Baked Ricotta Cheese Dip with Jam

Entertain your guests with this baked ricotta cheese dip.

The dip is enriched with herbs and spices, topped with jam, and baked hot.

Jump to:

• 📕 What is ricotta?
• 🥣 Ingredients
• 🔪 How to make it?
• 🍴 Serving
• 🍱 Storing
• 💭 FAQs
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

I have been trying my hands on different hot cheese dips prepped with a jam topping. This baked ricotta dip was inspired by the baked brie with fig jam appetizer.

📕 What is ricotta?

Ricotta is a grainy soft by-product of cheese making. It's made from the whey that is leftover from making cheese.

This Italian cheese is white and almost odorless and is used extensively in Northern Italian cuisines.

The local varieties in Italy can be made from sheep, goat, or buffalo milk.

Yet, ricotta is popular in the rest of the world too, where it is mainly produced with cow's milk.

This cheese is great as a hot appetizer dip!

🥣 Ingredients

Here is an overview of what you will need to make this easy dip from scratch at home. The US and metric measurements are located in the recipe card below.

For the dip:

• egg - it holds the dip together, makes i creamy and adds flavors
• ricotta cheese - fresh
• salt and black pepper
• garlic powder
• onion powder
• crushed red chili flakes - don't skip that! It compliments the dip and it won't be spicy hot because of the creamy ricotta.
• thyme - dried
• oregano - dried
• jam - I chose apricot jam because that's what I had at home, but you can use fig jam or any other jam too, such as a tomato jam. The orange color of the apricot jam is also appealing to the eye.

Topping:

• chives - fresh and chopped small
• crushed red chili flakes - some more because it looks great and adds minor heat

This dip is made with dried onion and garlic powder because as a seasoning, they mix better into the mass. I don't recommend using fresh garlic and onion.

🔪 How to make it?

To make the whipped ricotta dip from scratch is easy!

Here is everything you need to know in a nutshell to help you start out. The full progress details are in the printable recipe card at the bottom.

Step 1

Scramble the egg in a bowl.

Stir and mix in ricotta and seasoning ingredients.

Step 2

Pour and spread the ricotta mass between your ramekins.

Top the ricotta with a layer of jam.

Step 3

Bake the dip.

When done take out and top with freshly chopped chives and some more crushed red chilis.

🍴 Serving

I love love love this hot creamy dip with a set of dipping options.

So, you can prepare something like a charcuterie board just with dippers.

Arrange the dippers around the baked ricotta dip and place it in the center of a table so that people can freely take some.

You can add the following dippers:

• crackers -ritz crackers, plain ones, flavored whichever savory cracker.
• other savory cookies - I used bacon flavored cookies in the images.
• grissini breadsticks - they look nice and are elongated, perfect for dipping.
• chips - firm hard chips do better. Tortilla chips are great.
• jalapenos - fresh chilis if you like it spicy hot.
• vegetables - such as fresh cucumbers, carrots, celery stick, peppers, sharp radish and tomatoes. They add a level of freshness to the dip and they balance the appetizer well.
• fruits - well why not, right? Fresh grapes and fig make an excellent choice.

Guests love options, so keeping those dippers ready in a bowl or even better laid out on a granite slate to leave a lasting impression.

🍱 Storing

If you have leftovers, you can just keep the dip in the baking dish and place it in the fridge. Just cover it with some foil or clean wrap.

To reheat, place in the oven over a lower heat setting for 5-10 minutes or until it is warm again.

Use up within 2-3 days!

You can also prepare the full dip with the jam on it and freeze the ramekins. Just cover it on top with a clean wrap.

When you are ready to bake the ramekins, just place them frozen into your oven and bake them. Just add a lot more extra time to that so that the dip is properly cooked through, about 15-20 minutes more.

💭 FAQs

📖 Recipe