Easy Artichoke Heart Recipes: 13 Ways to Use the Pantry Staple
No need to stress about trimming, steaming, and messing with whole artichokes. All of these simple snack and supper ideas start with canned artichoke hearts!
Don’t want to fuss with fresh artichokes? You can still cook with artichoke hearts—and it’s a breeze with canned artichoke heart recipes. Crack open the pantry staple to use in our best artichoke heart recipes, including spinach-artichoke dip, healthy pasta dinner ideas, flatbreads, sandwiches, and beyond.
Spinach Artichoke Dip Soup
If you, too, adore spinach-artichoke dip so much you dream of making the popular appetizer recipe a full meal, listen up. This 30-minute meal takes the flavors and ingredients you crave—spinach, artichokes, creamy white sauce, garlic—and turns them into a vegetarian soup. Store-bought stock makes it possible and ultra-easy.
Test Kitchen Tip: As-is, this canned artichoke heart soup recipe works well as a starter or light lunch. To make it more of a meal, stir in shredded leftover or rotisserie chicken or drained and rinsed canned white beans.
Artichoke and Cheese Chicken Breasts with Rosemary Baby Carrots
In other transform-dip-into-dinner inspiration, we fell in love at first bite after testing and trying this sheet-pan creation. Since then, it’s become one of our go-to ways to take a plain chicken breast and make it something the entire family asks for weekly. We adore the way the canned artichoke and garlic-herb cheese topping melts into a golden, bubbly topping for the chicken. And the fact that that entrée comes with a side of rosemary carrots that cook alongside is a delicious bonus.
Quick Pasta Toss with Peas and Artichokes
Speaking of leftovers, extra ham from your holiday or Sunday dinner adds a pleasant savory quality and a protein boost to this fast pasta recipe. (No ham on hand? Feel free to snag some from the deli counter.) Frozen peas, jarred marinated artichoke hearts, and pasta are affordable and available any season, making this a quick and easy dinner idea to add to your weekly or monthly menu. Just splurge for a bit of Parmesan and whatever tomatoes look best at the market, and you’re pretty much all set to head to the kitchen to make this meal yours.
Chicken Thighs with Artichokes
For a restaurant-quality dinner, pair frozen or canned artichokes with three major sources of umami: chicken thighs, prosciutto, and mushrooms. Slightly licorice-y and citrusy tarragon as well as tangy white balsamic vinegar round things out. Just before serving, deglaze the skillet with a splash of broth; the resulting pan sauce is so heavenly, you’ll want to eat it by the spoonful.
Cheesy Skillet Artichoke Dip
The hot dip is already irresistible when you serve it out of a bowl. But you can take spinach-artichoke dip to the next level—actually, two levels up—with two savvy shifts. Assemble and bake the creamy dip in a cast-iron skillet for a lusciously bubbly blend. Then after one shift in the oven, top that dip with dressed-up frozen and thawed white dinner rolls. Bake again until golden brown, and those rolls will not only act as a crown to the dip, but can also be torn off and scooped into what lies beneath for a utensil-free, crowd-pleasing nosh.
Artichoke Flatbread
“Delicious” and “surprisingly filling,” according to reviewers, this flatbread recipe is a fast and flavorful alternative to delivery pizza. A few store-bought shortcuts make it possible to have this vegetarian dinner idea on the table in less than 20 minutes. Stock up on canned artichokes, whole-wheat naan or flatbread, and garlic and herb goat cheese. Pair those with fresh tomatoes and spinach, a splash of olive oil, and pizza seasoning and you’ll never even miss the sausage or pepperoni.
Creamy Orecchiette with Spinach, Artichokes, and Bacon
A few Test Kitchen tricks make it possible to turn a mere 6 ounces of orecchiette (ear-shaped, sauce-cupping) pasta into a well-balanced dinner for six. Bulk up the homemade cream sauce with jarred or canned artichokes and frozen spinach, then add a bit of crispy bacon and plenty of cheese for protein. Bake until bubbly, pair with a side salad, and you’ll be far less likely to need a nap compared to those trendy restaurant never-ending pasta bowls. (We can speak from experience!)
Pea and Artichoke Toasts
Take a break from avocado toast and think spring with this canned artichoke recipe. Peas and cannellini beans join forces in the hummus-like bread spread. Then all that’s left to do to complete the 15-minute lunch is layer on the artichoke hearts, prosciutto, and carrot ribbons.
Test Kitchen Tip: For breakfast, brunch, or any time to pump up the protein, top each toast with a poached or fried egg.
Sheet-Pan Meatballs with Onions and Artichokes
“I love many recipes from BHG, but this one is at the top. Very easy prep and the flavors were bold without being overwhelming,” one home cook raves alongside her five-star review. The easy prep comes from the fact that the vegetables and the ground pork meatballs cook at the same time in the oven on two separate sheet pans. Those bold flavors? They’re courtesy of roasted onions, lemon zest and juice, and a mountain of fresh herbs.
Brown Butter Cauliflower Artichoke Dip
By now, you’re well aware that canned artichoke recipes can span all meals, cuisine styles, and dietary preferences. Another popular produce pick that can do the same? Cauliflower! Here, we’re not ricing, steak-ing, gnocchi-ing, or pizza crust-ing it; we’re allowing the cauliflower florets and artichoke hearts to shine in their full glory inside this creamy, cheesy dip. Brown butter and chopped toasted hazelnuts add a one-two punch of nuttiness that plays nicely with the earthy fresh sage and the vegetable dip that lies beneath.
Related: Your Guide to Hosting a Party with Light Appetizers Before Dinner
Roasted Tomato and Artichoke Pasta
Sure, you could twist open a jar of marinara or Alfredo to toss with pasta. It takes just a few minutes more, though, and a mere seven ingredients total, to toss together this easy canned artichoke recipe that’s far fresher and more customizable! Use a sheet pan to roast the vegetables and your favorite herbs, then toss ‘em with cooked pasta for a dairy-free and vegetarian dinner.
Test Kitchen Tip: Feel free to add your favorite leftover protein. Shredded chicken, sliced steak, grilled shrimp, and seared salmon all taste fantastic in or atop this pasta recipe.
Spinach-Artichoke Cheese Ball
The next time you’re vying for potluck menu MVP, this make-ahead recipe should be a strong contender. Two of our all-time favorite party snacks—cheese balls and spinach-artichoke dip—combine into one luscious mash-up recipe that’s always among the first to disappear when we share it with friends, family, and co-workers. A combo of sliced almonds and shredded Parmesan acts as a tasty crown for the three-cheese, vegetable-studded blend that’s hiding inside.
Stuffed Focaccia
We’ve deemed this easy sandwich idea to be picnic perfection. That being said, you could certainly serve this for a weekday lunch. The fact that it calls for just six ingredients and can be made up to 4 hours ahead (just chill until it’s time to dine) make this deli-style sandwich recipe a fan favorite. Start with a loaf of focaccia, then stuff it with cheese, marinated jarred or canned artichoke hearts, capers, arugula, and your favorite deli meat, like salami. The briny capers, marinated artichokes, and mascarpone cheese ever-so-slightly infuse the garlicky focaccia with even more flavor.
