Spinach Cob Loaf

This delicious warm and crusty Spinach Cob Loaf has a luscious creamy centre, perfect for dipping and scooping.  Served warm, there's flavours of cheese, spinach, garlic, basil, sea salt and black pepper. 

Recipe Highlights

• Its an iconic Aussie classic, and a favourite at BBQ's and Bacyard get togethers
• Packed with flavour. No dull boring spinach dip here.
• Theres loads of creamy, melted cheese
• There's loads of iron boosting spinach
• Its fun to eat
• Its made without french onion soup
• Easy to customise with your favourite addins (suggestions below)
• Its super creamy, but it made without cream cheese

Ingredients

What is a Cob Loaf

Cob Loaf is round bread (shaped much like a large bowl) that has had the top cut off and the inside hollowed out.  The white fluffy bread is picked out and layered on a tray, along with the bread bowl, ready for its creamy cheese filling, of which there are many variations.

Really when it comes down to is, cob loaf is essentially a dip in a bread.

The filling is made on the stove, and whilst still hot, is poured into the hollowed out bread bowl.  The bread bowl with filling is then baked, along with the bread chunks and bread lid on a tray for around 12 minutes in a hot oven.

When it comes out of the oven its all warm and crusty on the outside and those bread chunks are just waiting to scoop up that cheesy goodness.

How To Make

Prepare Bread

1. Cut the top off the cob loaf and set bread top aside as it will be needed later.
2. Hollow out the cob loaf, by picking out the inside of the bread in chunks and place on a baking tray

Make Filling

1. Cook onion, garlic & spinach: Heat a pan on medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until onion starts to soften. Add the spinach and gently stir through to heat for a minute, then remove from heat and set aside.
2. Make paste with flour and butter: In a separate pot, set on high heat and melt the butter. As the last of the butter melts, remove from heat and add the flour, stirring through with a spoon to make a paste.
3. Add milk to create creamy sauce: Place pot back on stove on high heat and add 1 cup of the milk, whisking to break down the paste and to thicken the milk. As the milk starts to thicken consistency, add the second cup of milk and stir continuously for 2 minutes. Add in the grated cheese, garlic and diced basil and stir through for a couple minutes. Sauce will continue to thicken.
4. Add Spinach mixture into white sauce: Add spinach/onion/garlic mixture to the creamy sauce. Add salt and pepper, stirring through. Once combined, remove from heat

Bake

1. Pour the filling into the bread bowl. Arrange the bread chunks and bread lid on the baking tray around the bread bowl
2. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, gently stir the cheese spinach sauce with a spoon and serve immediately.

How To Eat Cob Loaf

• The best way to eat cob loaf is with your fingers. 
• This is not fancy or fussy food.  It’s a dip, so dig into the bread pieces and use them to scoop up  the dip into a good old mouthful.
• When all the bread pieces have been eaten, eat the bread bowl starting from the top, scooping the dip as you tear off chunks.
• Add celery sticks, carrot sticks and other vegie sticks to platter for dipping

Common Questions

Flavour Boosters

Often Cob loaf is made using pre made soups to create the base of the dip, however I opted not to use a packet soup base, and instead create a super simple cheesy white sauce base from scratch.

Whilst this Spinach Cob Loaf recipe is full of flavour as is, here are a few extra tips to boost the flavour that you may like to experiment with:

• Add a teaspoon of smoked paprika to the dip, stirred through before pouring it into the bread bowl
• Add half a teaspoon of your favourite dried curry powder, stirred through just before pouring it into the bread bowl

Frozen Spinach V Fresh Spinach

I used frozen spinach in this recipe.  I got it out of the freezer the night before and let it defrost overnight in the fridge.  This way I didn’t have to deal with the excess ice/water as it naturally disappeared by itself.

I prefer to use frozen spinach as its softer and has a better texture.  However you can certainly also use fresh baby spinach.  I’d avoid using the big bunches of spinach or silverbeet as that would require much more pre cooking to get it to the right texture.

Add Ins

1. Bacon: Add ½ to and 1 cup of cook diced bacon for a spinach and bacon cob loaf
2. More Cheese: Add a couple of different types of extra cheese for an extra creamy cheese and spinach cob loaf
3. Corn: add a small tin of drained sweet corn for a spinach and corn cob loaf.

Recipe Tips

• Don’t overcook the cob loaf.  It should be only just golden.  If its cooked too long the delicate bread pieces will become hard, and the top of the bread bowl will become to hard also. 
• A Whisk is essential to make the white sauce base for spinach cob dip as it helps to create a smooth sauce and to break up the butter and flour which breaks down to thicken the milk.  The whisk is also useful for stirring in the cheese and helping it to melt through.  I love using a silicone whisk so it doesn’t scratch my pots.
• Use a low fat cheese/low fat milk if you’re looking to keep it lower in calories, however using the full fat versions will result in a richer and creamier dip.  And hey, this isn’t something you would eat every week, so a little comfort food in these times is OK.

Maybe you’ve tried cob loaf spinach dip in the past at a party or BBQ you were at, or maybe you’ve never even heard of it.  Either way, it’s a classic Australian recipe with many variations and its easy to make at home.  Its great to share with family and is total comfort food.

More Aussie Classics

• Chocolate Coconut Date Balls
• Chocolate Weetbix Balls
• Healthy Caramel Slice
• Banana Pikelets
• Tuna Mornay Pasta Bake
• Salmon Fritters
• Corn Fritters

Cob Loaf

Kim

This delicious warm and crusty cob loaf with thick creamyspinach sauce is classic comfort food. Its cheesy, garlicy and filled with iron boosting spinach, and flavouredwith basil, sea salt and black pepper. 

4.80 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 12 mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Australian

Servings 5

Calories 401 kcal

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• 1 Cob Bread Loaf
• ¼ cup Butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups Milk
• ½ cup grated cheese
• 1 teaspoons crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon diced basil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 packet Frozen Spinach - (250 grams or 1 cup)

Instructions

 

Bread

• Cut the top off the cob loaf. (cut about ¼ down from the top so that ¾ of the loaf remains). Put top of loaf off to one side as it will be needed later.
• Hollow out the cob loaf, by picking out the inside of the bread in chunks and place on a baking tray

Filling

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F
• Heat a pan on medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until onion starts to soften. Add the spinach and gently stir through to heat for a minute, then remove from heat and set aside.
• In a separate pot, set on high heat and melt the butter. As the last of the butter melts, remove from heat and add the flour, stirring through with a spoon to make a paste.
• Place pot back on stove on high heat and add 1 cup of the milk, whisking continuously and vigorously to break down the paste and to thicken the milk (this make take a few minutes)
• As the milk starts to thicken consistency, add the second cup of milk and stir continuously for 2 minutes.
• Add in the grated cheese, garlic and diced basil and stir through for a couple minutes. Sauce will continue to thicken.
• Add spinach/onion/garlic mixture to the creamy sauce. Add salt and pepper, stirring through. Once combined, remove from heat
• Pour the filling into the bread bowl. Arrange the bread chunks and bread lid on the baking tray around the bread bowl
• Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F for 10 minutes
• Remove from oven, gently stir the cheese spinach sauce with a spoon and serve immediately.

Notes

1. Frozen Spinach Substitutes:  In lieu of the spinach, you can substitute bacon bits or canned sweetcorn.  Fresh baby spinach can be substituted with frozen spinach
2. Additional Flavour enhancers:  add one teaspoon of smoked paprika stirred through sauce before pouring into the bread bowl.  Alternatively, you could also try ½ teaspoon of dried curry powder.  Use one or the other, not both.
3. A Whisk is essential to making the base dip so that you get a nice smooth consistency before adding in the spinach
4. This recipe is an ideal size for four or five people to share as a starter, or as part of a larger platter of food.

Nutrition

Calories: 401kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 11gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 12gSugar: 5g

Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners.

Keyword cob loaf

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