Herb Cream Cheese

There’s nothing better than homemade herb cream cheese! Packed with fresh herbs, it’s an easy appetizer or spread for bagels.

Sure, you can buy herb cream cheese at the store. But for the very best herbaceous flavor, try homemade Herb Cream Cheese! It’s full of beautiful fresh flavor from bright green chives, dill and basil, punctuated by savory garlic. It’s absolutely worth making it at home, as it gives any appetizer tray a personal touch. Or, whip up a batch for sandwiches or bagels throughout the week! It’s great on a Smoked Salmon Sandwich or as a dip for crackers. (In fact, it reminds us of the Rondele cheese spread my grandma always serves!)

Ingredients in herb cream cheese

This herb cream cheese is full of bright, fresh homemade flavors from fresh chives and dill. It’s best in the summer when herbs abound, but that doesn’t stop us from making it in the dead of winter! It can be expensive to buy fresh herbs in the winter, so you may only want to use one type of herb here: that’s okay! It tastes delicious not matter what you use. The ingredients you’ll need are:

• Cream cheese
• Mix of fresh herbs: chives, basil or dill
• Garlic powder
• Dried dill
• Kosher salt
• Greek yogurt, milk or sour cream (optional)

Herbs to use: and a few substitutions!

A few notes on the herbs to use for herb cream cheese! Fresh herbs can be pricey in the winter, so here are some tricks to make this spread simpler:

• Use just one herb: we recommend chives. So you don’t have to buy separate packages, just use chives! It tastes great too.
• Grow herbs in the summer. They’re simple to grow in pots so cost effective! See How to Grow Herbs.
• Use only dried herbs. Substitute ½ teaspoon dried oregano and ½ teaspoon dried basil for the fresh herbs: it tastes different but still good!
• Either way: don’t leave out the dried dill. It’s worth buying for your pantry and it completes the herbaceous flavor here!

Making fluffier, spreadable herb cream cheese

This herb cream cheese is fantastic with just cream cheese, herbs and seasonings. The texture comes out similar to regular cream cheese: pretty solid. So if you want it to be fluffier or more spreadable, here are a few options:

• Add a few tablespoons milk, sour cream or Greek yogurt. This softens it to a more spreadable texture. Add as much as you need to get it to the texture you’d like! If you’re using it more like a dip, you may want it on the softer side (like Rondele cheese spread!).
• Make whipped cream cheese. You can also make whipped cream cheese: place the cream cheese in a food processor with 1 tablespoon milk and whip until it’s fluffy. Then add the chopped herbs and pulse until combined!

Ways to serve herb cream cheese

There are infinite ideas for serving herb cream cheese! Here are some of our favorite ways:

• Sandwiches like this smoked salmon sandwich
• Bagels like with smoked salmon and capers
• Cracker dip with crackers or crostini
• Veggie dip with carrots, celery or bell peppers
• Toast with veggie toppings, as an easy lunch

More cheesy dips and spreads

There are lots more cheeses to whip up! Here are a few more cheese dips and spreads we love:

• Try homemade cream cheese flavors like Veggie, Chive, Cinnamon, Strawberry, Blueberry, or Whipped Cream Cheese
• Opt for Whipped Cottage Cheese or Cottage Cheese Dip
• Try Whipped Ricotta or Whipped Feta Dip

01

Veggie Cream Cheese

02

Strawberry Cream Cheese

03

Blueberry Cream Cheese

04

Cinnamon Cream Cheese

This herb cream cheese recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

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