Football Food: Artichoke Pesto Dip

Your game day party guests may cheer when they taste this Artichoke Pesto Dip. This quick and easy dip is topped with bacon and sour cream and served in a football-shaped bowl to make it festive and fun for the big game.

If you are looking for a game-day snack that is out of the ordinary, you've got to try this Artichoke Pesto Dip. It's so simple to make using marinated artichokes, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, cashews, and bacon.

Serve it in a football-shaped ceramic bowl and decorate it with crumbled bacon and sour cream to look like an actual football and your party guests just might cheer. You can serve it cold or you can pop it in the oven to warm it up.

More game day snack ideas:

• taco dip
• hot chicken dip
• cheeseburger dip football

Ingredients

• cooked crispy bacon, crumbled
• marinated artichokes
• roasted and salted cashews
• Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
• freshly squeezed lemon juice
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• sour cream (for decorating)
• Optional: add 4 ounces of whipped cream cheese for a creamy dip

Serve with tortilla chips.

Instructions

Decorate the football dip.

1. Drain the liquid off the artichokes. Pour the artichokes into a sieve or colander and allow the liquid to drain off. Then press down on the artichokes to remove the excess liquid.
2. The flavor of the marinade will remain on the artichokes. Do not rinse it off.
3. Pour ¾'s of the artichokes into the bowl of a food processor.
4. Add the cashews, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, lemon juice, and ⅓ cup of the bacon crumbles.
5. Pulse a few times to chop the items, then with the food processor running, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil until the mixture becomes finely chopped and well blended.
6. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
7. Remove the pesto from the food processor and place it in a mixing bowl.
8. If you want a creamier dip, stir in the whipped cream cheese. If you don't have whipped cream cheese, you can beat ½ a block of cream cheese until light and creamy.
9. Chop the remaining artichokes into small pieces and stir them into the pesto.
10. Pour the pesto into a football-shaped ceramic bowl.
11. Spread the remaining bacon over the top of the dip, covering it completely.
12. If you want to serve the dip hot, heat it in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 15 minutes until heated through.
13. Spoon the sour cream into a small zip-top bag and snip off the tip.
14. Pipe sour cream laces down the center of the football and stripes on either end.
15. Serve the dip with tortilla chips.

Recipe

5 from 4 votes

Print

Artichoke Pesto Dip

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Total Time

25 mins

 

A super simple dip made using marinated artichokes, bacon, Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese, and cashews served in a football-shaped bowl.

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: artichoke pesto dip, football dip

Servings: 12

Calories: 296 kcal

Author: Beth Klosterboer

Ingredients

artichoke pesto:

• 1 pound cooked crispy bacon, crumbled or finely chopped
• 2 (12 ounce) jars marinated artichokes, drained
• ⅓ cup roasted and salted cashews
• ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
• ½ teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

decoration:

• 2 tablespoons sour cream

OPTIONAL ingredients:

• 4 ounces whipped cream cheese (for a creamy dip)
• 1 bag tortilla chips

Instructions

1. Pour ¾'s of the drained artichokes into the bowl of a food processor along with the cashews, Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, lemon juice, and ⅓ cup of the bacon pieces.

2. Pulse a few times, then with the food processor running, drizzle in the extra virgin olive oil until the mixture becomes finely chopped.

3. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.

4. Chop the remaining artichokes into small pieces and stir them into the pesto.

5. If you want a creamy dip, then stir in the whipped cream cheese. 

6. Pour the pesto into a football-shaped ceramic bowl.

7. Crumble the remaining bacon over the top of the dip.

8. If you want to serve the dip hot, cover it with tin foil and heat it in a 350-degree oven for about 15-20 minutes until heated through before decorating it with sour cream.

9. Spoon the sour cream into a small zip-top bag and snip off the tip then decorate the cold or hot dip.

10. Pipe laces down the center of the football and stripes on either end.

11. Serve the dip with tortilla chips.

Be sure to check out all of my fun Game Day Snack Ideas.

• Author
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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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