Last Sunday night John and I had dinner with our friends Shannon and Mike at Sweet Basil, our favorite restaurant out here in the ‘burbs.
Everything we’ve ordered from our many times at this popular restaurant has been phenomenal, but one of the best dishes they offer comes gratis: fresh basil pesto with big chunks of garlic and plenty of Parmesan cheese served with bread. We joked about eating the pesto without the bread… instead using the ridiculously large spoons set at each seat to slurp down the delicious green-speckled condiment.
I seriously considered it.
I made this dip as a precursor to the Easter dinner I hosted a week prior to our dinner at Sweet Basil, and the store-bought pesto I used for the recipe didn’t come close to the fresh pesto we enjoyed at the restaurant… but the dip still turned out pretty tasty.
The bulk of this creamy dip is protein-packed Greek yogurt, but a bit of neufchatel cream cheese adds a touch of silky decadence and the pesto – of course – adds great flavor.
I served the pesto dip with crunchy carrot sticks and sweet yellow pepper strips, but you could also use it as a spread on sandwiches.
Creamy Pesto Dip
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Keywords: snack appetizer vegetarian cream cheese greek yogurt
Ingredients
- 2 oz neufchatel (1/3-less-fat) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients with a spoon or electric mixer until well-combined.
Serve chilled or at room temperature with crudites, baguette slices, or crackers.
