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Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

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Savor the taste of summer with this sun-dried tomato dip from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook—perfect for picnics and patio parties!

sun-dried tomato dip

This sun-dried tomato dip from Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten is the epitome of easygoing summer party fare. Think picnic, entertaining on your sun-soaked patio, or enjoying an outdoor concert on the lush grass with a glass of white wine in hand—pure grown-up bliss! I first tasted this dip at a get-together at my friend Lisa’s house, and if an empty bowl is the ultimate test for a dish’s deliciousness, this dip passed with flying colors. Though the dip is made with sun-dried tomatoes, it’s not overwhelmingly “tomato-y.” Rather, it boasts a tangy, irresistible flavor that just captures the essence of summer. It’s no wonder this dip is a best-seller at the Barefoot Contessa store.

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Barefoot Contessa Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

Savor the taste of summer with this sun-dried tomato dip from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook—perfect for picnics and patio parties!

Servings: 2 cups
Total Time: 10 Minutes

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature*
  • ½ cup sour cream
  • ½ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's
  • 10 dashes Tabasco sauce
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced (white and green parts), plus a bit more for garnishing if desired

Instructions

  1. Place the tomatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Blitz to blend well. Add the scallions and pulse twice. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Let dip come to room temperature, garnish with sliced scallions if desired, then serve with flat bread, fresh vegetables, crackers, chips or all of the above.
  2. *It is important that the cream cheese be room temperature so there are no lumps.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (10 servings)
  • Calories: 187
  • Fat: 19 g
  • Saturated fat: 7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 2 g
  • Sugar: 1 g
  • Fiber: 0 g
  • Protein: 2 g
  • Sodium: 170 mg
  • Cholesterol: 35 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

Gluten-Free Adaptable Note

To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.

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Comments

  • Hi Jenn, I really want to make this but I had an incident with my food processor once and I’m scared of it. Can this be done in the stand mixer or blender? If not, I’ll bite the bullet. Thanks!

    • — Melinda on April 9, 2023
    • Reply
    • Sure, Melinda, Just make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature and the sun-dried tomatoes are really finely chopped. Hope you enjoy!

      • — Jenn on April 10, 2023
      • Reply
  • Too salty for me! Have finished making and removed from food processor. Is there something I can do to cut the saltiness? Thanks for any suggestions.

    • — Deborah on March 4, 2023
    • Reply
    • I’m sorry you found it to be too salty! To temper it, I’d add a little bit more of each of the other ingredients.

      • — Jenn on March 7, 2023
      • Reply
  • I made this dip for the first time over the holidays and it was a big hit. Light, luscious and so creamy rich. I served it with Stacey’s Pita Thins and crackers and it was gone in no time!
    Everyone loved it. Thanks for another lovely recipe to add to my appetizer collection.

    • — Celia M. on January 30, 2023
    • Reply
  • I made this dip the day before for Christmas Eve. Followed your recipe exactly as written, and the dip tasted very good, but not as good as it did the next day! For my vegan family members, I made the same recipe and substituted vegan cheeses. They loved it and those that didn’t know it was vegan, raved about it! Thank you Jenn for another delicious recipe.

    • — Kathleen on December 28, 2022
    • Reply
  • Hello, Jen.

    First, all your recipes are FANTASTIC! I want to make this dip but I’d like to pipe it onto crackers, or cucumber slices, or celery sticks–or a combo of all!

    Is this dip thick enough to be piped and hold its shape for a couple/few hours?
    Thanks so much for any guidance you can offer. : )

    • — Jennifer on October 11, 2022
    • Reply
    • Hi Jennifer, I do think it’s thick enough. Please LMK how it turns out! 🙂

      • — Jenn on October 12, 2022
      • Reply
  • When people come over for casual gatherings, I like to make certain this dip is available for them. Then, I just stand back and listen to the comments about how good it is. Another example of how this website, and Jenn’s cookbooks, create my reputation for serving delicious food items. Thanks, Jenn.

    • — Mike Ess on July 14, 2022
    • Reply
  • Once again Jenn you have shared another wonderful recipe. As a long time fan, owner of both cookbooks and a former tester, I make your recipes every week in our rotation and I must admit I haven’t commented for a long time. Just wanted to say I love your site and it is my go to immediately for inspiration and menu planning. I made this dip for a barbecue appetizer last night and it disappeared in short order. I didn’t think to take a picture soon enough and when I did it was too late 😂 Thanks again!

    • — Colleen S. on July 3, 2022
    • Reply
  • Wow! This is Dangerously good! I too thought I didn’t like sun-dried tomatoes, but this is so delicious. It has a rich, light, whipped consistency—perfect with water crackers.

  • Hi Jen,

    Do you think this would work okay with sundried tomato pesto in place of the sundried tomatoes?

    Thanks 🙂

    • Hi Nicole, I haven’t tried it, but I think it would work. Please LMK how it turns out if you try it!

  • To be honest, I tasted this straight away out of my processor and wasn’t thrilled, which surprised me because I love every one of your recipes that I’ve tried, and I’ve tried a lot. Put it into the fridge for a couple of hours; however, and it’s like night and day. I figured that’s all it was. Thanks again for the recipes Jen!! You’re always my go-to…:D

  • This was delicious. After making it I wondered if I should add garlic. I had my hubby taste it and he said it was fine the way it was. I do believe that the flavors were more enriched by making it a few hours ahead of time. I liked the scallions sprinkled over the top of the dip. It was great with vegetables and also the crackers.Thank you Jenn for this recipe! Also thank you Ina.

    • — Andrea Saltray
    • Reply
  • I made the Sun Dried Tomato dip for two Mother’s Day gatherings. Everyone loved it and I was glad that there was a little bit leftover for me the next day. It was also a nice compliment to the grilled salmon. Can this dip be made ahead and frozen? Your recipes and those that you share from other chefs are my go to recipes and a joy to prepare! Thank you mucho.

  • Could Worcester be used instead of Tabasco or do you have any other suggested substitutes?

    • Hi, Do you have any other hot sauce? If so, I’d go that route. If not, Tabasco will lend a different flavor, but it will work. Please LMK how it turns out!

  • This was great with chopped veggies like carrots, peppers and cucumber.
    We also had it with tortilla chips and as a sauce in a sandwich.

  • Thank you for this post! I had pinned this recipe before I even realized it was an Ina recipe and I also own the cookbook! Came out great and super easy, thanks again for posting and now I think I’ll need to revisit her cookbooks and see what else I’m missing out on!

  • Have you tried making this with your sundried tomato pesto? If so, how would you modify the recipe? Thanks!

    • I haven’t, but that sounds like a good idea. I think you could add the pesto to the sour cream, cream cheese, and mayo and be good to go! I don’t hink you’d need to add the scallions to the dip, but you could certainly still garnish with them. Please LMK how it turns out!

  • I had the same recipe but only not using cream cheese. I believe I used cottage cheese, Greek Yogart and Mayo. Is there a recipe for this?

    • Hi Ellen, I don’t have that recipe, but there certainly may be a variation out there that has those ingredients. 🙂

  • I didn’t add any salt and I’m glad I didn’t. It’s still so salty; probably from the mayo & tomatoes. Yet, my main issue is the amount of tabasco; it’s very overpowering.

  • I have freshly made sun-dried/roasted tomatoes from a local Italian deli. Would you adjust the quantity? My thought being the flavor is not as strong as jarred sun-dried tomatoes. Also – thoughts on using herbed Boursin instead of cream cheese. That’s what I have on hand. TIA!

    • Hi Martha, Hard to know for sure if you’ll need more sun-dried tomatoes than the recipe calls for. I would make the dip up until the point where you add the scallions and taste it. If you feel like it needs more sun-dried tomatoes, you can add them at that point. And while I think herbed boursin cheese would work, it means you’d need to adjust all the other seasonings in the recipe, so for the most predictable results, I’d stick to cream cheese. Hope that helps!

  • This is a crowd pleaser! I add a little lemon, basil, and red pepper flakes and also use lactose free cream cheese and sour cream for my husband who can’t eat dairy. You can’t tell the difference. I just make sure it is refrigerated for a few hours which thickens it up a bit. I’m making it for the 3rd time in a week for a party tonight.

  • for the receipe how much sour cream, mayo, cream cheese and sun dried tomatoes?

    • Hi Betty, It sounds like you are just looking at the portion of the page that has the pictures with some instructions underneath. If you scroll down a bit to under the pictures, you’ll find the full recipe with the ingredient amounts. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, to the right of the recipe name, you’ll see an icon that looks like a notepad – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that clarifies!

  • This dip is wonderful! Has just the right amount of zing with the Tabasco sauce. I served it with pita chips.

    • — Kathryn Laudick
    • Reply
  • I’m not generally a fan of tomatoes, but this was a great dip! Wheat Thins makes a sun-dried tomato and basil cracker. Thought it might be too much together, but they really complimented each other. Making it for my husband’s 50th birthday party (this was a test run)!

  • Good Morning,
    I am not a heat person so can I either lessen the Tabasco Sauce or not use it at all? Love all the comments and can hardly wait to try it.🤗

    • Sure, Cheryl – it’s perfectly fine to leave it out or add to taste. Enjoy!

  • This rocks! I could eat it all myself. I used full fat everything. If you don’t eat like this every day, I say just go for it.

  • This was very tasty and easy. Will definitely make this again!

  • This has become my go-to dip. It is easy AND delicious. I serve it with a combination of vegetables and breadsticks/crostini. Thank you Jenn!

  • I needed to find an appetizer recipe that was quick and suitable for a family with lots of allergies to wheat and nuts. I made this for a superbowl party and it was a hit! I served with fresh cut up veggies and gluten free crackers made from sweet potatoes. It was perfect and so easy to make. I agree that it didn’t have a super strong tomato taste but was creamy and delicious!

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