This Dutch creamy leek dip is a savory and tangy spreadable cheese dip infused with the mild, sweet onion notes of leeks. It’s an easy to prepare, great make-ahead appetizer dip that everyone will love. This cream cheese leek dip is fabulous to serve as a party appetizer with veggies, crackers or even as a spread on sandwiches or wraps.

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Dutch cream cheese leek dip

This recipe is a homemade version of the Dutch spreadable dip known as ‘Heksenkaas’, literally meaning ‘witche’s cheese’. It was launched on the market in 2012 under the brandname HEKS’NKAAS®. It became very popular in The Netherlands both as a dip and spread and still is today, not only in the Netherlands but slowly also in other European countries too.

The store-bought Heksenkaas is really delicious and will make you go back for more. However, the best part is that this leek dip recipe is absolutely easy to make yourself at home with fresh ingredients. With this recipe I aim to showcase more the lovely taste of leeks and make it less sweet as the real version contains quite some sugar.

Recipe ingredients and substitutes

• Cream cheese: Use either reduced or full fat, but since full fat is creamier and has more taste it is preferred in this recipe. Make sure the cheese is soft and at room temperature as it whips up more easily.
• Mayonnaise: Adding a bit of mayonnaise makes the dip more creamy and smooth, creating a more velvety consistency.
• Leek: Only use the light green or white parts of the leek, preferably the light green as it adds more color to the dip. Make sure to properly wash the leek before using.
• Parsley: Use only fresh parsley as it has a more aromatic and bright fragrance compared to dried parsley. Use either curly or flat-leaf, both are fine.
• Garlic: Half a clove of garlic adds a punch of flavor. Don’t use more as it will overpower the taste too much.
• Lemon juice: A bit of fresh lemon juice cuts through the rich cream cheese and balances out the taste of the leeks. You can also use white-wine vinegar as a substitute for lemon juice.
• Salt and pepper: A bit of salt and pepper to taste.
• Sugar: As the original recipe is quite sweet you may want to add more sweetness. However, this is optional as I have not used any sugar in this recipe and for me it tastes fine. Use either white sugar, honey or any other type of syrup according to your personal preference.
• Spring onions: Garnish with finely sliced spring onions.

How to make Dutch leek dip

Note: All the exact quantities of the ingredients can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

This recipe is so easy to make, you just need to gather the ingredients and either a food processor, hand mixer or blender. That’s it. No cooking involved.

• Clean the leeks: Leeks tend to contain lots of sand so make sure to properly clean them under cold running water, then finely chop the leeks using only the white and/or light green part.
• Mix: Add the minced garlic, lemon juice and chopped leek and parsley to a blender. Mix until all the ingredients are finely minced.

• Mix again: Add the mayonnaise, salt, pepper and optionally the sugar or honey to the leek mixture already in the blender. Mix until smooth-ish, bearing in mind the consistency doesn’t have to be completely smooth. You should still be able to see some fine bits of leek in the mixture. This provides a bit of texture. Think yogurt or cottage cheese. You have both smooth and chunky. You want this recipe to still be ever so slightly chunky.

• Stir: Now transfer the mixture in a bowl together with the cream cheese and gently mix together by hand with a spatula until all is combined into a spreadable dip.

• Serve or chill: Serve immediately or place in the fridge for later use.

Useful tips & tricks

• Blend in different steps: Instead of blending all the ingredients together at the same time I do it in different steps. First the dry ingredients; the parsley, leek and garlic. This is to have them all minced into a similar size. The lemon juice is added as a bit of liquid for ease of mixing. Only then do I add the mayonnaise and seasoning. The cream cheese is stirred in by hand with a spatula in a mixing bowl at the end of the whole process as I noticed the final result otherwise gets too watery. It would be like dipping the vegetables in a soup/sauce instead of a nice thick dip.
• Sweetness: Make this recipe more your own by adding sugar or any other sweetener of choice according to personal taste.
• Without mayonnaise: Mayonnaise is what makes this dip smooth and velvety. But if you want to omit the mayonnaise you can add Greek yoghurt or sour cream instead.

How to serve

Dutch cream cheese leek dip is usually served as a vegetable dip with sticks of carrots, cucumber, bell peppers and celery as well as cherry tomatoes and radishes. Also consider adding some crackers, bread sticks or pita chips to the board. When serving on an appetizer platter or mezze board, serve with a combinations of olives, marinated mozzarella balls, stuffed peppadew peppers, ham and cheese pinwheels, or pepper and pesto pinwheels.

This dip is also used as a spread for sandwiches, wraps or pita bread. You can even use it as a spread on hamburgers. It is perfect to take to work for lunch.

More dip recipes to try

• Roasted red pepper hummus
• Greek tzatziki dip
• Baba ganoush or roasted eggplant dip
• Chestnut hummus
• Imitation crab salad

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment with rating below and share a picture with the hashtag #thetastychilli and tag me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.