Recipe: $5.04 | Per Serving: $0.50 | Yield: 10
If you like cream cheese, and you like a little kick of spice, then this is the dip for you!
This came to fruition around Zac's birthday when I tested some sausage-stuffed jalapeños for appetizers at his party. Two words: TOO. SPICY. I mean, we ate them all anyway - either mixed into mac & cheese or eggs, or with the tippy top sliced off - but hot Italian sausage + half a jalapeño = just too spicy to be enjoyable. Three people tasted; three people agreed.
So, I had bought 24 jalapeños, and I had used 12, and I had so many jalapeños left. I used them as best as I could - in eggs and soup and stew; it was a spicy week. However, I still didn't have enough appetizers for the birthday thing, and that's how this dip came to be. What tampers spice? FAT, especially dairy fat. I made my first batch a couple of days before the party and I was obsessed.
Fast forward to the actual party, and I discovered that 4 large cloves of garlic was too much garlic for a large group of people who either didn't know each other well or had never met and were therefore self-conscious about their garlic breath. So, I scaled back the garlic and tried again, and it was still delicious! You can decide how garlicky you want it to be, or you can just lightly sauté the garlic before mixing it with the other ingredients to soften the sharp garlic flavor.
I made this a few weeks ago and tried to do a video, which wasn't my most successful endeavor. And when that was finally done, I dug right into the middle of the dish with Triscuits, and about 5-10 Triscuits later I realized I hadn't snapped pictures! I had eaten a hole in the middle, right to the bottom of the dish, without taking a single photo. Dangit! Back to the store for the exact same ingredients the next weekend. :)
Really though, I wasn't complaining. We have now been eating this for almost 4 weeks straight, paired with Triscuits, and occasionally raw veggies, and I'm still not sick of it!
Vegetarian: Yep! As long as you don't add bacon.
Paleo: No! Way too many dairy products to even try with this recipe. You could get creative with cashew cream and nutritional yeast and probably discover something delicious, but very different.
Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- 4 jalapeños
- 2-4 cloves garlic start with two - the garlic can be spicy
- 8 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup Greek yogurt sour cream, or plain yogurt
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
- ¼ cup monterey jack or mozzarella cheese, shredded
- pinch salt about ⅛ tsp
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF.
- Using a food processor, grater, or by hand, mince the jalapeño and garlic.
- In a large bowl or using a stand mixer, whisk the cream cheese until soft and fluffy, then add in the remaining ingredients - jalapeños, garlic, yogurt/sour cream, cheese, and salt.
- Pour into a small casserole dish and bake on 375ºF for about 20 minutes, or until soft and gooey.
- Serve with crackers, chips, bread, or veggies!
Notes
Things you could change: add bacon, replace the melty cheese with more Parmesan, add more jalapeños, add more garlic, use pepperjack cheese. It's pretty flexible!
Make Ahead: You can make this ahead of time and warm it up just before your party. It's best a little warm so it's nice and gooey!
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