Friends coming over? Make this baked goat cheese! It’s warm, creamy, tangy but lightly sweetened with honey, and a touch savory.
This irresistible appetizer comes together quickly in a food processor with simple ingredients. We’ll whip the goat cheese with cream cheese, honey, garlic and seasonings. Once baked, this dip is your favorite restaurant-level delicious.
I modeled this recipe after the lovely goat cheese dip at Rye, a restaurant in Kansas City. We visited a couple of times to research the French Blond Cocktail (reportedly Taylor Swift’s favorite!) and I remembered how much I love their goat cheese appetizer.
I asked about the ingredients and came home determined to recreate it. I’ve simplified the ingredients a bit, but this dip is just as nice. I hope you’ll try it!
How to Make Baked Goat Cheese
You’ll find the full recipe below. Here’s a brief preview with additional notes:
1) Blend until whipped
In a food processor, combine goat cheese, a lesser amount of cream cheese, honey, garlic, and basic seasonings—salt, pepper and optional red pepper flakes.
The goat cheese and cream cheese will blend just fine even if they’re coming straight from the refrigerator, but the blending process is smoother and quieter if those ingredients have come to room temperature beforehand. This dip is made predominantly with goat cheese (10 ounces), but a small amount of cream cheese (2 ounces) yields a significantly more luscious and creamy dip.
2) Transfer to a baking dish
Transfer the dip to a small oven-safe baking dish with a 3- to 4-cup (1 quart) capacity. We used a small cast iron skillet for these photos, which was barely large enough. Pyrex or stoneware baking dishes also work well.
3) Drizzle and bake
Before baking, drizzle the dip all over with a little more honey. Bake on the upper rack for 13 to 15 minutes until the top is lightly golden.
4) Drizzle and serve
Give the hot dip at least five minutes to cool before serving. Drizzle it once again with honey, and serve as desired.
Baked Goat Cheese Serving Suggestions
This baked goat cheese recipe is an easy, impromptu appetizer. It’s the perfect recipe to make when friends are on their way and your refrigerator is low on fresh produce. It’s also a great starter for almost any special dinner, from traditional to Mediterranean feasts.
Serve your goat cheese with a vehicle for dipping. Try toasted slices of sourdough bread, pita chips or toasted pita wedges. For a gluten-free option, try sturdy crackers or carrots cut on the diagonal.
For a full appetizer spread, serve with fresh berries, crudités like carrot or cucumber, olives or tapenade, or nuts. You could serve this dip with a fresh salad for contrasting textures—try my Easy Tomato Salad or Roasted & Raw Carrot Salad with Avocado.
More Creamy Dips to Enjoy
Please let me know how your baked goat cheese turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.
Baked Goat Cheese
- Author:
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Appetizer
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Diet: Vegetarian
This creamy, honey-swirled baked goat cheese recipe is easy to make at a moment’s notice! Recipe yields a scant 2 cups, enough for 4 to 6 appetizer servings.
Scale
Ingredients
- 10 ounces goat cheese
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon honey, plus 2 teaspoons more for drizzling, divided
- 1 small-to-medium garlic clove, cut into several pieces
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
- For serving: Crusty sourdough or crostini or toasted pita wedges, berries, olives or tapenade, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with a rack in the upper third of the oven.
- In a food processor, combine the goat cheese, cream cheese, 1 tablespoon of the honey, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if using).
- Process until the mixture comes together completely and is lightly whipped, about 2 minutes, pausing to scrape down the sides and base as necessary. The mixture will ball up in the food processor and eventually smooth out. If in doubt, process a little longer.
- Taste, and adjust as necessary—add another pinch of red pepper flakes for more heat, or another teaspoon or two of honey if you’d like it sweeter (we will drizzle it with more honey next, so the finished dip will be a little sweeter than you’re tasting now).
- Transfer the dip to a small oven-safe baking dish with a 3- to 4-cup (1 quart) capacity. Spread it evenly across the base of the dish, with some texture remaining on top. Drizzle it with 1 teaspoon of additional honey.
- Bake the dip on the upper rack for 13 to 15 minutes until the top is lightly golden in places, and bubbling and puffed around the edges. Drizzle it with another teaspoon or so of honey, and let it cool for about 5 minutes (it’s hot). Serve with your desired accompaniments.
▸ Nutrition Information
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