoke dip as a binder for chicken salad. (I know, I'm a genius.) Again, since it already contains mayo and usually another creamy component like sour cream or cream cheese, all you have to do is toss some cubed chicken together with a generous amount of dip and you're all set. Imagine all the sandwiches you could get out of a Costco rotisserie chicken and a massive batch of spinach and artichoke dip. 

Turn this combo into a sandwich, eat your freshly made chicken salad with crackers, or even put a mound of it on some greens and spare yourself the carbs, if that's your thing. And if you're looking to change up the flavor a bit, you can obviously toss in some extra components as well like a strong Dijon mustard, hot sauce, or additional fresh herbs. All these go a long way toward reinventing that tired-looking dip.

I'm cribbing this next suggestion from a trip I took to New York City some years back. While I was in the city enjoying its unbeatable slice scene, I visited a shop called Artichoke Basille's Pizza, where I got their famous artichoke pizza. It had artichoke hearts, spinach, cream sauce, mozzarella, and pecorino romano cheese on it, and I can see why it was such a hit with so many diners, though it was admittedly not the most delicate thing I had to eat on that trip.

This is easily something you can recreate at home using your leftover dip. Simply top your favorite homemade pizza dough (or premade crust, of course) with dip, add mozzarella and shaved parmesan, and toss it in the oven until it's bubbly and slightly golden brown on top. You'll need to be mindful of the strength of your crust, however. If it's a thinner one, be sure not to overdo it with the dip, as the last thing you want is an unchecked lava flow of hot cheese and dip scalding your chin.