Creamy, tangy whipped goat cheese is perfectly balanced with a touch of sweetness and a hint of smoky spice in this goat cheese appetizer. It’s sophisticated, flavourful, elegant, and best of all, it’s ridiculously easy to make.
Goat Cheese Appetizer
Entertaining can be stressful, right? You want to impress your guests with delicious food, but you don’t necessarily have the time nor inclination to spend hours slaving away in the kitchen.
Enter our gorgeous, impressive goat cheese appetizer: stage right! It’s the definition of high impact, low effort and I promise you, it will be a showstopper at your next gathering.
Let’s talk about why this simple creation is a game-changer. For starters, you don’t need a lot of time; even if you’re moving at the pace of a slow loris, it takes a maximum of 10 minutes of hands-on time.
Whipped Goat Cheese
The secret to this appetizer’s irresistible texture is the whipped goat cheese. We’re taking 10 ounces of soft goat cheese and combining it with 2 ounces of cream cheese. Whip this dynamic duo together until it’s light, airy, and incredibly spreadable. The cream cheese adds an extra layer of richness and helps stabilize and smooth the goat cheese, making it even more decadent.
Goat Cheese Appetizers
Once your whipped goat cheese dip is beautifully smooth, it’s time for the toppings that elevate this from great to gourmet. A generous drizzle of hot honey over the top brings that divine sweet heat! A sprinkle of chopped pistachios adds a delightful crunch and a pop of colour.
A few sprigs of fresh thyme bring a lovely, earthy herbaceous note. And to cap it off, a light dusting of smoked paprika provides that subtle, smoky finish that will have everyone asking for the recipe.
Every time I make this whipped goat cheese dip, people go nuts for it. The bowl is always empty before anything else on the table!
If you’re looking for more great ways to work goat cheese into your holiday rotation, try this stunning Fig Pistachio Honey Goat Cheese Cheesecake. Sweet without being cloying, gorgegous, and festive beyond compare, this exquisite cheesecake will leave everyone awed.
And our luxe-but-easy Roasted Garlic Artichoke Goat Cheese Fondue is equally at home in the spotlight on a buffet table or in a bowl on your lap while you curl up for a movie night at home. This is another one that will leave folks asking for the recipe!
Whipped Goat Cheese Dip
One of the best things about this goat cheese appetizer is that it’s a fantastic make-ahead option! You can whip up the goat cheese mixture, assemble the toppings, and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
In fact, it’s best served at room temperature, allowing all those amazing flavours to truly shine. Just pull it out of the fridge about 30 minutes to an hour before your guests arrive.
Serve it with crispy crostini, your favorite crackers, or a colourful array of vegetable sticks for a gluten-free or low-carb option. As an added bonus, this dip is high in protein at 10 grams of protein per serving. Keep your gains this holiday season with something that tastes amazing and doesn’t feel like a sacrifice!
You can use leftovers as a delightfully indulgent sandwich spread or toast topper, too. However you present it, this elegant and easy goat cheese appetizer is a guaranteed hit.
Goat Cheese Appetizer
Rate RecipeIngredients
- 10 ounces plain goat cheese room temperature
- 2 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 2 tablespoons lightly salted pistachio hearts chopped to your preferred texture. I like a mixture of fine and rough chopped nuts for texture.
- 2 tablespoons hot honey
- 1 sprig fresh thyme
- 1 pinch smoked paprika optional but delicious
- crostini, crackers, hard pretzels, raw vegetables, crusty bread, or your preferred dipper
Instructions
- Add the room temperature goat cheese and cream cheese to a mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer on high, beat the cheeses together until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Use a flexible spatula to scoop and spread the whipped goat cheese into a shallow bowl or a plate with a substantial rim. Swirl the spatula around the top of the goat cheese to create some ridges and valleys to allow the honey to pool.
- Drizzle the honey over the top and scatter the chopped pistachios over the honey.
- If using the smoked paprika dust the pinch over the top by holding your hand about a foot over the whipped goat cheese and rubbing your fingers together. Strip the thyme leaves from the sprig of thyme and sprinkle them over the dip.
- Serve at room temperature with your favourite dippers; crostini, crackers, crusty bread, pretzels, vegetable sticks, grapes, or whatever grabs your fancy.
- Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. This whipped goat cheese recipe leftovers should be allowed to come to room temperature before serving.
To Make Ahead of Time
- Follow the instructions through spreading the cheese onto your serving dish, then cover lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Bring the plate out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature (about an hour) before you want to serve it. Just before serving follow the rest of the instructions, adding the honey, thyme, pistachios, and smoked paprika right before serving.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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