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Well hey, hi! Happy St. Patrickโs Day!!
Delicious, exciting things happening around here today.
I mean, hello are you not looking at all that melty cheese?? Oh and umm, those homemade potato chips? YESSSS!
Ok, so hereโs the deal,ย I have some seriously fun things to share today. One is most definitely theseย Irish Pub Spinach and Artichoke Melts. The second is just a little announcement that I am SO excited to share! Do you guys remember how I was nominated for Better Homes and Garden Blogger Awards?? Well, guess what?
You guys votedโฆ and I won!
Ahhh!! So excited and so grateful to all you guys that voted and continue to support HBH daily. Seriously, thank you!!ย ?
As a thank you to all my friends around the world, I am bringing these melts to the table today.
I feel like itโs been a bit since weโve done a seriously cheesy recipe, so you know I had to make up for that with something KILLERโฆenter these cheesy, butter fried Irish spinach and artichoke melts. AKA the ultimate lunch, dinner and yes, hangover food. Meaning not only are these melts perfect for celebrating the Irish today, but they might just be even better for tomorrowโฆ
For real.
All joking aside, it really doesnโt get better than these melts + salty homemade potato chips. Whether you are partying it up today or just hanging at home (that would be ME)โฆ you NEED these in your life.
Just like any good melt/grilled cheese you need three very important ingredients.
โฆone: good bread. I recommend a sourdough, but a savory Irish Soda bread would also be really fun too! I actually used a loaf of rye for the photos you see, but I think I prefer the sourdough to the rye. I found the rye to be a bit overpowering.
โฆtwo: CHEESE. I mean, duh. I kept the cheese in these melts simple, but GOOD. You need a sharp white Irish Cheddarโฆlegit. This cheese will solve all your problems and it makes for the most awesome melt. Honest. ๐
โฆthree: butter, Irish butter to be exact. Sure, you can totally use olive oil, but letโs just be real, you know that butter is going to give you that golden crust we all know and love. And I mean, come on, it is St. Patrickโs Day, have some fun! If you have yet to try Irish Style butter, today is the day. I like to use Kerrygold brandโฆit even comes in fun gold packaging too! Gotta love the Irish and their gold!
OK. So those are your three must-haves for a good melt, but lets talk about this spinach and artichoke filling. Think spinach and artichoke dip, but stuffed into a sammie, and then toasted in a skillet with butter!
Itโs EVERYTHING.
All you need to round out this Irish meal is potato chips. I fried mine in olive oil to be a bit healthier, and then tossed them with flaky salt and umโฆparmesan. I did not include the potato chips as part of the recipe but if you do want to make your own, they are so simple.
Just heat a pot of oil to 325 degrees F. Thinly slice your potatoes using a mandolin, fry thirty seconds to one minute. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with salt + parmesan.
Serve alongside your meltsโฆ then DEVOURโฆfair waring they are completely addicting.
Irish Pub Spinach and Artichoke Melt.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2-3/4 cup milk (I used whole goat milk, but whatever you have will be great)
- 1 ounce cream cheese
- 2 cups Irish cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- salt + peper
- 2 cups fresh spinach frozen chopped spinach, thawed), or 1/2 cup (about 5 ounces
- 1 ounce jar marinated artichokes, chopped, 6.7
- 8 slices sourdough or soda bread
- dijon mustard or Irish mustard, for spreading (optional)
- butter, for spreading
Instructions
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Whisk in flour until it makes a paste. Cook over medium-low heat for another 30 seconds, then slowly pour in 1/2 cup of milk. Stir and cook one minute, if your paste gets too thick splash in more milk. Add cream cheese, cheddar cheese and a pinch of salt + pepper. Stir until the cheeses are melted. Stir in the spinach + artichokes and cook over low heat until the spinach has wilted into the cheese.
- Heat a skillet (or griddle, etc) over medium-low heat. Butter the outsides of every bread slice. If desired, spread the insides of the bread with mustard and then spread a good amount (anywhere from 1-3 tablespoons) of the spinach and artichoke mixture on the inside (the non-buttered side) of each slice. Add your top piece of bread, buttered-side up.
- Place in the hot skillet and cook until each side is golden and crisp and cheese has melted, about 3-4 minutes per side. Plate, slice and EAT...with a large side of fresh fried potato chips. ๐
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Now bring on the Drunken Irish Cake.
Wow! This recipe was great. I made it to use up some ingredients from my fridge. It was a huge hit (including with my 9 year old who is quite picky). I immediately forwarded the recipe to a friend who I know will love it too. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you sooo much for trying out this recipe! Hope your New Year is off to an awesome start! xT
This was SOOO good!!! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Amber!! xTieghan
Congratulations Tieghan on your nomination. This looks absolutely delicious. I’m going to a St. Patrick’s party and there are too many people to make melts for everyone so I’m going to use your recipe as a dip with a sourdough sliced baguette. I will be making one melt for me to enjoy before the party. Keep up the great recipes.
That is so great! I hope this turns out amazing for you and everyone loves it! Thank you Virginia!
Hello! Was wondering if you could possibly make the cheese mixture ahead of time and how long it could be refrigerated for. College grad house of 1. So it would be great to have enough for a couple days. Thanks! I can’t wait to try these.
Hey Jess! Yes! You can make the cheese mix and keep in the fridge until ready to use. Let me know if you have questions. Hope you love this!
Just curious,,,, should I have drained the artichoke’s? I didn’t and it seemed a little runny. Very yummy though. Got tons left after making 4 sandwich’s so I need to come up with something to do with my leftovers.
Hey Beth, yes, the artichokes should be drained. Sorry if that was confusing. Hope you loved this, thanks!
So many congrats on your win, Tieghan! Very well deserved! This, as well as pretty much all your posts, looks gorgeous & delicious. I loooove artichokes, but I’m sometimes stuck for inspiration on how to use them.
Thank you so much!!
Just made and devoured this – it was soooo good! My only problem was that the cheese mixture didn’t really stick to the bread, so it ended up slipping out. Any way to prevent this next time? Thanks!
Hi Jamie!!
Add a sprinkle of extra cheese to each slice of bread BEFORE adding the melted cheese mixture. The extra cheese will act like glue and help everything hold together. THANKS!
Wooo congrats on the win! This recipe looks to die for… I can’t wait to try it!
Congratulations! And I really enjoy Irish pub.
Congratulations Tieghan! Way to go!
This sandwich tho, it’s everything!
Thank you so much, Kathy! Have a great weekend!
Congratulations! I’m sure many more awards will be in your future, too.
Thank you so much! Have a great weekend! ๐
This looks amazing! I’m tossing around the idea of adding some crab meat to this. Thoughts?
That would be amazing! great idea! Have a great weekend! ๐