This Chili Cheese Dip is filling, flavorful, and comes together in just 30 minutes. Made with straightforward ingredients and baked in the oven, it’s a great option for serving at parties and events.
You’ll love this dip if you enjoy recipes like Taco Dip with Cream Cheese, 7-Layer Dip, and Beer Cheese Dip.
Make this extra easy and memorable dip recipe with minimal effort.
You’ll just mix together the ingredients, transfer that mixture to a baking dish, top with shredded cheese, bake, then top with your desired toppings.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
💛 Why you’ll love this recipe
- Straightforward ingredients you may already have on hand.
- Can be made and served in only 30 minutes.
- A great dip for holiday parties, work events, or game day gatherings.
- Versatile — can be customized based on what you have on hand.
➡️ Ingredients
⏲ How to make this chili cheese dip recipe
This is an overview of the recipe’s instructions. The full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Dish: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, then set aside.
Recipe Tip: You don’t have to use parchment paper, but it does make clean-up a lot easier! If you want to skip it, that’s totally fine, and the recipe will still work.
- Prepare Cream Cheese Mixture: To a large microwave-safe bowl, add the cream cheese and heavy cream. Microwave on high for 1-3 minutes, pausing to stir every 20-30 seconds, until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture can easily be stirred together (it’s OK if it’s not totally smooth). Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- Stir In Spices and Cheese: In a separate small mixing bowl, stir together cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add to the mixing bowl of cream cheese and cream, then whisk together.
- Stir in Salsa and Chili: Add in 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, and chili, then stir or whisk until all ingredients are mixed together. Taste and add more salt and pepper, based on taste preferences.
- Transfer to Baking Dish: Pour the mixture into the baking dish and use a rubber spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of shredded cheese on top.
- Bake: Transfer the baking dish to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the dip is bubbly and starts to slightly brown on top. Optionally, turn on the oven broiler and broil for 1-2 minutes on the middle oven rack (don’t broil on the highest oven rack, or the parchment may burn). Watch the dip carefully while it broils to avoid burning. Then, remove the dish from the oven.
- Add Toppings: Garnish with desired toppings, like sliced jalapeños, diced tomatoes, chopped green onions, and chopped cilantro.
- Serve: Serve hot with tortilla chips and/or sliced veggies.
👉 Ingredient substitution suggestions
- Heavy Cream: Use half-and-half or whole milk.
- Cheddar Cheese: Swap with Monterey Jack for a milder taste or pepper jack cheese for extra heat.
- Chili: You can use canned chili or homemade chili here. With beans, no-bean, with beef, vegetarian chili, etc. Any will work. You could even make a mix of black beans and canned corn.
- Spices: You can try using 1 Tablespoon of taco seasoning in place of all the seasonings.
✨ Variations
- Add ground beef, shredded chicken, or ground Italian sausage to the chili or stir right into the dip.
- Mix in buffalo sauce or chopped jalapeños into the cream cheese mixture for some added spice and flavor.
- Stir in sautéed onions, bell peppers, and/or mushrooms for added nutrients, flavor, and texture.
〰️ How to serve
- Chips — Serve with a variety of tortilla chips, from traditional to blue corn, or FRITOS Scoops. Or serve on top of chips to make nachos.
- Sliced Veggies — Plate with bell peppers, celery, carrots, and/or cucumbers.
- Bread Bowl — Serve in a bread bowl (a hollowed-out loaf of bread).
- Protein — Serve with pollo asado or grilled steak.
💬 FAQs
Can I prep this chili cheese dip ahead of time to serve later?
Mix all of the ingredients as instructed and transfer the mixture into your baking dish. Instead of baking it immediately, cover the dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to serve, remove it from the fridge, and let it sit at room temperature while the oven preheats, then bake as directed. Keep in mind that the cold dish might require a few extra minutes in the oven to become bubbly and fully heated through.
How should this chili cheese dip be stored and reheated?
Transfer leftover chili cheese dip that has cooled off into an airtight container and refrigerate it for 3-4 days.
• Oven: Cover with foil to prevent burning, and bake at 350 degrees until warmed throughout, which should take about 15-20 minutes.
• Stovetop: Transfer dip to a saucepan and warm it over medium-low heat. Stir it frequently to prevent any sticking or burning and to ensure that it heats evenly. If the dip has thickened up too much after being stored in the fridge, add a splash of milk or water to bring back the smooth consistency. Continue heating until the dip is thoroughly warmed, which will likely take 5-10 minutes.
• Microwave: Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until warmed.
📚 More dip recipes
🍽 Recipe
Email Recipe
Enter your email below and we’ll send you this recipe!
Chili Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- 1 cup 240 milliliters heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt, or more to taste
- ¼ tsp pepper, or more to taste
- 2 cups 224 grams finely freshly-shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 can, 14-16 ounces canned chili or homemade chili
- 1 cup 240 grams salsa (mild, medium, or hot, based on your preference)
Optional Toppings:
- Hot sauce
- Sliced jalapeños
- Diced tomatoes
- Chopped green onions
- Chopped cilantro
Serving Options:
- Tortilla chips
- Sliced veggies
- Bread bowl
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Dish: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 degrees C). Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, then set aside. (Note: you don’t have to use parchment paper, but it does make clean-up a lot easier! If you want to skip it, the recipe will still work.)
- Prepare Cream Cheese Mixture: To a large microwave-safe bowl, add cream cheese and heavy cream. Microwave on high for 1-3 minutes, pausing to stir every 20-30 seconds, until cream cheese is melted and mixture can easily be stirred together (it’s OK if it’s not totally smooth). Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in Spices and Cheese: In a separate small mixing bowl, stir together cumin, garlic powder, paprika, salt, and pepper. Add to mixing bowl of cream cheese and cream, then whisk together.
- Stir in Salsa and Chili: Add in 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese, salsa, and chili, then stir or whisk until all ingredients are mixed together. Taste and add more salt and pepper, based on taste preferences.
- Transfer to Baking Dish: Pour mixture into baking dish and use a rubber spatula to smooth it into an even layer. Sprinkle remaining ½ cup shredded cheese on top.
- Bake: Transfer baking dish to oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until dip is bubbly and starts to slightly brown on top. Optionally, turn on oven broiler and broil for 1-2 minutes on the middle oven rack (don’t broil on highest oven rack, or the parchment may burn). Watch the dip carefully while it broils to avoid burning. Then, remove dish from oven.
- Add Toppings: Garnish with desired toppings, like hot sauce, sliced jalapeños, diced tomatoes, chopped green onions, and chopped cilantro.
- Serve: Serve hot with tortilla chips and/or sliced veggies.
Leave a Reply