Garlic and Herb Cream Cheese (Budget Philadelphia)

We all looove Philadelphia cream cheese, so I thought I’d have a go at beating the cost of the famous garlic and herb philly using own brand cream cheese and fresh ingredients.

Why this recipe works

This recipe is great for many reasons. 

1. It involves roasted garlic.
2. It saves you money. 
3. It’s lower in calories whilst being just as tasty.

This garlic and herb cream cheese recipe is kicking off my new series, ‘Beat the Brand’.

I managed to beat the price with my recipe totalling £2.31 with 400g + of garlic and herb cream cheese, whilst the store bought Philadelphia was £3.00 for 340g.

Here are some other cheesy recipes to try, after this one …

• Slow Roasted Cherry Tomato Ricotta Toast
• Halloumi and Avocado Sourdough Toast
• Creamy Philadelphia Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

Low fat cream cheese
We’re going to add the flavour with our own ingredients here so you just want a plain, low-fat cream cheese. Any own-brand supermarket packet will do! 

Fresh chives
Finely chopped fresh chives add so much flavour immediately to the cream cheese. They taste fresher and look brighter, when added yourself and this takes this garlic and herb cream cheese to the next level.

Garlic 
By roasting the garlic it makes the flavour richer and sweeter. It also makes the garlic less strong which allows us to use from ½  -1 full bulb in this recipe, depending on how much you love garlic. 

Dried Parsley
An accessible ingredient that most people have in their cupboard. We get the fresh chopped herb texture and flavour from the chives, so we just want the flavour of parsley here, which is why dried parsley works really well.

How to make this budget garlic and herb spread

NOTE: This recipe calls for you to roast a whole bulb of garlic. Depending on how much you love garlic you can add ½ to 1 bulb of roasted garlic into the cream cheese. If you only add half, save the other half to spread on toast or add into sauces. Enjoy!

PREHEAT OVEN TO 170°C

1. Slice the garlic bulb across it’s width in half. Place both halves onto some foil and drizzle a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil over the raw garlic (not the skin). Season with salt and fold the foil so it’s completely wrapped. Pop in the oven for 45 minutes (Image 1).
2. Check on the garlic after around 40 minutes ensure not burning and when ready, using a knife or your hands (careful it’s hot), squeeze the bulb to push the roasted garlic out of the skin. Add salt to the garlic and squish against a chopping board until you achieve a roasted garlic paste (Image 2).

3. Then add the roasted garlic, finely chopped chives, cream cheese and dried parsley to a mixing bowl (Image 3).

4. Mix together until combined and then season with salt and pepper to taste (Image 4).

5. Pour the mix into a small container and refrigerate to firm up. Enjoy! (Image 5).

Some more cheesy recipes to give you inspiration : Vegetable Quesadillas, Cheese Toastie with Grilled Veg and Red Pepper Macaroni and Cheese

What else can I make with this recipe?

This recipe has many uses: 

• Spread on toast 
• Add into a sandwich 
• Form a creamy pasta sauce with the cream cheese and  pasta water
• Add into soups to add creaminess and flavour 

FAQs

Here are some salads to try with your Cream Cheese on toast … Green Goddess Salad, Halloumi Caesar Salad and Banh Mi Inspired Salad