Christmas Feta is here for the holidays! Smooth and creamy whipped feta topped with orange zest, pomegranate seeds, candied nuts, and fresh thyme. It’s basically a delicious ornament in a bowl!
Christmas Feta
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This was such a hit at my holiday party! The combination of toppings is magical. And serving alongside pear and apple (plus bread, of course) was perfect! Thank you for yet another family favorite recipe that will be repeated many times over!
Lisa Bragg
Holidays on full blast here. This whipped feta dip is basically like a delicious ornament in a bowl. Smooth, creamy, slightly sweet with some salty tang, topped with orange zest, pomegranate seeds, candied nuts, and fresh thyme, speckling it like bright little jewels. So beautiful. So Christmasy.
This recipe is also the throw-together-in-a-pinch, oh-my-you-forgot-that-neighborhood-gathering-was-tonight, don’t-have-anything-made, still-want-to-wow-them type dish. It’s the perfect appetizer or late-night festive fancy snack. Put it out on the table early so your guests can keep making excuses to pass by to get just one more dip.
Everyone needs a recipe like that in their back pocket for the holidays. And we can’t stop scooping and swooping through this one.
How To Make Whipped Feta
Admittedly we cannot stop topping anything with a simple whipped feta like this crispy socca or these unbelievable harissa meatballs. So we wanted to take the creamy, rich, subtly salty, bitey, highly addictive whipped feta base we love and then just kind of merry-merry it up with some drizzley honey and, like, all the toppings. Who doesn’t love toppings?! And it couldn’t be easier to get this gal together.
- Whip it up. Toss the feta, cream cheese, garlic, and honey into your food processor and buzz it up until very smooth.
- Glam it out. After you transfer it to a bowl, give it a couple swoops so it looks fancy. And then, dear readers, have. at. it. What do you want to toss on there? Everything? Good. We love quintessentially festive pomegranate and some bright orange zest. Some walnut crispies because we love to put them on everything and you will too.
That’s honestly it. It’s nice to break it into steps so it looks like you really had to sweat over this highly beautiful and deeply delicious thing on your table. But you didn’t! And that can be our little secret.
Toppings Galore!
Let’s really celebrate the abundance of the holiday season through our greatest love language, toppings! This dip itself is super flexible in that you can notch up or down the sweetness to your liking. We’ve also tried it with goat cheese which was a little less salty than the feta but still highly delectable (we salt hogs always lean feta though…can’t stop won’t stop).
After that, go crazy. Make it delicious, make it beautiful. The bright red pomegranate seeds are the perfect juicy little burst and the green of the fresh thyme leaves deliver big time on flavor, while also keeping it very on theme and color-coordinated for the season. The fresh orange zest really zips things up and oh my, those walnut crispies. You could definitely use some store-bought candied nuts if you want to keep things super quick and easy but if you have the time to whip up a batch of them on your own, you will sprinkle them on everything.
Cracks of fresh black pepper, extra swizzles of honey, a rosemary sprig for beauty…it’s almost like decorating a tree but you get to eat this in the end and that is a real win.
What To Serve With This Dip
You can also go all out to your heart’s content on dippers, pals. Grab your favorite crackers, your store-bought crostini, your big hunky bread. Try it with pretzel chips or apple slices or sneaky spoonfuls when no one is looking (or when everyone is looking and you just own that holiday dip-loving self of yours!)
We especially love it with some quick olive-oil toasted baguette slices for their chewy-crisp nature and ease of scooping, but you really can make it your own and put as little or as much effort in as you like when bringing this together! It’s a real meet-you-where-you’re-at type of holiday recipe and those really are the best, aren’t they?
So, whether you’re taking it to a last-minute neighborhood party or a cozy little Friendsmas celebration or just setting it out early as family starts to arrive, this salty-sweet, creamy rich, deeply beautiful dip is sure to maximize the joy of the season, whichever table it’s on.
Christmas Feta: FAQs
How long does this dip last in the fridge?
It should last about 1 week in a sealed container in the fridge.
What do you suggest for dunkers?
Crostinis, warm bread, veggies, crackers, fruit — honestly, anything is good!
Can I prep this ahead of time?
Yes! You can prep this a day ahead of time and store in the fridge. Add the toppings just before serving.
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Christmas Feta
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Description
Christmas Feta is here for the holidays! Smooth and creamy whipped feta topped with orange zest, pomegranate seeds, candied nuts, and fresh thyme. It’s basically a delicious ornament in a bowl!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Feta Dip
- one 8-ounce block of feta cheese
- 1 small clove garlic (or half if you’re sensitive to garlic)
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons honey
Toppings
- Pomegranate seeds
- Candied nuts (see notes)
- Thyme leaves
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Orange or lemon zest
Instructions
- Pulse feta, garlic, cream cheese, and honey in a food processor until very smooth. Transfer to a plate and give it some swoops with a spoon to make it pretty.
- Top with pomegranate seeds, candied nuts, thyme leaves, freshly ground black pepper, zest, and a drizzle of honey.
Notes
Walnut Crispies (the candied nuts I used): Roast 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees. Mix 1 tablespoon butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a dash of black pepper, and some thyme or rosemary leaves together. Pour over the nuts and toss to coat. Let cool for 10-15 minutes so the coating hardens a little bit.
Nutrition facts do not include any of the toppings.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Dip
- Method: Pulse
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: feta dip, dip recipe, whipped feta
More Delicious Dip Recipes
- Caramelized Onion Dip (a total crowd-pleaser)
- Curry Hummus (a fun twist on the Mediterranean classic)
- Homemade Cheesy Chili Dip
- Gingery Cranberry Salsa
Filed Under: 5 Ingredients All Recipes Appetizer Healthy Holiday Series Quick and Easy Vegetarian Winter
December 13, 2021
Created By The POY Team
Rita Boersma
Writer
Lindsay Ostrom
Recipe Developer
Eman Kemp
Editorial
Emily Caruso
Videographer
Looks delicious! Will definitely try it this holiday. Thank you for sharing!
Enjoy!
getting ready to make this for Christmas dinner – but was curious, can you use goat cheese instead of cream cheese?
Yes you can!
I made this and it was so thin just ran all
Over the plate. The taste was good, a little salty for my taste, which I’m sure was just the Feta.
This was such a hit at my holiday party! The combination of toppings is magical. And serving alongside pear and apple (plus bread, of course) was perfect! Thank you for yet another family favorite recipe that will be repeated many times over!
Glad to hear it was a hit, Lisa!
I made this for Christmas Eve, it is divine. I’m planning on making it next year already.
This was tasty, but didn’t really come together for me as described. I blended and blended and blended with my food processor but it wouldn’t turn creamy and still left big chunks of feta (because it was still cold from the fridge? not sure). I had to thin it with some water and olive oil and it finally thinned out. Just my personal experience.
Thanks for this comment. It was MUCH too thick for me too and after I added some water and olive oil I could at least blend it.
Good Recepie Thanks for sharing !
I made this for Christmas, unfortunately no one showed up as we had a huge ice storm, I ended up eating all by myself over a week. I have been craving ever since and am making it again today! I added about 2tbsp of fresh orange juice to thin it out the last time and will do that again. Eat it with anything, apple slices, crackers, crusty bread, sweet pepper strips. So yummy, at the first bite I wasn’t so sure but I couldn’t stop thinking about this dip after I dug in!!!
Did it for Christmas too!
Turned out pretty good, even if you take the fact that I’m just a normal teacher and some kind of cook and I’m really mediocre at cooking!
Thanks for the recipe.
Delicious! I had to thoroughly break up my feta, and it took a while to process the dip until it was smooth, but it came out deliciously! We ate it both sweet and savory. Great both ways!
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I wash just looking for an easy appetizer to bring to my book group gathering tonight. This looks perfect!
It is super delicious. Christmas feta is my favorite breakfast
I made this for my annual Christmas Eve party. Easy to make and absolutely decadent. I followed the recipe completely and it came out perfect.
I love the lighthearted and fun tone of this article! “Big hunky bread” and “own that holiday dip-loving self” cracked me up. It really makes you feel welcome and playful in the kitchen.
Thanks for this delicious dip recipe. The saltiness of the feta is great with the sweet honey and tart pomegranate seeds. So pretty with the fresh time too. Thanks!