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This Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta is a copycat of the popular version at Olive Garden restaurants! With lots of baked gooey cheese and served with toasty bread, you’ll be making this appetizer over and over!
When you’re in the mood for Italian, and you’re going out for dinner, what is your go-to restaurant? We love trying little mom and pop Italian restaurants, but sometimes we still end up at Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill. When we go to Olive Garden, their Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta is one of my favorite appetizers. It’s cheesy, smoky, and downright delicious served with toasty bread.
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Pin It NowThis cheesy dip comes together quickly and is warm, gooey, and so delicious. With a subtle smokey flavor and served with toasted bread slices, this appetizer tastes just like what you would get at Olive Garden.
How to Make Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta
Here is a brief overview of how this cheesy dip comes together. For the full recipe including all measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Combine ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the sour cream, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flake.
- Transfer to a casserole dish. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish or pie plate.
- Put it in the oven. Bake until the dip is melted and bubbly, about 15 minutes. If you’d like the top extra browned, broil for an additional 2-3 minutes. Watch it closely so it doesn’t burn.
- Make the bread. Cut a loaf of Italian bread into 1/2-inch slices and toast the slices for five minutes.
- Garnish and serve. Top the dip with diced tomatoes and parsley. Serve with the toasted bread and enjoy!
What Cheese to Use
Alright, let’s talk about this dip, shall we? The smokiness, which I absolutely love, comes from some smoked provolone cheese. If you can’t find smoked provolone, you could look to see if your grocery store sells a smoked mozzarella cheese. My grocery store sells both in the specialty cheese section. Certainly, you could use regular ole mozzarella cheese and provolone cheese, but using one smoked cheese definitely makes a difference in the flavor of the dip. Olive Garden’s version has a hint of smokiness, so I wanted to be sure my version did, too.
You’ll also add in a little bit of finely shredded parmesan cheese. I’ve found that the best way to get finely shredded parmesan cheese is to use a trusty microplane grater. The finer the parmesan cheese is shredded, the better it will melt.
How to Serve
To serve this tasty Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta, just slice up a loaf of Italian bread and toast it in the oven for about five minutes. You could also grill the bread if you’d like, but I found that it’s much faster just to bake it for a bit. You could also serve with crackers or fresh veggies like slices of red bell pepper.
If you want your dip to be extra browned, broil it for about three minutes at the very end. Be sure to watch it closely as it will burn easily. Serve while warm. Enjoy!
Variations
While my version consists of mostly just cheese, Giada De Laurentiis has a version she makes where she uses prosciutto which got me thinking…. this dip would be equally as delicious with adding something like like smoky bacon or even chunks of pepperoni. Feel free to add those in if you’d like!
Other Dip Recipes
If you make this smoked mozzarella fonduta recipe or any of my other recipes, please let me know what you think of it by leaving a comment!
Smoked Mozzarella Fonduta {Olive Garden Copycat}
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 8 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese shredded
- 8 ounces provolone cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 Roma tomato diced
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 loaf Italina bread cut into slices or bite-sized pieces
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450 Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl, combine the sour cream with the mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flake.
- Spray a 1.5 quart casserole dish with non-stick spray (you can also use a pie plate like I did).
- Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.
- Bake for 15 minutes, until the mixture is melted and bubbly. If you’d like the top extra browned, broil for an additional 2-3 minutes, but make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn. Garnish with diced tomatoes and parsley.
- Bake the bread slices for 5 minutes then serve immediately (you can put the bread in the oven as the dip is baking).
Recipe from
CenterCutCook
