If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you'll know that we love entertaining. This dip is often on rotation as it's always popular - 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 this quick and easy dip, 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.
Try this as part of your next entertaining spread - a warm dip makes a great change from the usual hummus and pesto dips. But if you decide to serve hummus, definitely try my best ever hummus recipe.
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 oven-safe 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 the cream cheese and spread it out evenly.
- 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.
- Full fat cream cheese will give the best result.
- Experiment with different grated cheese blends to find the flavour you like most.
- For best result, try making your own salsa, such as my salsa ranchera. If you make my salsa ranchera, double the recipe.
- Allow the dip to cool slightly once baked - molten cheese burns hard and fast.
- Add some chilli/red pepper flakes if you'd like to increase the heat.
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.
Make ahead
You can easily make the dip ahead of time - just don't bake it. Place it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
It's not advisable to put most baking dishes into a warm oven straight from the fridge, so allow it to come to room temperature before baking.
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 store bought is fine, see note 2
- 150g grated cheese ideally a Mexican cheese blend, see note 3
- Preheat your oven to 180C.
- In an oven-safe dish (preferably earthenware), spread the cream cheese evenly using the back of a spoon.
- 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. My salsa ranchera works very well here if you'd like to try doing homemade - just double the recipe.
- 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.
