Killer cheese dip: 3 ingredients, ~20 minutes… delicious!

Looking for a great cheese dip for a party or casual get together? A friend at work made this chip dip for a recent birthday celebration, and it was absolutely terrific. You’ll only need 3 items for the recipe…

The Ingredients

• 1 lb. hot sausage (bulk; any brand will do – I used Jimmy Dean’s)
• 3 packages cream cheese
• 2 10 oz. cans Ro*Tel canned tomatoes & chiles
• Tortilla chips for serving

The Directions

Brown the sausage in a large frying pan over medium-high heat; discard any excess grease. Add 3 packages of cream cheese right into the same pan and slowly melt them. When the cheese is well melted, add 2 cans Ro*Tel tomatoes (I used the Original version; it’s also available as “Hot”,) juice and all. Mix in the tomatoes and bring everything up to temperature. You’re done.

Serve hot with tortilla chips. (At the birthday party I mentioned earlier, this dip was served in a crock pot set on low.) Serves 10-12 people.

For more heat, use the Hot Ro*Tel canned tomatoes. If this particular brand isn’t available in your area, simply use canned diced tomatoes and add some chopped chiles to suit your taste.

The Fine Print

Just for the record, I do recognize the irony in this post’s title. This is not an especially low cal/low fat recipe, and I doubt that the American Heart Association will be endorsing it anytime soon. If you’re on a low fat diet, use lite cream cheese and reduce the amount of or eliminate the sausage!

Enjoy!

kc 6/28/08