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My Beau and I often bring an app to share at larger gatherings with friends and family. Who doesn’t like to stuff themselves with delicious appetizers well before the main meal? We’ve pretty much settled on these three crowd faves because, well, they are very tasty, people rave about them and ask for them again and again.
The beauty of these three apps is that you can do any one of them pretty much any time of year!
Here they are:
- Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Guacamole
- Multi-Layer Mexican Dip
Bonus app: veggie platter with hummus (not going to insult your intelligence by telling you how to arrange but I will strongly suggest that as you cut it, be sure to do it with love ;)
Let’s get right to it!
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Ingredients:
Shredded chicken - about 16 oz
Ranch dressing - 16 oz or 1 bottle
Cream cheese - 8 oz
Shredded cheddar cheese - 8 oz
Hot sauce - 16 oz
Blue cheese - 8 oz
Ranch seasoning packet (optional)
*Feeds a crowd
Assembly method:
You can either shred the chicken yourself (buy a rotisserie chicken or cook up some chicken breasts or thighs) or, you can use canned chicken. It’s up to you. The advantage of canned chicken is that you can store a couple of cans in your pantry, along with the other ingredients, if you’d like to make this as a last minute bring along.
Place the room-temperature cream cheese in a bowl, add the chicken and combine with a mixer. Add remaining ingredients and mix until fully combined.
Pour mixture into a container that can be heated. We like to use these so that we don’t have to worry about remembering to bring our dish home at the end of the night.
About 30-40 minutes before serving, pop into a 400℉ oven. Take out once once starting to bubble. Add crumbled blue cheese on top and serve with your favorite corn chips.
Wait for the “this is sooooo good!” and the mmm’s.
Guacamole
Ingredients:
Avocados - 3-4
Lime - 2-3
Onion - ½ a small one, diced
Garlic - 1-2 cloves, minced
Can of green chillies or jalapeno peppers
Cumin (one way ticket to flavor) - ½ a tsp
Cayenne Pepper - just a dash (it’s HOT!!)
Chili powder - just a dash
Cilantro (optional) - to taste
Tomato for added color (optional) - 1-2 small
*Feeds a small party of 4-6 adults
Assembly method:
This app does take some forethought because you’ll want to have avocados that are ripe enough to smash easily with a fork.
Start by smashing the avocados in a bowl. Add other ingredients and mix well.
Allow a couple of hours for all of the flavors to meld together.
Pro tip: the lime juice will help to stave off the brown that comes with oxidation. Another trick to try is to save the pit and then place it on top at the end. This also helps with keeping it green.
Serve with your favorite corn chips or vegetable sticks.
Multi-layer Mexican dip
Ingredients:
Salsa - 1 jar or about 16 oz
Refried beans - 1 can, 16 oz
Sour cream - 8 oz. or more is always better
Mexican cheese medley - 1 package
Green chilies - 1 of those small cans
Jalapeno peppers (optional) - 1 of those small cans
Black olives (optional) - 1 of those small cans of pre-sliced (make it easy on yourself)
Sprigs of cilantro (optional)
*Feeds a smaller party of 4-6 adults
Assembly method:
- First layer is salsa
- The second layer is refried beans. I use the whole can.
- Then I did another little layer of salsa
- Then the sour cream layer. Yum (can you tell I’m a fan?)
- Next is the Mexican cheese, shredded of course easy on yourself
- Top layer is a combination of green chilies and jalapeño peppers with some black olives on top
Layer variations:
You can mix the salsa and refried beans together to form the bottom layer. If you have extra guacamole, you can make that a layer, as well. You may also want to try mixing the green chiles and jalapeño peppers together. The black olives should be used more sparingly, like a garnish sprinkle. If you have extra cilantro, use a few sprigs as an added green garnish, too!
Serve with your favorite corn chips.
Now you, too, can wow your family and friends with your own shareable appetizers!
