Fabulous for Thanksgiving spreads and the holiday season, this lovely, sweet, spicy whipped butternut squash feta dip is a brilliant way to use this seasonal star. Just blitz your ingredients into a smooth, creamy dip, then top with chili crisp, candied chorizo, and crispy curry leaves for a fusion-forward appetizer your guests will love.
There’s nothing I love more than holiday season party food, and this gorgeous dip really sings of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Creamy whipped feta is a viral favorite for parties year-round, and this festive-inspired version is a fun twist.
I was never the biggest fan of butternut squash – or pumpkin – until I started pairing it with salty, spicy flavors. They help the mild sweetness really come alive, and it works wonderfully in this very easy, speedy dip that’s a little different from most.
I use a similar technique in this roasted butternut squash salad, these miso roasted sweet potatoes, and this creamy butternut squash ramen.
Why You’ll Love the Dip
- Super easy to prep in advance.
- Mix and match your toppings – hot honey, candied chorizo, curry leaves, and chili crisp are my choices in the recipe below, but you can play around. Sage and bacon are great swaps.
- Perfect for Thanksgiving and Christmas entertaining.
Kate’s Top Tip
This is a brilliant way to use up leftover holiday season pumpkins! I love to follow my recipe for the easy way to roast butternut squash (the technique works for any pumpkin), then scoop out the flesh to use in the recipe.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pumpkin puree. You can use canned pumpkin puree (make sure it’s the plain, unsweetened version), or you can use roasted butternut squash or pumpkin. I like to follow this recipe for the easy way to roast butternut squash.
- Feta. The recipe uses a whole block for ease. Try to use creamy feta, rather than anything too crumbly.
- Greek yogurt. This just helps the dip blend smoothly and creates a lovely, silky smooth result. You could swap it for cream cheese, sour cream, crème fraîche, or whipped cottage cheese.
- Chorizo. The salty flavor complements the sweetness of the squash beautifully – you could also use bacon. Or skip it for a vegetarian version.
- Curry leaves. I LOVE crisping up curry leaves in the chili crisp oil for a lovely little garnish, but you can skip this if you can’t find curry leaves, or use sage leaves instead.
How to Make Whipped Butternut Squash Feta Dip
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the whipped butternut squash dip – the full instructions with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Add the feta, Greek yogurt, roasted butternut squash, and a little water to a blender.
- Blitz until super smooth and creamy.
- Spread the whipped butternut squash feta dip onto a serving plate.
- Scatter the sticky candied chorizo on top.
- Drizzle with chili crisp, crispy curry leaves if you’re using them, and fresh chives for something green.
- Serve with your favorite chips, crackers, or fresh bread (this no-knead rosemary parmesan bread or no-knead focaccia are fab choices).
Butternut Squash Whipped Feta FAQs
You can! Make the butternut squash feta base up to 3 days in advance, then store it in an airtight container in the fridge. It’ll firm up in the fridge, so let it come to room temperature (get it out of the fridge roughly 30 minutes before you want to serve it), and stir it before plating it up. Add the toppings just before serving (you can make the candied chorizo 3 days in advance, too, and store it in the fridge).
Swap it for crispy bacon or crumbled sausage meat, or make it vegetarian and use shredded tofu or chickpeas. The topping provides a crispy, salty element to balance the dip, so as long as it’s along those lines, you can play around.
I love serving this dip with fresh bread – like this no-knead chili cheese focaccia, no-knead rosemary parmesan bread, two-ingredient dough garlic naan, or crackers, or crunchy pita chips.
It’s also lovely as a sandwich spread, dolloped onto a grain bowl, or served with grilled meat (it works well with honey harissa grilled chicken).
Like this recipe? Try these appetizers next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
Print
Whipped Butternut Squash Feta Dip with Chili Crisp
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Fabulous for Thanksgiving spreads and the holiday season, this lovely, sweet, spicy whipped butternut squash feta dip is a brilliant way to use this seasonal star. Just blitz your ingredients into a smooth, creamy dip, then top with chili crisp, candied chorizo, and crispy curry leaves for a fusion-forward appetizer your guests will love.
If you’re roasting the butternut squash for the dip, I recommend following this recipe for the easy way to roast butternut squash.
Ingredients
For the whipped butternut squash dip –
- 1 cup of roasted butternut squash (or pumpkin) flesh, can also use plain canned pumpkin puree
- 1 block of feta cheese (7 oz or 200g)
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or cream cheese, sour cream, crème fraîche, or whipped cottage cheese)
- 1/4 cup water
For the toppings –
- 2 oz (50g) chorizo, casing removed and diced
- 1 tablespoon hot honey sauce (or regular honey)
- 1 tablespoon chili crisp oil
- 5 fresh curry leaves (optional, or use fresh sage leaves)
- A handful of fresh chives, finely chopped
Instructions
- Blitz the dip. Add your butternut squash flesh (or pumpkin puree) to the bowl of a blender or food processor, along with the block of feta, 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt, and 1/4 cup of water. Blitz into a creamy, smooth dip. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything has blended properly.
- Transfer the dip to a serving plate. Spoon the dip onto a lipped plate or shallow bowl. Use the back of your spoon to make ridges in the dip for your toppings.
- Make the candied chorizo. Add the diced chorizo to a small pan and set it over medium-high heat. Cook the chorizo, stirring, for a couple of minutes, until crispy. At this point, add 1 tablespoon of hot honey sauce and stir it through the chorizo. Spoon the sticky candied chorizo onto your dip.
- Make the crispy curry leaves. Add 1 tablespoon of chili crisp to the same pan and reduce the heat to medium. Add the curry leaves and cook, stirring, for a minute, until they start popping and smelling gorgeously fragrant. Remove the pan from the hat.
- Garnish and serve. Spoon the chili crisp and crispy curry leaves on top of the dip, then scatter with the fresh chives. Serve with warm bread, crackers, chips, or crudites.
Notes
MAKE AHEAD: You can make the dip up to 3 days ahead of time, then store it in the fridge in an airtight container until you’re ready to serve. It’ll firm up in the fridge a bit, so try to get it out about 30 minutes before you want to serve it, so it can come to room temperature. Stir it before you plate it up.
ALTERNATIVE TOPPING IDEAS: Swap the chorizo for bacon or crumbled sausage meat. For a vegetarian option, swap it for chickpeas or shredded tofu. Swap the curry leaves for sage leaves for a more traditional option if you prefer.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serving the dip with lovely fresh bread, like no-knead chili cheese focaccia, no-knead rosemary parmesan bread, or soft two-ingredient dough garlic naan is a lovely idea. It’s also brilliant with crunchy baked pita chips. You can also use it as a sandwich spread or as a sauce for grilled meat (it’s lovely with honey harissa grilled chicken), or use it as a base for crispy skin-on roast potatoes.
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 5
- Category: appetizers
- Method: blender
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/3 cup
- Calories: 148
- Sugar: 4.3g
- Sodium: 322mg
- Fat: 10.8g
- Saturated Fat: 5.1g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 7.1g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 6.4g
- Cholesterol: 25mg
