Recipes to use up Cream Cheese (besides frosting)?

[Maya]

Through a series of random occurrences, I find myself with a large amount of whipped cream cheese in the fridge. I have heard its nice to put some into pasta sauce, but other than that I have no clue. Any ideas?

[magiesmom]

noodle kugel: eggnoodles, eggs, cream cheese, raisins, cottage cheese or ricotta. MMMMM!

[goodhealthgourmet]

i don't think anyone mentioned these yet:
- baked crab dip
- salmon dip
- stuffed French toast
- stuffed chicken breasts
- smoked salmon pinwheels
- mashed potatoes
- rugelach or cookies:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/750499
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/496001

[castiron]

There's a cream of tomato soup recipe I love in either the Moosewood Cookbook or the Enchanted Broccoli Forest Cookbook (can't remember which it's one of three "variations").
It's chunky and has a good amount of cream cheese stirred in at the end. It's really good. I don't see the original recipe on google but, it would work to stir in cream cheese to any tomato soup recipe. Yum.

[dct]

Cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread are a fave of mine--best made with a smear of mayo between the bread and cukes.

Rochester dip: my family's holiday chip dip. It sounds scary, but it's actually good. Mix the cream cheese with ketchup, grated onion and grated horseradish. We eyeball it, but the proportions are 8 oz. cream cheese, 2 Tbs. ketchup, 1 Tbs. horseradish, and 1 Tbs grated onion. Adjust to your own tastes. The color should be sort of salmon-y. We usually make this in the food processor with regular cream cheese, but since yours is whipped, you could just stir it together. Best with ridged potato chips.

[nojunk]

throw some sun dried tomatos and fresh herb (if you have it, otherwise dried) in the food processor. i usually use parsley. add zest of a lemon and salt & pepper to taste & process. add the cream cheese and process. thin if desired with lemon juice and/or some milk/cream. taste it & adjust any ingredients necessary. serve with toasted baguette slices, crudities and/or bagel slices.

[Val]

We have a bunch of answers that pair cream cheese with herbs, that's for sure! *think Boursin* right?

[toveggiegirl]

I love cream cheese, both as a sandwich schmear and as an ingredient. I think it pairs very well with fish and will use it in tuna rather than mayo. I also like to add it to pasta and scrambled eggs for added richness. Using cream cheese in dough make fabulously tender pastries and it bakes up very moist muffins.

Smoked Salmon Penne
http://www.food.com/348142

Lox and Cream Cheese Scrambled Eggs
http://www.food.com/282094

Cinnamon Rolls With a Cream Cheese Dough (Saveur)
http://www.food.com/recipe/404687

Easy Cut Rugelach
http://www.food.com/341949

Presidential Berry Muffins
http://www.food.com/353666

Orange Cream Cheese Muffins
http://www.food.com/376471

Cream Cheese Walnut Refrigerator Cookies
http://www.food.com/342487

[HillJ]

Oh pls don't discount frosting! cream cheese frosting...which I use on carrot cake, pineapple cake, applesauce cake, gingerbread, cupcakes, etc. can be flavored in so many creative ways!

Added to pancake batter as the "milk" portion you'll have a much lighter, fluffy result too.

[rainey]

Knead in things like herbs, roasted garlic, dried fruit, etc. and use it like a compound butter. Thin it some and use it as a dip.

Meanwhile, a compound butter can be frozen so I would imagine cream cheese can as well.

[katecm]

My mother always mixes it with equal parts mayo into a chicken salad if the chicken salad is going to be cooked and served warm (like in puff pastry). If it is cold, it would be too hard, but it keeps the warm chicken salad from getting runny.

[JungMann]

Mix with some crab and scallions and use it to fill wontons. Or puree it with ricotta, sugar and lemon zest for a French toast or blintz filling.

[buttertart]

Make this lovely, light cheesecake - just use the same weight of the whipped as it calls for, I've done that before. I can't say enough good about this recipe. Like a cross between spongecake and cheesecake. http://www.food.com/recipe/japanese-c...

[cocktailhour]

mix it with spicy salsa for a dip, or pepper jelly. mix with pesto and stuff it into a chicken breast.

[momskitchen]

Creamed spinach http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/e...

[jeanmarieok]

I like this recipe a lot! My fave creamed spinach...

[Val]

heh, my son likes to just grab some frozen spinach (Pictsweet markets a family size bag of frozen spinach which is not in solid blocks), nuke it and then put some cream cheese on it and nuke it a little again with some seasonings for a quickie version.

[LaureltQ]

I like to use it as a filling for ravioli. The cream cheese melts up much nicer than ricotta, so it's great when mixed with minced sautéed mushrooms and maybe some thyme and garlic.

[jvanderh]

Mmmm definitely. Or mixed with blitzed up beans.

[magiesmom]

blitzed up beans???????

[jvanderh]

You know, throw them in the food processor with a little liquid. Blitzed!

[arp29]

Mix it with some pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Dip apple slices and gingersnaps.

Make a hearty spicy sausage dip (that would probably be good over pasta, too!)
Brown a few links of hot Italian sausage (taken out of the casing) with a few diced scallions. Add chili powder to taste and stir in Rotel or similar product. Stir in cream cheese until melted and smooth. If it is too thin, just let it cook a bit longer until thickened. Top with more chopped scallions and serve with a sturdy chip.

[marcharry]

mixed with tomato sauce - it will make a creamy rose-like pasta sauce that clings

[aphayes]

Enchiladas?
Garlic Spread?
Oreo Truffles?

[Val]

You can add it to beef broth with some herbs to make a surprisingly good creamy herb sauce for meatballs over noodles. Here's the recipe I'm talking about, you could probably sub ground turkey for the meatballs:
http://www.riceland.com/consumers/rec...

[ChefJune]

cheese cake?

[jvanderh]

cheese cake. :-)

[monavano]

make dip for crudite
add to scrambled eggs, or frittata
make spread for toast or bagels