This taco dip recipe is always such a crowd pleaser and it’s so easy to throw together too! A must have at your next family gathering!
A good taco dip recipe is something that can come in handy in all sorts of situations, from pot lucks and barbecues, to family holidays, to watching sports games on the couch. It always seems to be a welcome addition no matter what the situation. This particular recipe is so great because it almost disappears right before your eyes like magic!
The secret to this taco dip recipe is that it has a really good balance of all the best elements of any taco dip or tex-mex type of dish. It’s got the richer, more indulgent elements, but it’s also balanced out well by a few nice fresh ingredients as well.
What Makes This Taco Dip Recipe Disappear
The thing that I see with a lot of taco dips is that they often have one or two more “creative” ingredients layered in there. Now, I personally love creative ingredients. The more creative the better! I’m definitely one to want to include every creative ingredient in the world in my recipes!
The problem with being a lover of more interesting ingredients like that is that when you’re making a dish to serve to a big group of people, you can easily forget that most people might not have the same adventurous taste in food that you do. If you’re serving a big group that includes kids and other various folks that you don’t know very well, you need to find a recipe that still gives you that “Wow! This is absolutely delicious!” reaction, but that leaves out all of those elements that will scare them away from even trying your dish in the first place. It can be tough to do that without getting boring.
Never fear though! Magic taco dip to the rescue!
My Favourite Taco Dip Recipe
You’ll need:
-2 cans of refried beans
-1 16oz tub of cream cheese
-1 12oz tub of sour cream at room temperature
-2-3 tablespoons of taco seasoning (homemade taco seasoning is best!)
-1 15oz jar of salsa (mild or medium is your safest bet)
-2 medium ripe tomatoes, diced
-1/2 green pepper, very finely chopped
-1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese or a tex-mex blend of cheeses
-2 super finely-chopped green onion, green and light green parts only
Then you just layer it up! I used a 1 gallon size semi-disposable plastic food storage container and it was the perfect size. OK, that just sounds weird to me trying to be all generic and accurate about describing the container. I really wanted to say that I used one of those disposable tupperware containers, but really, it’s neither made by tupperware nor is it really disposable because you can totally reuse them if you want. You know the ones I’m talking about. I think the one I bought was called “Takealongs” and was made by Rubbermaid. A lot of people like to use those disposable foil lasagna containers for these types of dishes if they’re bringing them somewhere to share, but for this, it’s nice to use something clear so you can see the layers.
So here’s layer number one: The refried beans!
Just scoop them out of the can and use the back of a spoon to smoosh them down and create an even layer.
The Next Layer
The next layer is a little more complicated. Just a little. You’ll want to combine the cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning together. This can be a little tough because of the texture of the sour cream and the cream cheese, so if you have a stand mixer, use it with the paddle attachment and it will make this job quite a bit easier. If not, just make sure to soften the cream cheese really well first by mixing it really well on its own before adding in the other two ingredients. Once you’ve got that all mixed up, layer it on top of the refried beans!
Next layer: The salsa! This is an easy one. Just dump it out of the jar.
Then you’ll sprinkle on a layer of fresh diced tomato and finely chopped green pepper. Make sure it’s finely chopped! It makes a big difference!
Finally, sprinkle on enough shredded cheese to cover the whole thing, or as much as you see fit. 🙂 I usually find that a little extra cheese is never a bad thing. Top it off with some finely chopped green onions and you have yourself a taco dip!
Yum yum yum! I think I need to make this again really soon!… Actually I’m going to go add refried beans to my shopping list right now because that’s the only thing I don’t have on hand in the house.
…OK, that’s done! Now back to pictures of the taco dip!
Look at those pretty layers!
If you really want to step up your taco dip game, serve it with homemade tortilla chips!
I’ll be sharing the recipe for those in my next post!
Do you have a favorite taco dip recipe that you love to make over and over again?
More Favorite Recipes
- Chipotle Cheese Ball Recipe
- Mexican Fiesta Pasta Salad
- Sugared Lime Mini Cupcakes
- Homemade Taco Seasoning Recipe
- 3 Ingredient Crab Dip Recipe
- The Creek Line House Food Archives
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.