Easy, Cheesy, 3-Step Dip

If there is one thing my dad has instilled in me since I was little, it is the love of football. Of course he has taught me many other important things, but football is high on the list. Football games have always revolved around a couple of things for me: fun times with family and friends, team pride and of course… food.

Recently, we had the amazing opportunity of attending the Tournament of Roses game in Pasadena, California. It had been a dream of mine to see our team (Go Badgers!) play in the Rose Bowl, and even though the game didn’t end the way we wanted, great memories were made and I’ll never forget how much fun we had.

Anyway, a few days ago, I got a call from my sister; my dad had taped the game and wanted to re-watch it with all of us. Oh, and one small detail- they would be at my apartment in less than a half hour. What is a host to do when there is only a small amount of time to prepare for guests? I remembered a recipe we had developed in the Test Kitchen: All-American Cheese Dip. I had all of the ingredients I needed in my kitchen, and it is so easy to prepare. You only need a few minutes and a microwave. Sounds simple enough, right?

The best thing about this recipe is you can basically stir in whatever you want. By substituting whatever ingredients you have on hand for the pimentos and chiles, you have an extremely versatile dip! Some other ingredients I have tried in the dip include salsa, Dijon mustard, green onions, canned chili or even chipotle chiles (if you like your dip spicy).

So here we go: only 3 steps and this dip is done!

Stack the cheese and chop it into small pieces. The pieces don’t have to be uniform, so don’t worry about getting them all even. Just run a knife through the slices.

Put the cheese into a microwave-safe bowl and add in the remaining ingredients.

Microwave on High power, stirring every minute until the cheese is melted.

This took me about 3 minutes.

Transfer the dip into a pretty (microwavable) serving bowl. If it sits out for a long period of time and gets thick, just put it back in the microwave for a minute or two. It’s guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.  Considering the dip was gone before the first quarter was over, I think it's safe to say my guests enjoyed it!

Try making this super simple All-American Cheese Dip for your next get-together. Come back and let me know what stir-ins you decided to use!

Check back in a few days when Amanda will share a recipe that will be ready and waiting for you when you get home at the end of a busy day.

Mallory is a consultant in the Test Kitchens at Land O'Lakes and writes for our Recipe Buzz® Blog.