Sausage cream cheese dip is meaty, creamy, and the perfect thing when you are looking for an appetizer the whole family will love. It's extra flavorful thanks to green onion, garlic and lots of green chiles. This easy 5 ingredient dip can be made in less than 20 minutes!
Cream cheese is hands-down one of my favorite foods, I will find excuses to include it in any dish! If you love cream cheese as much as me, you will really enjoy this dip. There are only five ingredients, so the cream cheese really gets to shine! And, this dip is also packed with sausage, garlic, green onion and green chiles, which round out and complement the flavor of the cream cheese. This dip is so creamy and flavorful, it is really hard to stop eating once you get going!
This dip is also amazing because it takes less than 20 minutes to make. And, it reheats well, so you can even make it a few days ahead of time. (In fact, it even tastes a little better that way in my opinion!)
Like cream cheese in your desserts too? Try my recipes for Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Cake and Red Velvet Cheesecake Trifle!
Recipe ingredients
Ingredient notes
- Cream cheese: Use the kind of cream cheese that comes in blocks, rather than the spreadable or whipped type that come in tubs, to get the best texture in your dip. I also recommend using full-fat block cream cheese, to give the dip that creamy richness we all crave. But, I haven't tried using a lower-fat version; if you do try it let me know if you like it!
- Sausage: you will need fresh, uncured sausage for this dip. So, not the kind that is already cooked. You can use any type of fresh sausage you like! But, for the most flavorful dip, I would recommend a sausage that has a stronger flavor profile, like spicy Italian or chorizo.
- Canned green chiles: you can find these in hot or mild, so choose according to your own personal tastes!
Step by step photos
1. Slice the green onions and separate out the dark green tops from the light green and white bottom portions. Mince the garlic.
2. In a large skillet set over medium heat, add the sausage. While it cooks, break it up into small chunks with a spoon.
3. Once the sausage is cooked through, add in the white/light green sliced onions and garlic. Stir and cook for another minute or two, or until the garlic is fragrant and the onions start to look a little translucent.
4. Add in the canned green chiles and stir to combine. Don't drain the cans first though, just add in the whole thing!
5. Add in the cubes of softened cream cheese. Stir and cook until the cream cheese has completely melted into the other ingredients.
6. Once the cream cheese has been combined, stir in about ⅔ of the reserved green onion. Use the rest of the green onion as a garnish on the top!
Tips and tricks
- Make sure you use a large skillet, preferably with higher sides. This will make it easier to stir the dip once the cream cheese has been added. A non-stick pan is also nice here for easier cleanup!
- To keep the dip warm during serving, you can place it in a small crock pot set to warm. If needed, you can give the dip a quick stir every so often to keep it looking fresh!
- The recipe calls for softened (room temperature) cream cheese because it incorporates into the rest of the dip easier and in less time. But, you could add the cream cheese in cold if you need to. Just know it will take a little longer to melt. And, you may need to help it incorporate, by working the lumps of cream cheese into the sausage with the spoon.
Recipe FAQs
I love serving this dip with chunks of hearty bread, crackers, or tortilla chips. Pita chips would also be great! And as I mentioned above, you can even keep the dip warm during serving by placing it into a small crock pot set to warm.
Yes you definitely can make this dip ahead of time! It will keep in the fridge, tightly covered, for 3 - 4 days. (I actually think this dip tastes more flavorful the next day!)
If you want to only reheat a small amount of the dip (say, 1 - 2 cups), I've had great success using the microwave; just place the dip in a microwave-safe bowl (covered with a paper towel to catch any spatter!) and microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until hot. If you want to reheat a larger amount, I recommend using the stovetop. Just place the dip in a skillet or saucepan set over low heat, stirring frequently until the dip is heated through.
This article from the USDA advises against reheating food in a slow cooker, so if you want to serve leftover dip in a slow cooker, just reheat it first using the stovetop or microwave method, then place in a preheated slow cooker afterwards to keep warm.
And, don't forget to slice up a fresh green onion to garnish the top before serving!
I don't usually recommend freezing dishes with cream cheese in them, but I wanted to see what the results would be if I attempted to freeze this dip. So, I did a side by side comparison of the same batch of dip, with one portion that had been frozen, thawed and reheated, and another portion that had been reheated just from the fridge.
For the dip that had been frozen, I didn't notice any changes in the taste or texture of the sausage. However, the cream cheese portion, while not grainy per se, was looser and much less creamy. Overall, I would say that the taste and texture wasn't bad, but not as good as the one that had not been frozen. So, I'll let those results speak for themselves, and leave the choice up to you!
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Sausage Cream Cheese Dip
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 17 minutes
- Yield: 10 - 12 servings 1x
- Category: appetizer, snack
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
Description
A creamy sausage dip flavored with green onion, garlic and green chiles. This dip is super easy to make, with only 5 ingredients. And, you can make it in under 20 minutes!
Ingredients
- 1 pound fresh sausage (see notes 1 - 2)
- 6 green onions
- 1 clove garlic
- two 8-ounce blocks cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes (see note 3)
- two 7-ounce cans chopped green chiles
Instructions
- Thinly slice the green onions. Separate out the dark green tops of the green onion from the light green/white bottoms (about halfway down the green onion stalk). Mince the garlic clove.
- Add the sausage to a large skillet set over medium heat. Cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes. (If your sausage is lean, and/or depending on the type of pan you are using, you may need to add a few drops of oil to the pan during cooking to keep the sausage from sticking.)
- If needed, carefully drain out any excess grease that has accumulated in the pan, then return the pan to the heat.
- Add the garlic and the white and light green portions of the green onion to the pan. Stir and cook for an additional 1 - 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant and the green onion begins to turn translucent.
- Add in the cans of green chiles, undrained, to the pan. Stir to combine.
- Add the cubes of softened cream cheese to the pan. Continue to cook for 4 - 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the cream cheese has fully melted and incorporated into the dip.
- Stir in about ⅔ of the dark green onion tops into the dip. Serve immediately, garnished with the remaining green onions. (See notes for instructions on making ahead and reheating!)
Notes
- You can use any type of sausage you like, as long as it is fresh (uncured) sausage. My favorites are spicy Italian or chorizo!
- Bulk sausage or sausage in casings will both work, but if your sausage is in casings you will need to remove the casings before cooking. To remove the casings, just make a shallow slit down the length of the sausages with a sharp knife, then peel the casings away from the sausage meat and discard them.
- The cream cheese should be softened to room temperature to have the easiest time incorporating it smoothly into the rest of the dip. However, if you need to, you can still use cream cheese straight from the fridge, but just know it will take a few more minutes to melt into the dip, and you will have to stir it more carefully to ensure all the chunks of cream cheese have fully melted.
- This dip makes about 5 cups, enough for approximately 10 - 12 servings.
- If you would like to keep the dip warm during serving, you can place it in a small crock pot set to warm.
- This dip can be made 3 - 4 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
To reheat the dip:
- If you are only reheating a small amount (1 - 2 cups), you can do so in the microwave: place the dip in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until hot. I like to place a paper towel on the top during microwaving to catch any spatter!
- For larger amounts of dip, reheat on the stovetop in a saucepan or skillet set over low heat, stirring frequently, until heated through.
- Make sure to cut a fresh green onion for garnish right before serving!
Keywords: sausage dip, sausage cream cheese dip
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