Baked Goat Cheese Dip plus Lemon and Thyme

At a glance

What stands out: Reliable with crackers, crostini, or naan, creamy baked goat cheese dip is hard to resist. It’s a wonderful appetizer that’s always a hit!

How long it takes: 22 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: food processor, baking dish
Servings: 8

A Popular Appetizer

Three different kinds of cheese! Who can resist creamy, tangy goat cheese dip? You’ll love this warm cheesy dip, made with three cheeses: goat cheese, Parmesan, and cream cheese. Combining the goat cheese with cream cheese ensures that the dip is evenly creamy and spreadable. Garlic, herbs, and lemon zest subtly flavor it.

Can be made ahead. We love that you can make this straightforward dip ahead and simply pop it in the oven when your guests arrive so it’s evenly warm and ready to share.

Versatile. Warm goat cheese dip can be served with crisp crostini, crackers, pretzels, or any of your favorite dippers. It’s so good with a red wine spritzer, pomegranate mojito or an orange G & T. For Christmas, serve it with a poinsettia cocktail or cranberry thyme spritzers.

What goes in

• Goat cheese: Buy a large 10.5 ounce log of plain goat cheese, not the crumbles.
• Cream cheese: Soften the cream cheese at room temperature for an hour or so.
• Parmesan cheese: Use grated cheese. For this recipe, shelf-stable cheese is fine.
• Extra virgin olive oil: Olive oil gives the cheese mixture a spreadable texture.
• Garlic: we use one clove of garlic for savory flavor. If you prefer a more subtle garlic flavor, use ¼ teaspoon garlic powder instead.
• Fresh parsley and thyme: You need fresh herbs for this recipe. Dried herbs won’t have the same flavor.
• Finely grated lemon zest: A bit of lemon brightens the flavor of the dip.

How it comes together

Combine ingredients. You’ll need a food processor for a creamy texture. Simply combine all the ingredients in the bowl of the food processor, except for the herbs and lemon zest. Blend the mixture until it’s nice and smooth, take out the blade, and stir in finely chopped parsley, fresh thyme, and finely grated lemon zest.

Transfer to baking dish. Spread the dip in a shallow baking dish. Choose a dish that you can serve it from, too!

Bake. Preheat the oven first. Bake the goat cheese dip briefly until it’s warm and just beginning to bubble around the edges.

Pro Tip

Don’t overheat the dip. The dip tends to separate and lose some of the ultra-creaminess if you overdo it in the oven. It’s better to underheat the dip than to bake it too long (trust us, we know…let us make the mistakes so you don’t have to!). Actually, this creamy goat cheese dip is quite good without even heating it all, so if you prefer a cold cheese dip, this recipe works evenly for that, too.

Ways to serve it

Try from-scratch crostini for a reliable pairing, or choose your favorite crackers or other dippers.

Include this warm dip with your cheese board, along with kalamata olives or other types of olives, sliced apples or pears, dried cherries or apricots, grapes, jam, chutney, roasted almonds or spiced pecans, and additional varieties of cheese.

Ways to change it

• Add a sweet topping. After removing the dip from the oven, drizzle it with honey or top it with fig jam or bacon jam to add a sweet component to the dip.
• Not a garlic fan? Just omit it, the dip has plenty of flavor without it.
• Another goat cheese appetizer. Fried goat cheese is always a hit.

Keeping leftovers

Storage: Once the dip has been heated, it is best eaten right away. Leftovers can be covered tightly and refrigerated for a couple of days.

Make ahead: Prepare the dip but don’t bake it. Store in a covered container for up to two days. When ready to serve, spread the dip in an oven safe container and heat.

• Yield: 16
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Cook: 12 minutes
• Total: 22 minutes

Ingredients

• 10.5 ounces goat cheese log
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (plus extra for drizzling after baking)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped (see note)
• ¼ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon finely minced thyme
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• salt, to taste
• crostini, crackers, or mini naan for serving

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. In a food processor, combine goat cheese, cream cheese, Parmesan, olive oil, garlic, and pepper until smooth, scraping down sides as needed.
3. By hand, fold in herbs and lemon zest. Taste and add salt if desired.
4. Spread into a baking dish and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until warm and just starting to bubble around the edges. Don’t overheat the dip. It should be creamy and not starting to separate. The length of baking time depends somewhat on the size of your baking dish.
5. Drizzle with olive oil, if desired. Serve with crostini, crackers, or mini naan.

Notes

Yield: Makes about 2 cups. One serving is 2 tablespoons, which is 16 servings, but that can vary depending on the size of each serving and what other appetizers you’re serving.

Garlic: If fresh garlic is too pungent for you, substitute ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder instead. You can omit the garlic entirely if you prefer.

Serving alternative: This dip is also good as a cold dip instead of baked. Simply skip the baking step and serve the dip immediately.

Storage: Once the dip has been heated, it’s best eaten right away. Leftovers can be covered tightly and stored in the fridge for a couple of days.

Make ahead tip: Prepare the dip but don’t bake it. Store in a covered container for up to two days. When ready to serve, spread the dip in an oven safe container and heat.