Who doesn’t love a good dip? With the upcoming Super Bowl, March Madness and summer parties looming and hungry kids (and adults) roaming free, here are some fast, easy, and delicious dip recipes to keep even the pickiest eaters satisfied, without costing you a fortune or wasting your whole day in the kitchen. Here are 5 five-step dips to die for:
Dip #1: Guacamole
Guac is absolutely iconic.
Dip #1: Guacamole
Sure, there are the few who dislike it, but I’d argue that’s only because they’ve never had good guacamole. This is good guacamole. Trust me.
Step 1: Mash about 4 avocados into a bowl.
Make sure they’re nice and ripe. You want them extremely mushy but not yet brown. Much like a banana, there is about 6 seconds of peak ripeness for an avocado, so as soon as you notice the outsides of your avocados getting very mushy, whip up some guac before it’s too late and they’re useless.
Step 2: Chop up 4 slices of red onion and one half of a bell pepper (I like to use yellow or orange bell peppers because it adds such a nice pop of color). Optional: chop up a jalapeño or two if you like it spicy.
Also chop up about a cup of cilantro. It should be a cup after you chop it. Usually about ½ of a regular-sized cilantro bunch will do the trick.
NOTE: How finely you chop the ingredients is totally up to preference. I know people who like their veggies practically minced in guacamole, and I personally love a good chunky guac – it’s totally up to you!
Step 3: Add in about a half of a can of Rotel canned tomatoes and chiles. This is like my secret ingredient, instead of a regular tomato. You can use mild if you don’t want spice, the chunky if you want a more chunky guac, etc. I usually go with just the classic.
Step 4: Add in your seasonings. Dust over the entire bowl twice with pepper, smokedpaprika, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, McCormick garlic salt, chili powder and cumin. (Roughly 2 tsp each).
Optional again: for spice, add cayenne to this spice mix.
Adjust these seasonings as needed according to taste, but generally peppering the entire bowl twice over and mixing that in is the perfect amount. Measure with your heart.
5) Final Step: Squeeze one small lime into the bowl and mix in.
Pro Tip: For a low cal, low carb dipping option, chopping the mini bell peppers you can buy by the bag in half makes them perfect for scooping and they are the perfect crunchy dipping agent, since they don’t add any unwanted flavor to the guac. I always struggled with finding a good option besides chips to eat with my guacamole because so many typical alternative dipping agents were not a good compliment to the guacamole flavor. I recently discovered this awesome pepper option and I LOVE IT.
If you love tortilla chips and are looking for a good additive free option, try the Siete brand grain-free tortilla chips. They’re amazing and so much better for you than, say, Tostitos, and they even come in multiple different flavors. Costco also has sample packs for a great price that helps with freshness because you can open bags as you need them, and it gives you multiple flavor options each time you need some chips.
Dip #2: Buffalo Chicken Dip
Step 1: Get a rotisserie chicken. It’s the easiest way to shred chicken and it’s already cooked so you don’t have to add a time-consuming extra step by making sure the chicken is cooked through.
I highly recommend Costco rotisserie chickens. They are FIVE DOLLARS (like, in this economy??) and honestly the best tasting rotisserie chicken I’ve ever had. I would literally get a Costco membership just for the chickens. Seriously. But also… free samples, discounted gas, and discounted liquor?? Like, come on. It’s $60 for a year and it’s so worth it. I swear to God I don’t have any sort of partnership with Costco. I didn’t expect to hype them up so much in this article, but it happened naturally.
ANYWAY. Shred up the rotisserie chicken into an oven-safe dish.
Step 2: Thoroughly mix in a block of cream cheese and blue cheese if you like it. I personally cannot stand blue cheese so I use whatever shredded cheese I have in the fridge as a substitute. Pepper jack is ideal. The measurements for the cheese are, again, a heart thing. Generally, the more cheese the better, in my opinion.
Step 3: Season: Add in Frank’s Original Hot Sauce to your taste (add more if you like it spicy or less if you like it mild).
Pepper the whole mixture with onion salt (I use Trader Joe’s onion salt. It is literally the best seasoning. “But I don’t have a Trader Joes!” It doesn’t matter! I had never even been to a Trader Joe’s when I discovered their delicious onion salt. My mother read about it in some magazine and we started ordering it off Amazon and I’ve never looked back. I literally have it on a subscription.), pepper, and Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning. You can also use actual ranch, but you have to be very careful as too much can ruin the consistency. Hidden Valley Ranch Seasoning is an awesome thing to keep in your spice cabinet as well.
Step 4: Chop up a couple of green onions, scallions, whatever you want to call them, and mix them in.
Step 5: Top with shredded cheese of your choice (I like to use a different type of cheese here than I used in the dip, to really diversify the cheeses and give it an expensive taste) and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes in a baking dish, or until everything is thoroughly melted and there’s a slight crisp on top.
Dip #3: Chicken Salad
This one isn’t just a dip, but much more. It can be a dip with bread, chips or celery, a sandwich filling, or a salad protein.
Step 1) Finely chop up or food process that Costco rotisserie chicken again; 2 cups worth.
Step 2) Sauce it up with 1/2 cup of sour cream, 2 Tbs of Worchester sauce, ½ a cup of Duke’s mayonnaise, and 2 tbs vinegar. I like to use the pickle juice vinegar from my pickle jars. Just trust me. It gives it a great, subtle dill flavor.
Step 3) Season. Tbs each of Trader Joe’s Onion Salt, smoked paprika, Ranch Seasoning, Dash Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper.
The fun thing about chicken salad is you can customize it a thousand different ways… Add fresh basil and some lemon juice for a lemon basil, add a bit of Frank’s and Slap Ya Mama seasoning and/or Jalepeño for a spicy version, or add some fresh dill to give it a more pickly flavor, bacon and cheese, egg, grapes, etc. The possibilities are endless!
Step 4) Chop up ¼ cup each of green onion, jalapeno, white onion, pickle, and, purple grapes and celery. (You can easily take any of these ingredients out or add anything else in, such as egg, bacon, cheese, grapes or nuts, and it will make very little difference. This is just what I like!) I find the celery and onion give it a nice crunch, while the grapes give it a sweet touch.
Step 5) Honestly, this is more like a 4 step recipe. It’s that easy. Just mix it up and your’e done!
Dip #4 Classic Nachos
This one is a dip with the dipping agent already baked in. How handy is that?
Step 1) Lay out a layer of your favorite tortilla chips on parchment paper on a baking sheet. I personally love the Siete tortilla chips, as you’ve already heard.
Step 2) Cook and add all your proteins. Nachos are actually an incredible source of protein (if made my way). I thoroughly cover the chips with a layer of black or pinto beans and shredded chicken. (Again, I typically use rotisserie).
Pre-cooking the beans and chicken is essential for two reasons: 1) the nachos won’t be in the oven long enough to fully cook anything, and 2) to season them, of course.
Season the beans and chicken like you would a taco. Assuming you use about ½ a cup of beans and ½ a cup of chicken, cook them in 2 tbs each of cumin, smoked paprika, chili powder, cayenne, Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, garlic and 1 tbs of chipotle pepper (chipotle can overwhelm the flavor and needs to be a lower ratio than the other spices).
Step 3) Finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, cover with a more than generous amount of shredded Mexican-Blend cheese (and pepper jack cheese if you want spice).
Step 4) Bake in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted.
Step 5) Now cover with shredded lettuce, diced red onion diced jalepeno (optional) and Rotel. If you’d like any of these slightly cooked, toss them on before going into the oven. I personally like the crunch of the raw veggies.
Pro Tip: After baking, top with your favorite salsa, sour cream and/or hot sauce with some chopped green onion for added flavor! (This is also a great time to use that guac recipe from earlier).
Dip #5: Baked Brie
Okay, this isn’t even 5 steps because it is SO easy, but it’s also SO amazing it had to make it on this list.
Step 1) Put an entire Brie wheel in a baking dish or Ramekin that’s roughly the size and shape of the wheel (otherwise the Brie will lose it’s shape).
Step 2) Cut off the top layer of wax covering the Brie. (This is optional).
Step 3) Cover generously with fresh cranberries in sauce and place a few sprigs of fresh rosemary on and around the wheel. You can also add nuts or any combination of fruits. It’s totally customizable.
Step 4) Drizzle generously with honey.
Step 5) Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is nice and soft. Serve with crackers or just eat it with a spoon. It’s that good!
BONUS Recipe: Chorizo Queso
Step 1) Melt some shredded white cheese (or buy some queso cheese if you want to be really lazy) in a pot.
Step 2) Add in a tablespoon or so of cumin, smoked paprika and chili powder.
Step 3) Brown some ground chorizo sausage and make sure it’s crumbled into small pieces (think like an Italian meat sauce or sausage gravy). Season it with the same seasonings mentioned previously.
Step 4) Mix some Rotel into the cheese sauce.
Step 5) Add the browned chorizo sausage into your cheese sauce and stir until everything is perfectly intermingled.
Now go forth and be the favorite guest at any gathering from now on!