Chili Cheese Dip

This easy Chili Cheese Dip is creamy and delicious, perfect for a Super Bowl party, 4th of July celebration, or any event! With only three ingredients, it’s so simple to make and it’s ready in just 20 minutes. But be careful… it’s ADDICTING!

Whether it’s a big batch of homemade potato salad or a tray of loaded baked potato cups, we love a good side dish around here. This chili cheese dip is no exception!

With its easy dump-and-bake process, it’s a winner even at the last minute!

Homemade Chili Cheese Dip

In our house, we call this The Dip. It has no other name, and it is revered for the treasure that it is. For the sake of clear understanding, I named this recipe Chili Cheese Dip, but soon you too will call it The Dip like we do.

Ingredients

This recipe really is just 3 ingredients, and you can use whatever variations on them that fit your family.

• Cream Cheese – This is the base for the creamy texture. Use whatever brand you like, we prefer the Philadelphia brand!
• Chili – While this can be homemade, you can also use canned for the easiest option. Make this with or without beans. We prefer without beans most of the time, but I had a can with beans, and it was still amazing!
• Cheese – This is where you can really play around with flavors! We like to use a “Mexican” or “Fiesta” blend, but cheddar or even pepper jack cheese would be delicious here too.

Instructions

The process for making this recipe is so insanely simple. Here is it (don’t blink or you might miss it)!

• Preheat your oven to 400°F.
• In a 9″ square pan, spread cream cheese in an even layer. Top with chili and spread evenly, then finally, top with shredded cheese.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Yes, it’s that easy! But, I’ve learned some great tips that make this recipe go a lot smoother, so I’m going to break it down below!

1. Cheese Cheese Texture – It will be best if you use softened cream cheese or it won’t really spread. If you’re like me and forget to soften the cream cheese ahead of time, you can cheat. I take my cream cheese out of the package and put both blocks in the 9″ baking dish. Then I put the baking dish in the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until it spreads easily on the bottom of the pan.
2. Use the Good Stuff – Be sure to use name-brand cream cheese! Every time I’ve tried to use off-brand with this recipe, it turns out grainy and lumpy.
3. Use Your Favorite Chili – I have experimented with several kinds of canned chili, and honestly, they are all good! Which brand is “best” is going to be up to you and your preferences.
4. Keep it HOT – After baking your chili cheese dip, let it cool for 5-10 minutes before trying to. Then serve right away as it’s best served hot!

Ways to Serve This Chili Cheese Dip

We eat the dip with tortilla chips sometimes. We also LOVE to have what we call Dip Dogs. Dip Dogs are just hot dogs smothered in this chili cheese dip.

These taste best when the hot dogs have been cooked over an open fire.

Chili Cheese Dip is also awesome on burgers, which is something we often enjoy as well. I REALLY love this dip on my Cowboy Chicken Patties! They’ve got jalapeno and bacon in them which practically begs for this dip. We’ve even eaten this with salsa chicken in a burrito and it was AWESOME.

Basically, you could put this Chili Cheese Dip on a shoe and it would be great.

Reheating Instructions

Yes! We keep ours in the fridge for up to a week after making it each time. Sometimes we will microwave it to reheat it, but most times we stick it in the oven to heat it back up.

To heat it back up in the oven, put it in at 350 for 15 minutes. It should come out warm and bubbly and ready to eat!

Even More Recipes to Try Next

• Homemade Potato Salad
• Extra Thick Homemade Chili
• Loaded Baked Potato Cups

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