Edited by Isabel Ehlert
I have brought a lot of dips to a lot of parties. I have walked in with the slow cooker full and walked out with the slow cooker empty by halftime. At some point, I realized that being known as the person who brings the dip is one of the highest social honors there is. Nobody is mad at the dip person. The dip person is universally loved.
These are the dips I rotate through for game days, holiday parties, Friendsgiving, and any night where I want dinner to feel less like dinner and more like a party. Most of them come together in one bowl. All of them disappear faster than you expect.
Chicken Dip Recipe▼
This is the dip I bring when I want to be invited back. Shredded chicken, cream cheese, ranch, cheddar, and a little bacon. The whole thing bakes together until it is bubbling and golden, and people eat it with crackers, with chips, with celery, with a spoon if no one is looking.
I tried to bring a different dip to a party once. I will not be doing that again. The texts started rolling in before I even got home.
Get the recipe: Chicken Dip
Crab Rangoon Dip▼
Imagine the inside of a crab rangoon, turned into a dip, served warm with crispy wontons for scooping. That is the whole concept. Cream cheese, crab, a little sweet, a little savory, and a crunchy topping that takes the whole thing over the edge.
This is the dip that gets the polite people at parties to behave less politely. They stand by the dip. They camp out by the dip. They do not move from the dip.
Get the recipe: Crab Rangoon Dip
Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip▼
The crockpot version of the classic. You dump everything in, you stir occasionally, and by the time guests arrive the dip is hot, cheesy, and ready to serve. It stays warm all party long, which is the secret weapon of dip success.
Spinach artichoke dip is the dip that everyone says they will have just one bite of. Nobody has just one bite. I have never seen it happen.
Get the recipe: Crockpot Spinach Artichoke Dip
Restaurant-Style Spinach Artichoke Dip▼
This is the version that tastes like the appetizer at a chain restaurant where you used to go on date nights before kids. Creamy, extra cheesy, with that perfect golden bubbly top from the broiler. It is the dip you make when you want everyone to think you ordered from somewhere.
The trick is the cream cheese, the mozzarella, and the parmesan, all working together to make it impossibly creamy. Once you make it this way, you do not go back.
Get the recipe: Restaurant-Style Spinach Artichoke Dip
Real Cheese Queso Blanco Dip▼
The white queso from the Mexican restaurant that you have been chasing for years. This version uses actual real cheese, no Velveeta, and the result is creamy, dippable, and stays smooth even after it cools a little. The flavor is exactly what you remember it being.
This is the dip I make when my kids have friends over and I want everyone to think I am the cool mom. It works on the cool-mom front. It also works on the keeping-them-quiet-for-an-hour front.
Get the recipe: Real Cheese Queso Blanco Dip
Crack Chicken Appetizer▼
The party version of crack chicken. Cream cheese, ranch, cheddar, bacon, and shredded chicken, served warm in a baking dish with crackers around the edges. It is the kind of dip you put out and then immediately start refilling because everyone keeps going back.
If you have never served crack chicken at a party, prepare yourself for compliments. The dish will come home empty.
Get the recipe: Crack Chicken Appetizer
Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Roll Appetizer▼
Not technically a dip, but it is the appetizer that gets dipped in everything. Sausage and cream cheese wrapped in crescent dough, baked until golden, served warm. People eat these with mustard, with marinara, with ranch, with their hands directly off the plate.
I bring these to every football party. They are always the first thing to go. Always.
Get the recipe: Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Roll Bites
Chocolate Chip Dip▼
The sweet dip for after the savory dips. Cream cheese, brown sugar, vanilla, and mini chocolate chips, served with graham crackers, pretzels, or apple slices. It tastes like a cookie that turned itself into a dip, and the bowl always goes home empty.
This is the dip I make for game days when there is going to be a long stretch between the savory snacks and the actual dinner. It bridges the gap perfectly.
Get the recipe: Chocolate Chip Dip
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