Vegetable Cream Cheese

Start your day off with this delicious vegetable cream cheese spread.  Perfect on bagels, english muffins or even crackers for a mid afternoon snack.

I love to start my morning off with a good, hearty breakfast. I know many of you skip breakfast, shame on you.  I’m only kidding. I’m not the breakfast police and I understand how easy it is to forget to eat breakfast…I have two kids after all.  But eating breakfast each morning really jump starts my day.  I mean on the days I do forget breakfast and my stomach is rumbling by 9am, it makes for one grumpy Megan.  (I promise not to refer to myself in third person again, sorry)

This is an easy, quick cream cheese spread that can be made in advance, stored in the fridge and ready for those days you only have a few minutes to grab a quick bite.  Just pop your bagel, english muffin, or bread of choice into the toaster, smear on some cream cheese and GO!

This cream cheese spread really brings me back to high school.  In high school, we chose Dunkin Donuts as the local hang out, do not ask me why.  It was the spot you would see everyone who wanted to just hang out and not be at home.  I’m not sure if it was the coffee, donuts, bagels, ice cream or a combination of all, but on any given night, that’s where you’d find us.

Now, I’m not much of a donut person, oh the horror!  I leave those to my husband and daughter, but an everything bagel with cream cheese, you had me at everything.  So, on most nights you could find me at DD and I’d be sipping on a dunkaccino and getting down on a bagel with garden vegetable cream cheese.  Something about the combination of peppers, onions and carrots had me in cream cheese bliss.  Ahhh, nostalgia.

Years went by and after high school I had forgotten about my love affair with Dunkin Donuts and their veggie cream cheese.  Until one day a commercial had me drooling over a Jamocha Almond Fudge coffee.  (My love affair for caffeine is a whole other subject that I’m sure we’ll touch on very soon.)  Into DD I ran.  I grabbed myself a big cup o’ joe and a bagel with garden vegetable cream cheese.  “We only have lite, miss” the nice barista behind the counter told me.  “Woah, woah, woah, excuse me?”  “Grumble, grumble, grumble, ok fine, I’ll have the lite”  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I really enjoy lite, fat free, non fat, the whole low fat craze but when it comes to DD garden vegetable cream cheese, I want what I always remembered….gimme all the fat.  The lite just wasn’t the same but it got me thinking….how can I make my own that tastes just as good as I remember?

Which, finally, brings me to my recipe.  And I nailed it.  I loved this cream cheese that was made all my own.  I have control over every vegetable, the amount of fat in my cream cheese and the seasonings, leaving out who knows what that I can’t pronounce in the list of ingredients from DD.  That’s what makes this cream cheese so wonderful.  You can make it all your own.  Don’t care for green onions, leave them out (personally, they’re my favorite).  Sub in green peppers for the red peppers, add some heat with a diced jalapeno, or add in radishes and some dill.  Yum, now that would be good.

So, just remember, no matter what you have going on in the weekday, you always have time to whip up a batch of homemade cream cheese, on the weekend, so it’s ready at your whim come Monday morning.

Print

Vegetable Cream Cheese

Prep 15 mins

Total 15 mins

Author Strawberry Blondie Kitchen

Yield 4 - 2 oz each

Start your day off with this delicious vegetable cream cheese spread. Perfect on bagels, english muffins or even crackers for a mid afternoon snack

Ingredients

• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened to room temperature (Regular, greek, Neufchâtel, 1/3 fat)
• 3 whole green onions, white and green parts
• 1/2 medium carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 stalk of celery, finely diced
• 1/4 red pepper, finely diced
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place softened cream cheese, green onions, carrots, celery and red pepper in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Alternatively, you can place all ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix to combine.
2. Place in refrigerator and store in an air tight container.

Notes

The great thing about this cream cheese is you can make it all your own. Add your own veggies, herbs and seasonings and mix it up. Have fun!

Courses Breakfast

Enjoy and if you make this recipe, please share a photo on social media and hashtag it #strawberryblondiekitchen  I love to see your versions!