Cheddars Santa Fe Spinach Dip

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is a wonderful restaurant. It does a good job of combining a moderate price and a delicious menu that everyone will love. One of my favorite appetizers there is the Santa Fe Spinach Dip. Now you can recreate this appetizer at home with this easy copycat recipe.

homemade Cheddar's Santa Fe spinach dip and tortilla chips


A great dip makes every gathering better. Whether it is family movie night or tailgating with a group of friends, Cheddars Santa Fe Spinach Dip is sure to be a hit! Cheddars Spinach Dip is wonderfully creamy with a four-cheese blend and just a hint of spice. This stuff is so delicious that even folks who claim they hate spinach can’t get enough of it! Try it once, and you are going to want to make it again and again. That’s okay because the Cheddars Spinach Dip recipe is quick and simple to prepare. Soon you are going to look for reasons to make it!

How to Make Cheddar’s Spinach Dip

If you can use a knife and turn on an oven, you can make this dip. The only thing that is even a little complicated about this recipe is finding a way to squeeze out all the liquid from the thawed spinach without making a mess! Sure, you can use countless paper towels to squeeze the spinach dry, but there are better ways.

Perhaps the easiest way is to use a potato ricer. A potato ricer is a kitchen too that is great and making mash potatoes and drain spinach. Just fill the chamber of the potato rice halfway and gently squeeze over the sink. If you don’t have a potato ricer, you are not out of luck. Use a salad spinner to spin the spinach or put the spinach in a colander in the sink and press down with a plate.

However you remove the liquid from the spinach, you must get it as dry as you can. Otherwise, the dip will be much too watery.

Gussying Up the Spinach Dip

This dip is great as it is, but if you like to take things to the next level, we have you covered. Substituting the juice of a lemon and its zest for the jalapeno pepper does a fantastic job at brightening the spinach dip. Do you love artichokes? Make this a simple spinach and artichoke sip by replacing some of the spinach with an equal amount of canned artichoke hearts. Maybe you can’t get enough spice? In that case, perhaps you might want to replace some of the spinach with drained and chopped canned poblano peppers.

There are many ways to make this Cheddars Spinach Dip recipe your own, so don’t be afraid to get creative.

Tips for Making and Serving Spinach Dip

  • Use a wide and shallow casserole dish. Not only will you get more of that crispy cheese layer on top that everyone loves, but it will be much easier for everyone to reach the dip.
  • Bake in individual ramekins. Don’t want to share? That is alright, this some is that good. Avoid double-dipping and dip hogs by giving each person separate portions. If you are making the dip in individual ramekins, you will need to watch your timing to avoid overbaking.
  • Serve on top of toasted or grilled bread. Hearty, artisanal bread is the perfect base to turn a spinach dip snack into a light meal.

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Ingredients

Here’s a list of what you need:

  • Frozen spinach
  • White onion
  • Cream cheese
  • White Cheddar cheese
  • Monterey Jack cheese
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Minced garlic
  • Jalapeno pepper
  • Seasoned salt
  • Sour cream
  • Salsa
  • Corn tortilla chips
Cheddars Santa Fe spinach dip ingredients

How to Make Cheddar’s Spinach Dip

  1. Thaw spinach then drain and squeeze liquid from the spinach.
  2. Place spinach, diced onions, cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, jalapeno pepper, and seasoned salt in a bowl.
    ingredients for homemade Cheddars Santa Fe spinach dip in a bowl
  3. Stir until well blended.
    homemade Santa Fe spinach dip mixture in a bowl
  4. Spread the mixture into a 1-quart casserole dish
  5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is nice and bubbly.
  6. Serve with sour cream, salsa, and warmed tortilla chips.

CopyKat Tip: Use a kitchen towel to squeeze liquid from cooked or thawed spinach. Wrap the spinach in the towel, twist, and tightly squeeze.

homemade Cheddars Santa Fe spinach dip and tortilla chips on a wood board

Favorite Appetizer Recipes

If you enjoy appetizers, you may like some of these recipes:

Love Cheddars? Try these copycat recipes!

Find ever more of my restaurant style appetizers and the most popular copycat recipes.

homemade Cheddar's Santa Fe spinach dip and tortilla chips

Cheddars Santa Fe Spinach Dip

You can make Cheddars Sante Fe Spinach Dip at home with this easy copycat recipe.
4.98 from 71 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cheddars Recipes, Santa Fe Spinach Dip, spinach dip
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6
Calories: 381kcal

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces frozen spinach thawed and drained
  • 1//2 cup finely diced white onion
  • 8 ounces cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded white Cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 2 teaspoons finely minced jalapeno pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

For Serving

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 4 ounces corn tortilla chips

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • In a medium bowl, combine the spinach, onions, cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, jalapeno pepper, and seasoned salt.
  • Stir until well blended. Spread into a 1-quart casserole dish and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the top is nice and bubbly.
  • Serve with sour cream, salsa, and warmed tortilla chips.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 381kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 77mg | Sodium: 765mg | Potassium: 369mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 6520IU | Vitamin C: 5.4mg | Calcium: 346mg | Iron: 1.8mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Krystal C.

    5 stars
    Delicious!!! My daughter and I made this dish for the first time Saturday August 17th and we enjoyed it. It was delicious and great with an excellent source of daily vitamins and fiber.

  2. Amber

    I have the recipe from Cheddar’s (back when they used to hand out a recipe with your bill).
    4 cloves garlic
    1 (10 oz) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
    1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
    10 oz Alfredo sauce
    1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
    1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
    8 oz cream cheese, softened

    Preheat oven to 350 f
    Place garlic in a small baking dish. Bake in preheated oven 20-30 min, until soft. Remove from heat. When cool enough to touch, squeeze softened garlic from skins.
    In an 8×8 inch baking dish, spread the roasted garlic, spinach, artichoke hearts, Alfredo sauce, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, and cream cheese.
    Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes, or until cheeses are melted and bubbly. Serve warm.

  3. Robin Gaylor

    5 stars
    Thank you! Our cheddar s in mobile closed down (like so many restaurants here) is there any way you can copycat molly woos firecracker shrimp and fried rice? My father has stage 4 cancer and he requests thus every day. Thank you so much.

  4. Jen

    This is delicious and almost totally spot on except the jalepeno pepper. The first time I made this (this is my second time) I used 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes because I didn’t have jalepeno. I could tell that this pepper is not the pepper in their dip because you can even see red spots in there. By the way, I used 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes because the 1/2 teaspoon wasn’t the spicy level at cheddars.

  5. Sally

    3 stars
    Take out onions and peppers and try pepper jack cheese instead. My boyfriend worked there years ago and will not eat onions like at all. Says he would never have touched it if it had them in it. Also no on the salsa as well.

  6. Amy

    ok this site is ridiculous
    Every time I try to leave I find a new recipe to try
    I feel we are kindred spirits!
    Thank you so much for these recipes

  7. Pat Hershorn

    Cheedar’s uses Alfredo sauce as the base. Thaw and squeeze the spinach dry, then chop it again to reduce chip breakage when dipping. Alfredo sauce, Parmesan, salsa, white pepper, salt. Add the spinach after the sauce has cooled. This helps the spinach maintain it’s color. Place 1 cup of the spinach mixture in an au gratin dish and top with 1 ounce of Monterey Jack cheese, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes covered with the plastic wrap. Top with 3/4 ounces sour cream and garnish w/ 3 chips inserted upright in the sour cream. Served with salsa on the side.

    • Courtney

      Pat,

      These steps you’ve listed, are these all of the ingredients that go into Cheddar’s spinach dip? And if so, how much of each ingredient would you guess? I keep searching for a good copycat recipe but I know none of them are going to be exact since everyone’s been playing the guessing game when attempting to make this dish. All of the comments I’ve read on almost every single recipe have said it doesn’t taste like Cheddar’s but that it’s good and worth making again. That’s not what I want. I want Cheddar’s, and I want to be able to make the dip myself in my own home without having to go out anywhere! Any extra advice/details on this dish you have would be much appreciated!

      Thanks,
      Courtney

    • Courtney

      Pat,

      These steps you’ve listed, are these all of the ingredients that go into Cheddar’s spinach dip? And if so, how much of each ingredient would you guess? I keep searching for a good copycat recipe but I know none of them are going to be exact since everyone’s been playing the guessing game when attempting to make this dish. All of the comments I’ve read on almost every single recipe have said it doesn’t taste like Cheddar’s but that it’s good and worth making again. That’s not what I want. I want Cheddar’s, and I want to be able to make the dip myself in my own home without having to go out anywhere! Any extra advice/details on this dish you have would be much appreciated!

      Thanks,
      Courtney

      P.S. – I just saw a video/interview with an employee from Cheddar’s and he listed some of the other ingredients in the spinach dip: cream cheese, Asiago cheese, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella.

      I just need to know exactly what’s in it and how much of each ingredient so I can make this to perfection! 🙂

  8. ED Sanchez

    Why, oh WHY are so many comments based on the PHOTO?!?!?!?!?!?
    Thank you to all who follow the recipe and comment ON THE RECIPE!!!!!!!!
    Who cares how you think it looks?!?!?!? Are the reds RED??? Oh look what a pretty table cloth!!! WHY????????

    Tried it. Very nice. I later sub’d cheddar for 1/4 cup Parmesan to cut back a little on oil and stays softer longer while hot. Add 1/2 tsp. basil and serve with a good bruschetta mix and toasted loaf bread sliced thin instead of salsa/sour cream/chips for a perfect Italian twist. A chilled sweet or semi-sweet wine (regardless red or white) goes well with this appetizer.

    Thank you for sharing recipe.

  9. Latonia

    I tried this and was not a fan…it looks good but tasted nothing like Cheddars (which is my favorite)..Maybe I did something wrong…the only thing I did not add was the onion….Sorry….

4.98 from 71 votes (63 ratings without comment)

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