Don't Waste Your Money On This TGI Fridays Frozen Appetizer

Buying exact replicas of famous restaurant foods at the grocery store is a luxury we didn't know we needed. We can enjoy the best of our favorite places without leaving the comfort of our living rooms, at least in theory. One of our writers at Tasting Table sat down to rank seven of TGI Fridays' frozen appetizers and was disheartened to report that the spinach and artichoke cheese dip wasn't worth the few bucks it cost to take it home.

While spinach and artichoke cheese dip is typically an easy crowd-pleaser, our writer found that TGI Fridays' frozen version didn't live up to expectations, let alone the photo on the box. The dip came out of the microwave loose and watery, more like a sad soup than an exciting appetizer. That satisfying stretch of cheese when collecting the dip on a chip was nowhere to be found, with our writer describing the cheese as more of a glue-like consistency than anything else. Our writer also said the dip was too salty. You'd think replicating a timeless recipe like spinach and artichoke cheese dip would be relatively easy, but apparently, it's harder than it looks.

When TGI Fridays opened in 1965, it quickly became known as the land of happy hours and the home of original appetizers. Although spinach and artichoke dip had been around since the mid-twentieth century, it skyrocketed in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to chain restaurants such as TGI Fridays. For decades, spinach and artichoke dip remained a high hitter on the restaurant's menu and eventually, the company entered a deal with Kraft Heinz to sell frozen replicas.

While our writer deemed appetizers such as the buffalo-style chicken wings and the honey BBQ boneless chicken bites more than acceptable, that classic cheesy spinach and artichoke dip just didn't measure up. The frozen dip is made with a combination of cheese including mozzarella, parmesan, and Neufchatel blended with a mixture of spinach and artichoke, though our writer couldn't distinguish any of those individual flavors.

The once-beloved chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024, with two cities already saying goodbye for good as 50 locations shut down across the country around the same time, which could explain the origins of the disappointing appetizer. Our writer ranked the frozen mozzarella sticks as the best of the best, and another of our writers even ranked the TGI Fridays frozen mozzarella sticks as the best of seven frozen mozzarella stick brands. If only the frozen spinach and artichoke cheese dip could live up to the hype of its in-store counterpart.