Baked Pumpkin Dip with Goat Cheese
This pumpkin dip recipe straddles the line between sweet and savory! Pumpkin purée, goat cheese, and pumpkin spice yield an irresistible dip.
Posted by Kathryne Taylor on October 30, 2024
This creamy pumpkin dip straddles the line between sweet and savory in the best way. It’s a seasonal riff on my recipe for Baked Goat Cheese that incorporates pumpkin purée and pumpkin spice. If you enjoy pumpkin and goat cheese separately, I’m confident you’ll love this recipe!
The key flavors in this dip are goat cheese, cream cheese, pumpkin purée, pumpkin spice and honey. Then we ramp up the savory side with one clove of garlic, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (optional, for some heat).
We’ll blend those ingredients in a food processor, transfer the mixture to a small baking dish and drizzle with some extra honey. Bake until warm and golden for a lovely autumnal appetizer or snack.
Since this recipe calls for a relatively small amount of pumpkin purée, it’s the perfect recipe to make with leftovers from your pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffins.
How to Serve Savory Pumpkin Dip
Enjoy this pumpkin dip between visitors from Halloween trick-or-treaters, and serve it at your football watch party or as a Thanksgiving appetizer. It makes a satisfying light meal with a green salad, like this seasonal spinach salad or a simple lemony kale salad.
For dipping, try crostini, toasted slices of sourdough bread, pita chips or toasted pita wedges. For a gluten-free option, try sturdy crackers and wide strips of fresh red bell pepper. Olives and light red wine, like pinot noir, are lovely accompaniments.
For a complete party spread, serve this dip with hummus, a cheese board, sweet and spicy nuts, or Gaby’s Roasted Beets and Labneh.
Leftover pumpkin?
This recipe calls for 1/4 cup pumpkin purée. You’ll have over 1 cup left over from the can, which is plenty for the following pumpkin recipes:
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins
- Healthy Pumpkin Bread!
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
- Homemade Pumpkin Chai Latte
- Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze
Please let me know how the recipe turns out in the comments. I love hearing from you. You can find more dip recipes here.
Baked Pumpkin Dip with Goat Cheese
This pumpkin dip recipe straddles the line between sweet and savory! Pumpkin purée blended with goat cheese and pumpkin spice makes an irresistible dip. Recipe yields about 2 cups, enough for 4 to 6 appetizer servings.
Ingredients
- 10 ounces goat cheese
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ cup pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice blend
- 1 tablespoon honey, plus more for drizzling
- 1 small-to-medium garlic clove, sliced 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
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, pumpkin purée, 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 itself 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, leaving some texture 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 turning lightly golden in places and bubbling and puffed around the edges. Drizzle it with another teaspoon or two of honey, and let it cool for about 5 minutes (it’s hot). Serve with your desired accompaniments.
Notes
Make it gluten free: The dip is gluten-free, so choose gluten-free accompaniments like crackers.
Cream cheese note: The cream cheese makes this dip more creamy and luscious. Without it, the pumpkin and spice flavors taste bolder, which you might love if you’re a big fan. I did not need to let the cream cheese or goat cheese warm to room temperature before blending them in my Cuisinart food processor.
Leftover pumpkin? See the post for more recipes to make or store the rest in a freezer bag for up to 6 months.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
I like goat cheese but I’m taking it where one person doesn’t. Can I sub all cream cheese or would it lose something?
Hi Janine, I haven’t tried it with all cream cheese. I think it would work. It will not taste as interesting without the goat cheese, but if you try it, please let me know how it turns out!
I love your recipes and you are so creative. Please put the ingredients in metric too, most of the world uses metric!
Thanks, Gillian! I’ll keep looking for a good solution for metric measurements.
This came in just in time today after I’d baked a whole pumpkin in the oven. We had it for an appetizer with toasted sourdough fingers, though I think next time I’ll serve it like the French, after dinner. You get the cheese and the dessert course all in one! Yummy!
Hi Diana, love that idea! I’m glad you enjoyed this one!
This was so easy to make and everyone loved it!
Hooray! Thanks for letting me know, Regan!
You simply are the best and most creative cook. I have NEVER made one of your recipes that we didn’t love and make over and over. Your cookbook is a house favorite and is used by everyone. Many thanks for yet another winning recipe!
Sue, thank you! Your kind words made my day. :)
Delicious! Great flavor combo! I’m ready to make this again
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know, Linda!
Hello, Kate! You have made it easy to introduce our baby to healthy solids that he loves (and we do, too) – thank you! On that note, since our baby can’t eat honey yet, do you think it would work okay to substitute maple syrup for the honey?
Hi Meredith, that’s so nice to hear! Yes, I think maple syrup would be a great substitute for the honey.
I used my book club as a trial run of this recipe before adding it to my Thanksgiving menu. It is so good – everyone devoured it. It made the cut and will be a staple in my Thanksgiving appetizer line-up.
Great idea! I’m so glad it was a hit. Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Could I use a hand held electric mixer if I don’t have a food processor?
Hi Karen! I haven’t tried that, but yes, I think it would work well. The ingredients will blend more easily if you let them come to room temperature first.
I’m not a big goat cheese fan. May I substitute feta cheese or mozzarella? Has anyone done so? Thank you! Love all your recipes!
Hi Kathryn! I haven’t heard from anyone who has made that substitution. You could try feta, which should work pretty well. It is more salty, so you might not need to add any salt. Better yet, if you like cream cheese, use all cream cheese!
surprisingly delicious!
Hooray, thanks, Eleni!
This made a great appetizer. I loved that it used up the little bit of pumpkin I had left after Thanksgiving. The recipe was easy to follow. I divided it in two portions in smaller ramekins since we had a small group. I plan to make this again, in part because my husband loved it so much.
Thanks for your note, Andrea! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this one.
This was so yummy and unique…just when I think I’ve tried it all! My guests were fighting over it, even a couple who normally aren’t fans of goat cheese!