Baked Feta Dip Recipe

Remember back when everyone was going crazy over the viral feta and tomato TikTok pasta? Everyone tried it, many people loved it, while others weren't too thrilled. The one thing this viral pasta did accomplish, though, was to draw attention to an often underrated cheese — feta — and prove that it is indeed good for more than just crumbling on top of salads.

Recipe developer Hayley MacLean likes to bake feta cheese with vegetables and seasonings, then combine these ingredients to make a tasty dish or spread that can be eaten with crudites or chunks of bread. She describes the results as "absolutely bursting with flavor," with "every single ingredient add[ing] something different to this dish." What with the feta, olives, and roasted red pepper, she says every bite is a little bit different, and yet somehow all of these ingredients work together to produce a tasty dip.

To make this dip, you'll need a block of feta cheese, and not the pre-crumbled kind. You'll also be using cherry tomatoes, roasted red peppers, a red onion, kalamata olives, garlic, and olive oil, and you'll season the dish with dried oregano, thyme, and crushed red pepper. You can use fresh basil for a garnish, although MacLean does say that fresh parsley or even mint may be good herb options.

Before you get started with the ingredients, preheat the oven to 425 F. Now, unwrap the feta and place the block of cheese in a small baking pan. Arrange the sliced vegetables, olives, and garlic around the feta, then drizzle everything with oil. Finish the dip off with a sprinkling of oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes.

Once the oven has reached the proper temperature, put the dip in and bake it for 20 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven for a minute to stir up the vegetables, then bake the dip for 10 to 15 minutes longer, until the vegetables are starting to turn brown.

Once you take the pan out of the oven, swirl the cheese together with the cooked vegetables. Taste the dip, then season it with salt and pepper. If you'd like, you can garnish it with basil or other fresh herbs. If you keep it in the fridge (as you should), it will last for about 5 days.

As this is a dip, you'll need something to dip in it. MacLean says that toasted, thin-sliced baguettes, pita bread, crackers, or crudités "would be perfect to serve alongside this dip." She also suggests stirring it into a plate of pasta because "the noodles would serve as the perfect carb-y vehicle for this rich and creamy mixture."