Buffalo Chicken Dip

You always know you’ve found a winning appetizer when you continue to make it again and again, not only to enjoy it yourself but to also watch the reactions of your friends and family when they bite into its absolute deliciousness. That’s exactly what happened when I came across this recipe!

I made this appetizer for Christmas, and I believe my dad’s exact words were, “Don’t bother cooking anymore I’ll just eat this all day.” I knew I got my love for appetizers and dips from someone! I made it again for Valentine’s Day and it was just as delicious, and I can’t wait to make it for a third time!

The addition of cream cheese and ranch, plus the traditional buffalo chicken spiciness, make this appetizer a must-have. The recipe calls for it to be made in layers and that’s how I’ve prepared it both times, but I’ve also heard of people mixing it all together and saying it was just as delicious.

Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Prep time:  10 mins

Cook time:  20 mins

Total time:  30 mins

Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (10 ounces) chunk white chicken, drained (I boiled a few chicken breasts instead)
• ½ cup buffalo wing sauce (pretty sure I used more than a 1/2 cup but would recommend tailoring it to your tastes)
• ½ cup ranch salad dressing (don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to a 1/2 cup, I made sure the chicken was covered!)
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Sharp Cheddar cheese
• French bread baguette slices, celery ribs or tortilla chips, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spread cream cheese into an ungreased 1-qt. baking dish.
2. Layer with chicken, wing sauce and salad dressing
3. Sprinkle with additional hot sauce and then top with cheese.
4. Bake, uncovered, 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Loaded Baked Potato Dip

Loaded Baked Potato Dip

My dearest mother claims this is her favorite appetizer I’ve ever made, so you know it’s absolutely delicious! If you like loaded baked potatoes, you will L-O-V-E this appetizer.

The original recipe was a little bland for my tastes, so I added a heap of garlic, parsley, basil and pepper, my go-to herbs and spices, to add a little flavor. The extra ingredients are what gave the dip its WOW factor, and I would suggest adding any herbs and spices that satisfy your tastes to really make this a delicious appetizer.

Ingredients:

16 ounces sour cream
16 slices (12-ounce package) bacon, cooked and crumbled
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions or chives (I used both for extra flavor)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving to allow flavors to meld together. Garnish with extra shredded cheese, crumbled bacon, and chopped chives. Serve with your favorite potato chips or pretzel crisps. Dip can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Buffalo Chicken Bites

I became slightly obsessed with dishes featuring buffalo chicken before Michigan State’s massacre of Michigan (Go Green!) at Spartan Stadium, when I was welcomed into a random tailgate, handed an empty plate, and immediately found myself facing a crockpot filled with a delicious buffalo chicken dip. JACKPOT!

Although this dish isn’t a “dip” it’s still a delicious buffalo chicken appetizer that is surprisingly simple to make and won’t disappoint at your next get-together.

Ingredients

2 cups chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or finely chopped)
1/4 cup Frank’s Hot Sauce (use less for milder flavor)
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or your favorite all natural blue cheese dressing
24 wonton wrappers

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place chicken, hot sauce, and butter in a medium mixing bowl and stir together using a wooden spoon.

3. Spread out individual wonton wrappers onto a baking sheet.

4. Spoon about one tablespoon of the chicken mixture into each wonton wrapper, keeping the chicken to one side so that you can fold the other side over the top.  Sprinkle on a little blue cheese (or drizzle a little blue cheese dressing) over the chicken in each wonton wrapper.

5. Dip your finger in water and outline the edge of 2 wonton wrappers.  Fold wonton wrapper over the filling with edges touching.  Push edges together to seal.  Spray lightly with olive oil.

6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Let cool for about 5 minutes before eating.

Loaded Pimento Dip

BEWARE! If you make this Baked Pimento Dip, you will not be able to stop eating it. Yes, this appetizer is absolutely delicious. Appetizer?? Can’t it be a whole meal?? I don’t see why not. After all, I didn’t even have to make any alterations to the recipe to satisfy my taste buds, which is a miracle in itself.

I baked the Pimento Dip on Christmas Eve, and it was a hit with the entire family. Although it doesn’t exactly go along with 99% of the population’s New Year’s resolutions…a girl can cheat once in a while, right? Right! Enjoy!

RECIPE

10 Slices Bacon

1 Pound Cheddar Cheese

1 4-ounce jar Pimentos

1 cup Mayonnaise

1/2 Teaspoon Salt

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/2 Teaspoon Granulated Garlic

1 Bunch Green Onions, Diced

Cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces then cook until crispy. Drain bacon on paper towels. Set aside.

Shred cheese then add to a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add cooked bacon, pimentos, mayonnaise, salt, cayenne pepper and garlic then mix well until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. Fold in green onions.

Spread cheese mixture into a serving bowl and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve as a sandwich spread, atop burgers or with crackers, pita wedges, celery sticks or anything else!

Spinach and Feta Crescent Rolls

This post is making me extremely depressed. I absolutely loveddddd these rolls when I made them a few months ago, and when I went back to the website to retrieve the recipe, it was gone! How dare they?! I feel deprived, betrayed, depressed…but this is what Google is for. I found the recipe on a different website, and I know it’s the right one because I do remember putting olives in the rolls, thinking it was a little odd, and then thanking the recipe because I was clearly in the wrong. Delicious appetizer!

Crescent Rolls with Feta & Spinach

Ingredients:

• 2 tubes Pillsbury (or whatever brand) crescent rolls, 8 ct.
• 4 oz. crumbled feta cheese
• 4 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 oz. fresh baby spinach (about half of a pre-washed bag), chopped
• 2 oz. black olives, finely diced (optional)
• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Chop the spinach and olives and put them in a large mixing bowl.  Add the feta, mozzarella, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper.  Toss thoroughly and set the bowl aside.
• Unroll the crescent dough and divide into triangles.
• Using a spoon, place small heaps of the spinach mixture on the wide part of the dough triangle.
• Roll them up and place them on a greased cookie sheet.
• Brush them lightly with the egg white.
• Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
• Serve immediately (they’re still good when they’re at room temp, but when they’re warm they’re out of this world good.)

Pizza Dip

This dip is the best of both worlds – now you can enjoy pizza as an appetizer! I love dips. The only thing that would make this better is a little bit of bacon, because everyone knows that everything is better with bacon. What I like about this recipe is that you can pretty much use the basic “pizza” ingredients and add your favorite pizza toppings to satisfy your taste buds. I’d definitely add bacon. Shocker, I know. I don’t really have much else to say about this dip because, well, it’s a pizza dip and that’s just awesome!

Pizza Dip

A layered, hot cheesy dip with all of the great flavours of pizza including pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni, olives and green peppers.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, shredded
• 1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano (parmesan), grated
• 2 ounces pepperoni, sliced
• 2 tablespoons green pepper, sliced
• 2 tablespoons black olives, sliced

Directions

1. Mix the cream cheese, sour cream mayonnaise, mozzarella and parmigiano reggiano and spread it across the bottom of a pie plate.
2. Spread the pizza sauce on top and sprinkle on the cheese, pepperoni, green pepper and olives.
3. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the sides are bubbling and the cheese cheese has melted and turned golden brown on top, about 20 minutes.

Crack Bread

I’m an appetizer maniac. So when I found a recipe titled “Crack Bread,” I knew I had to try it! The bacon, cheddar cheese and ranch mix make a delicious combination, but I think I’d add a few more things such as garlic (I put garlic on everything), parsley, ham….now my mind is starting to wander. Make sure you get the ingredients as far into the bread slices as you can, or it’s definitely not as good. Enjoy!

1 unsliced loaf of (round is preferable) sourdough bread
8-12 oz cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
3 oz bag Oscar Mayer Real Bacon bits
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp Ranch dressing mix

Using a sharp bread knife cut the bread going both directions. Do not cut through the bottom crust. Place slices of cheese in between cuts. Sprinkle bacon bits on bread, making sure to get in between cuts. Mix together butter and Ranch dressing mix. Pour over bread. Wrap in foil the entire loaf in foil and place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap. Bake for an additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Crack Weenies

Crack Weenies

There’s a reason these little guys are called crack weenies! Absolutely phenomenal. Once you get past the fact that they’re fat wrapped in fat, you can fully enjoy these bacon-wrapped weenies. The brown sugar glaze gives them a sweet taste that bring pure happiness to your taste buds. I made a huge batch of them for a Super Bowl party and not one was left!

Ingredients

• 1 pound Bacon, Cut Into Thirds
• 1 pound Smokies
• 1 stick Butter
• 2 cups Brown Sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the bacon into thirds and wrap each smokie. Place all the wrapped smokies in a single layer in a baking dish. Then melt the stick of butter and then 1 cup of brown sugar and stir until mixed well. Pour the butter and brown sugar mixture on the smokies and bacon. Then take the other cup of brown sugar and sprinkle evenly over the smokies. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes and then turn the heat up to 400F for about 5 minutes or longer until the bacon becomes crispy.

Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

Sausage & Cheese Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

I made these poppers a few weeks ago and they were a hit! We ran out of mini sausages so we used ham instead and it was still delicious. You could probably substitute any meat in for the sausages, just don’t replace the bacon! Everything tastes better with bacon 🙂 We grilled the poppers for about 20 minutes and then broiled them for five. Next time I’ll cook them the way they were meant to be, with mini sausages and the smoker, I’m sure they will taste even better.

Author: Steve Cylka

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Smoked

Serves: 20 ABTs

Ingredients

• 10 jalapeno peppers
• 10 bacon slices, cut in half
• 10 mini sausages or smokies (or 20 if they are very small)
• 1 cup cream cheese
• 1 cup grated monterey jack
• 1 tsp chipotle powder
• 2 shallots, minced

Instructions

1. Slice the jalapenos lengthwise. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and membrane. If using bell peppers, quarter them after they are seeded.
2. Mix the cream cheese, monterey jack, chipotle powder and minced shallots. Fill the hollowed out portion of the peppers with the cheese mixture.
3. Place the smokie on top of the cream cheese. Wrap the half slice of bacon around the jalapeno. If the bacon is not staying tightly wrapped, it may be necessary to use a toothpick to hold it in place.
4. Smoke the ABTs in the smoker, set at 225F, for 2-3 hours, or until the bacon is browned

Notes

To cook on the grill: Cook on a medium heat grill until the jalapeno is tender and the bacon is browned. Keep the lid covered while cooking. To cook in the oven: Bake the ABT’s in the oven, set at 425F, for 20-30 minutes or until the bacon is browned.