Whipped Feta Dip — Ready in just 5 minutes and made with feta cheese, Greek yogurt, lemon, garlic, olive oil, and a variety of spices, this creamy and EASY dip is a FAVORITE! Just the right amount of tangy-salty-creamy! It’s PERFECT for holiday or casual entertaining, game day parties, or summertime backyard get-togethers and everyone will want the recipe!
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Creamy Whipped Feta Dip Recipe
This easy whipped feta dip is going to be your new favorite quick-and-easy appetizer or snack recipe! Literally it’s ready in 5 minutes, thanks to tossing all the ingredients in your food processor and letting it do the work! It reminds me of Classic Hummus where you just toss in and blend.
What I love about this whipped feta cheese dip has a fresh flavor and you can clearly taste the lemon thanks to using both lemon zest and lemon juice.
That lemony taste is balanced with garlic, smoked paprika, fresh herbs along with the naturally creamy, salty base of the feta cheese.
I also use Greek yogurt and olive oil to make this whipped feta dip taste luxurious and have a rich mouthfeel.
Whether you need a quick dip recipe for last-minute holiday entertaining, as a dinner party appetizer to set out for guests, or for game day parties or a casual backyard summer get-together, this is always a hit!
Ingredients in Easy Whipped Feta Dip
For this creamy feta lemon dip recipe, you’ll need the following easy-to-find and common ingredients including:
- Feta cheese
- Greek yogurt
- Garlic cloves
- Lemon zest
- Lemon juice
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Dried dill
- Smoked paprika
- Salt
- Black pepper, optional
- Fresh herbs, optional for garnishing (thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil, mint – or a sweet-and-tangy twist try garnishing a drizzle of honey)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Whipped Feta Dip
To make this ultra quick and easy feta dip, follow my foolproof instructions:
- To the container of a 12 to 14-cup food processor, add the feta, Greek yogurt, clove garlic, lemon zest, and pulse until smooth.
- With the machine running on low, drizzle in the olive oil, lemon juice, and continue blending.
- Add the seasonings, salt and pepper, pulse to incorporate.
- Taste and check for seasoning balance, garnish as desired, and serve!
Wait Before Serving…If You Can!
Like many sauces and dips, this one gets better with time. But all it needs is 30 minutes to let the flavors meld, marry, and develop. I let it sit in a covered serving bowl at room temp or if it’s especially warm, you can let it sit in the fridge. Waiting is optional but recommended.
Although, if don’t have 30 minutes to spare, the dip will still be a crowd-pleaser if served immediately.
How To Serve Whipped Feta Dip
I like to create a beautiful mezze platter with this dip plus veggies such as carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumber rounds or spears, zucchini, radishes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, to name a few crudites into this heavenly dip.
Bread such as a sliced baguette, grilled pita bread, sliced French bread, or any crusty hearty bread will work. Of course, pita chips, tortilla chips, crackers, or flatbread are all great dippers, too.
Chances are, you’re going to be serving this easy whipped feta dip along with other items at a party or event. Maybe you want to dunk a few Baked Italian Meatballs or Honey Garlic Meatballs into this creamy dip or make a wonderful cheese board or charcuterie board as shown below.
Serving Suggestions
Whipped Feta Cheese Dip Substitutions
- Feta Cheese: This has 2 sections in the FAQs below. Make sure to read my thoughts!
- Greek Yogurt: This also has 2 sections in the FAQs below. Make sure to read my thoughts!
- Olive oil: I do strongly recommend extra-virgin olive oil, although you could substitute olive oil with other neutral-flavored oils like canola oil, vegetable oil, or grapeseed oil.
- Lemon juice and zest: Fresh is best, but if you don’t have fresh lemons, you could substitute the juice and zest with bottled lemon juice or lime juice.
- Garlic cloves: You could substitute fresh garlic with garlic powder or roasted garlic.
- Dried dill: If you don’t have dried dill, fresh dill works or you could use other herbs like dried basil, dried oregano, or dried thyme. Even some Italian seasoning will be a nice touch.
- Smoked paprika: If you don’t have smoked paprika, you could use regular paprika or other spices like cumin or chili powder.
- Optional fresh herbs for garnishing: I like fresh thyme, but other fresh herbs like parsley, chives, basil, mint, oregano, or rosemary are all great for garnishing.
Whipped Feta Dip Flavor Variations
- Spicy Feta Dip: Add some heat to your feta dip by blending in chopped jalapenos, cayenne pepper, or hot sauce. Garnish with chopped fresh herbs, red pepper flakes, or sliced scallions.
- Herbed Feta Dip: Add a variety of fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, chives, and basil to your whipped feta dip. The combination of herbs adds a powerful, flavorful twist to the recipe.
- Sun-dried Tomato Feta Dip: Add some chopped sun-dried tomatoe and za’atar seasoning to your feta dip for a sweet and savory flavor. This version is great with toasted bread or crackers.
- Smoky Feta Dip: Use smoked feta cheese and smoked paprika for a smoky flavor in your whipped feta dip. Serve with grilled vegetables or toasted bread for a delicious appetizer.
- Nutty Feta Dip: Make as written and garnish with nuts such as pistachios, pine nuts, slivered almonds, or your favorite.
Recipe FAQs
For the best taste and texture, use high-quality feta cheese made from sheep’s milk or goat’s milk.
Don’t use pre-crumbled feta, as it can be drier and less tasty. Don’t use fat free feta and expect smooth and creamy results!* See two questions below.
I suggest buying one 8-ounce block of feta cheese that’s full-fat feta cheese.
To make whipped feta dip, there are no substitutions directly. However, other crumbly cheeses like goat cheese, blue cheese, or queso fresco will work in theory, but the flavor will of course change.
I recommend full-fat, high quality Greek yogurt. 3/4 cup is about 6 ounces and I would pick up a little 6-ounce container of Fage or similar.
I personally wouldn’t use 0% fat Greek yogurt here. But, if you’re trying to cut fat from the recipe, I would make the compromise here with the Greek yogurt and NOT the feta cheese.* Fat free feta just doesn’t blend smoothly and nicely for a dip.
If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you could substitute it with sour cream. Adjust the consistency with milk (to thin it) or extra feta cheese (to thicken it) if needed.
I do not recommend regular plain yogurt because it’s too thin to really whip well and create a nice texture for dip.
I find that the feta cheese and Greek yogurt are the perfect combination of dairy-based ingredients. Although if you want to experiment by adding a couple ounces of cream cheese, I am sure it wouldn’t hurt. Any more than that though and you’ll need to start make ingredients ratio alterations.
Depending on how long you process the dip for, the texture can vary. I liked the dip to have some texture so I didn’t over process the dip so it had some small pieces of feta throughout. You can also strain the feta dip through a metal sieve for a completely smooth dip texture although I don’t find this to be necessary.
I love my Vita-Mix for things like smoothies, when I’m trying to puree a soup, or create an ultra-soup anything.
For this recipe, however, I prefer to use my food processor because it blends without creating a puree, and I find it easier to stream in ingredients like lemon juice and olive oil and emulsify them.
If all you have is a high speed blender like a VitaMix, it should be fine provided you are very careful and don’t let the speed and intensity get too high!
I used a very hot grill pan and sprayed it with some olive oil. Then I placed the whole flatbread on the grill pan and didn’t move it for a few minutes so that the grill lines could burn in. Once the grill lines were seared into both sides of the bread, I removed them from the grill pan and cut them into triangles immediately. I didn’t allow them to cool before cutting them as the flatbreads harden as they cool and become more difficult to cut.
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Whipped Feta Dip
Ingredients
- 8 ounces feta cheese*, 226 grams
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt*, 6 ounces, or 185 ml
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Zest from one lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ freshly ground pepper, optional and to taste
- Optional fresh herbs, for garnishing such as thyme, oregano, basil, mint, rosemary, etc.
Instructions
- To the canister of a 14-cup food processor or similar large food processor, add the feta cheese, Greek yogurt, garlic, zest of the lemon, and pulse until smooth and creamy. Tip – Make sure to only use the yellow rind and not go down to the white, or pith, because it's bitter.
- With the machine running on low speed, through the feed chute, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, lemon juice, and process until smooth and incorporated.
- Open the lid, scrape down the sides of the canister if necessary, add the dill, smoked paprika, salt, optional pepper, replace the lid, and pulse to incorporate.
- Taste the dip and make any necessary seasoning adjustments, if desired, such as additional salt, pepper, spices, etc.
- Place in a bowl, and although you can serve the dip now, I recommend covering it with plastic wrap, and allowing the dip to sit at room temp for about 30 minutes, which allows the flavors to meld, marry, and develop. If it's very warm in your kitchen, you may want to let it rest in the refrigerator.
- Before serving, garnish with fresh herbs if desired, or an additional dizzle of olive oil or honey, additional crumbled feta, etc. Tip – Make sure to read the blog post for all the varieties of flavors you can create with just a few changes to the spices, seasonings, or garnishes. Serve with your favorite veggies, bread, crackers, chips, etc.
- Storage – Dip will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days, noting that the flavors like garlic could intensity as time passes. Before serving, I like to let the sit at room for about 15 minutes so it can soften it up. Tip – If the dip has become too thick (remember cold dips always seem thicker and can seem to thin out after about 15-30 minutes), you can stir in a little bit of olive oil or Greek yogurt to thin it out. I do not recommend freezing the dip because the texture will change and it could separate upon thawing.
- Make Ahead – It's possible to make this dip 24-48 hours ahead of time for a party or event. Note that the flavor of the garlic could intensity as the dip sits in the fridge.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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