16 Favorite Party Dips

I’m not as enthusiastic about the fall sports season as I once was, but I will take advantage of an opportunity to have snacks. A perusal of The Archives suggests that dips are the queens of The Messy Apron snacking nation, and so I’ll give you a list of 16 of them here. Hot, cold, smooth, chunky, savory sweet, there’s a little of each. For your snacking pleasure.

Hummus is particularly satisfying no matter what you like to dip into it. In addition to classic chickpea hummus, I like this Green Pea Hummus, too.

Smashed and pureed vegetables make particularly good cold dips, especially the eggplant in this Spicy Eggplant Dip with Basil and Mint, the red bell peppers in Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic, and Onion Dip, and the zucchini in Grilled Zucchini and Feta Dip.

And if you want something into which to dip your favorite crunchy vegetables, there’s Garlic and Herb Vegetable Dip.

Fresh salsas are hard to beat, and can be used to accentuate other snacks, like nachos, as well as simply scooped and munched with chips. If you want the fun of using the grill, you can make Grilled Tomatillo Salsa.

 

Or you can just get out a knife and make Tomato and Cucumber Pico de Gallo,  Cucumber Salsa with Cilantro and Mint,

or Radish Cilantro Salsa.

While I like cold dips for early autumn snacking, as the temperatures drop, I like to heat things up. Bean Dip with Sour Cream, Salsa and Cheese (pictured at the top) is one of my favorite recipes, as is Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

 

You don’t even have to stop snacking when it’s time for dessert. You can get yourself some graham crackers, vanilla wafers, or firm fruits, and dip them in tasty sweet dips, like Caramel Dip for Apples, Chocolate Cookie Butter,

 

Fluffernutter Cream Cheese Dip,

And Sweet Pumpkin Dip, which I love with cinnamon-sugar pita chips.

There are so many ways you can go, no matter what delivery system you like, whether it be tortilla or pita chips, crackers, cookies, or something healthier like fruits and vegetables. I hope you, too, enjoy having a line of dips in your snacking life.

Other posts like this one: 12 Seasonal Favorites, 6 Late Summer Soups

Fluffernutter Dip

This recipe is almost silly. It’s ludicrously easy to make. It has dubious (at best) nutritional value. It’s designed pretty much just for fun. It even has a goofy name.

But something this ridiculously delicious is allowed to be as silly as it needs to be! This dip is so good I have to be careful. It’s delicious on apples or graham crackers. I think pretzels would be good dipped in it as well. It’s great spread on a toasted slice of sandwich bread or baguette. It’s yummy licked right off of a spoon. I’m even thinking I might just eat a stick dipped in this stuff! 

This sweet and delicious dip is, of course, based on the fluffernutter sandwich, which is made by spreading creamy peanut butter and marshmallow fluff on bread, probably white bread, so it can be as squishy as possible. I never eat such sandwiches (although my husband does), but a dip. Hmmmm.

What made me just go ahead and do it was the cream cheese base, similar to what was going on in this dip and the dip in this post, both of which I adore. That cream cheese turns out to be what saves the fluffernutter dip from the super sweetness of marshmallow fluff and the relative natural sweetness of peanut butter. It gives it a good balance of tanginess as well as sturdy base. It might also help make one believe that this is actually food, rather than just candy.

And now I’m in trouble. As I mentioned above, this is not just great for dipping, but it’s good as a spread, too. When kept in the refrigerator, it even stays spreadable, and so, I’m afraid this is not just becoming a snack food in my house, but a part of a complete breakfast as well.

Since this makes a pretty big bowl of dip, I’m trying to think of some other ways to use it. It could easily be spread on just about anything that one might spread peanut butter or cream cheese, but I’m thinking it might just be good baked into some kind of pastry. It might even be good as a frosting. I’m hoping to have some time to experiment this week. Otherwise, I’m going to need a lot more sticks.

Fluffernutter Cream Cheese Dip (or Spread)

Based on a variety of recipes

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

7 ounces marshmallow crème (aka Fluff)

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1. With a hand-held electric mixer, beat the cream cheese in a medium-size bowl until it is fluffy.

2. Add the marshmallow crème. Beat until smooth.

3. Add the peanut butter. Fold in with a spoon or rubber spatula until well combined, but a few streaks and stripes of peanut butter are still visible. Serve as a dip with apples, graham crackers, etc., or as a spread on bread.

Makes about 2 cups

Other recipes like this one: Caramel Dip for Apples, Honey Almond Cheese Spread, Sweet Pumpkin Dip

One year ago: Oatmeal Date Cookies with Cardamom

Garlic and Herb Vegetable Dip

 

It’s been a relatively mild summer here, but now the hot days have hit us. Days in which we count on relief in the form of refreshing, chilled food that requires little time in the kitchen. Since the football preseason is also going strong, some of us might be feeling the pressure to bring on the tailgating treats. This simple, creamy dip is just right for all of the above.

All you need to accompany this is a few fresh, crunchy vegetables: carrots, celery, bell peppers, green beans, cucumbers, etc. The basic herb formula of chives and parsley goes with everything without giving offense. And cream cheese and sour cream, well, they’re just dip, you know. They don’t have a chance of becoming dull or boring with the zip they get from a pinch of lemon zest and pretty powerful zing from fresh garlic.

Take it from someone who has thrown this simple, delicious dip together many times after misplacing the recipe, tossing in whatever herbs I have on hand, thinking I had what I needed and didn’t and therefor making emergency substitutions: there are a lot of ways you could go with this to satisfy your personal taste. You can use buttermilk, yogurt or cream in place of the sour cream. Dill and thyme are other herbs that work well. Scallions, especially the green parts, are always a good substitution for chives as far as I’m concerned. I’m sure I forgot there was garlic in this for a while and I still made good dip.

 

This is so easy and delicious that you’ll always want to have a bowl of it in the refrigerator, whether it’s just to fill a hunger gap when it’s too hot to cook, or to fill a gap in an epic snack spread.  (I think the recipe could be easily doubled.) Perhaps it will also make you want to have dip-able vegetables in the refrigerator at all times as well. I don’t suppose there could be anything bad about that!

Garlic and Herb Vegetables Dip

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine (November 2009)

I used reduced-fat dairy ingredients to make this dip, but I’m sure the full-fat versions would be great. I don’t recommend fat-free.

1 small clove or ½ of a medium-size clove garlic

¼ teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt

½ cup (4 ounces) cream cheese

¼ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons minced chives

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1/8 teaspoon black pepper, preferably freshly ground

1. Finely chop the garlic and sprinkle with the salt. Continue to chop and press the garlic and salt together to form a paste as demonstrated in this post.

2. Place the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Add the garlic-salt paste. Using an electric mixer, blend the ingredients on medium speed until very creamy and well-combined. Serve as a dip with fresh vegetables.

Makes about ¾ cup.

Other recipes like this one: Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce, Garlic-Parsley Aioli, Grilled Zucchini and Feta Dip, Lime-Herb Dipping Sauce

One year ago: Noodle Salad with Vegetables and Sweet Asian Dressing