If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you'll know that I love entertaining. This dip is always a centre piece, with people gravitating towards it because - let's be honest - who doesn't love a warm and cheesy dip!
I can't claim credit to coming up with this recipe. Truth be told, I'm not sure where it came from. My suspicion is it was a promotional recipe from a cream cheese company; at any rate it would have been a long time ago. My step mother has been making this for as long as I can remember and it always proves popular.
The best part of this is the dip only takes 5 minutes of active time to put together, and you might not need to go and get any special ingredients in order to make it - I tend to have all of these ingredients on hand most of the time.
Give this a crack as part of your next entertaining spread, a warm dip makes a great change from the usual hummus and pesto dips.
What is Creamy Cheesy Salsa Dip?
This is a dip that's served warm and has a Tex Mex vibe going on. It's made with cream cheese, capsicum, salsa and cheese.
Creamy Cheesy Salsa Dip Ingredients
- Cream cheese - forms the base of the dip. You can use a light cream cheese if that's all you have, but you'll get a better texture and result with a full fat cream cheese.
- Capsicum/bell pepper - placed on top of the cream cheese, gives a great crunch and contrasting texture. I like to use mixed colours, you'll need roughly two small capsicums.
- Salsa - use store bought as I have in this recipe, or try making one!
- Grated cheese - I like to use a blend of cheeses because you get a better taste and differing textures. My preference is for a Mexican cheese blend, but you can use plain cheddar if you'd like.
How to make Creamy Cheesy Salsa Dip
I make this dip in an earthenware dish because it helps to keep it warm during serving. You could bake it in a thinner container, but be aware that it will cool faster.
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- Cream cheese - in the base of your dish, place the cream cheese. Use a spoon to scoop it out of the container and then run the spoon around the dish to flatten and spread it out.
- Capsicum/peppers - cut the capsicum into 1/2cm (1/4") dice, and scatter over the cream cheese. Try and scatter it as evenly as possible.
- Salsa - place the salsa over the cream cheese and capsicum, and then use a spoon to distribute it evenly around the dish.
- Cheese - scatter the cheese over the salsa.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is golden and melted.
What type of cheese should I use?
The base needs to be cream cheese, however you can experiment however you'd like with the the melted cheese. I like a Mexican cheese blend, and I've used an Italian blend (cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan) in the past with great results. You could also use your favourite cheddar.
Creamy Cheesy Salsa Dip
| Prep | Cook | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 10 mins | 20 mins | 30 mins |
- 250g cream cheese use light if you want, but full fat is better
- 200g capsicum/bell peppers, cut into 1/2cm (1/4") dice two small capsicum, ideally mixed colour, see note 1
- 300g salsa see note 2
- 150g grated cheese ideally a Mexican cheese blend, see note 3
- Preheat your oven to 180C
- Get an oven safe dish, preferably something earthenware.
- Scoop the cream cheese out of the container into your baking dish. Using the back of a spoon, spread the cream cheese around the dish as evenly as you can.
- Scatter the capsicum evenly over the cream cheese.
- Spoon the salsa over the capsicum, and then use the back of your spoon to spread it around as evenly as possible.
- Scatter the cheese over the salsa.
- Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden and melted.
- Capsicum - I like to use mixed colours. For 200g of capsicum, you'll need roughly two small capsicums.
- Salsa - jarred salsa is fine, but feel free to make your own if you want or have time to burn.
- Cheese - use whichever hard cheese you'd like. I'd suggest a Mexican cheese blend, but if all you have is cheddar it works fine.
