Skillet Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip served on crackers, baguettes, or even with chips is the perfect appetizer for any gathering or game day party.
I know, I know.
I know there’s no real games to watch right now (although I did watch the cornhole championships the other night on TV) and we’re still supposed to be practicing social distancing, but sometimes, you need an awesome dip.
And that my friends, is what this is.
One Awesome Dip. Skillet Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip!
Three types of cheese (yes please).
Peppers (yeppers).
And bacon (I can’t rhyme that one, but hello, it’s bacon).
How to make Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper dip.
Prep your ingredients. Chop the bacon finely, but it can always be diced further once it’s cooked.
A 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers will yield roughly 8 oz. of peppers. In testing the recipe, one jar gave me 9½ oz. and another gave me 7 oz.
If you’re using fresh garlic, add it while the bacon and onions are cooking. Make sure you mince it finely. I prefer to run the over a Mirocoplane or zester.
Cooking cheesy roasted red pepper dip in a skillet.
Heat the skillet on medium high and fry up the bacon until nearly crispy. Toss in the onions to cook until they’re mostly soft.
Drain off any renderings.
Return to the stove.
Add the cream cheese to the still hot skillet with the bacon and onions. It will melt faster if you’ve cubed it. However feel free to toss the whole brick in, it’ll melt, you’ll just have to be patient while it does.
Once the cream cheese has melted into a delicious ooey gooey, bacony blob, stir in the mayo (sorry all you Miracle Whip lovers), mustard, and seasonings.
Stir in the roasted red peppers.
Stir in all of the cheddar cheese, and most of the pepper jack and parsley. We’re reserving a bit of the pepper jack and parsley for a the topping.
I don’t recommending tossing in all the cheese at once. It will seize and you’ll end up with this big wad of cheese that will take FOREVER to melt down.
Sprinkle it in by the handful and it will melt and meld right into the creamy mixture.
Grab that reserved pepper jack and sprinkle it evenly over the dip. Then garnish with the remaining parsley.
Toss it in the oven and bake it for about 25 minutes. Once it’s bubbling and really blended, you’ll know it’s done.
Switch on the broiler and brown the top. Depending on your oven rack placement, it could brown in just 30 seconds, or as long as two minutes. Just keep a watchful eye on it.
Once it’s browned, remove it from the oven and serve immediately.
Here’s a pro tip for you. When we say serve immediately, we know it’s going to take a couple of minutes before that happens. Mostly because no one wants 3rd degree cheese-mouth burns.
In the couple of minutes that’s it resting and starting to cool from a molten heat to a mere searing heat, grab a couple of paper towels and dap the grease that has risen to the surface.
Tips for keeping dips warm.
While I usually cook this on the stove top and toss it in the oven, to keep it warm during a party, I recommend transferring it to a slow cooker. Put the appliance on the ‘keep warm’ setting. Once this dip cools, it really congeals.
If you want to make this in the slow cooker, I’ve provided those directions in the notes below. Once it’s done, simply keep it on the warm setting until the party is over or the dip runs out.
What to do with leftover dip?
Have some leftover? Absolutely no problem.
Make delicious Skillet Cheesy Red Pepper Chicken Sandwiches.
Skillet Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip
Equipment
- 10" cast iron skillet
Ingredients
- 4 oz. bacon chopped
- 2 tbsp. onion finely diced
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- ¾ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp. dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp. granulated garlic (1½ tsp. fresh garlic)
- 1½ tsp. salt +/-; to taste
- 1½ tsp. black pepper +/-; to taste
- 8 oz. roasted red peppers (12 oz. jar; drained/chopped)
- 1 tbsp. parsley chopped; divided
- 4 oz. cheddar cheese grated
- 8 oz. pepper jack cheese grated; divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- On medium-high, heat the cast iron skillet.
- Once hot, add the crumbled bacon and cook until nearly done; about 3 minutes.
- Add the onions to the bacon and continue cooking until they begin to soften; about 2 minutes
- Drain any bacon renderings and place on medium-low.
- Add the cream cheese, stir until melted, fully incorporating the bacon and onions.
- Stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, salt, pepper to the creamy bacon and onions.
- Stir in the roasted red peppers and 2 tsp. parsley.
- Slowly mix in the cheddar cheese and ¾ of the pepper jack cheese.
- Once the mixture has a melted and combined, sprinkle the remaining pepper jack cheese on the top.
- Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top of the cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Turn broiler on and place under boiler for about 2 minutes or until it's golden brown.
- Remove from oven and serve immediately with crackers, baguettes, or chips.
Notes
Slow Cooker Cheesy Roasted Red Pepper Dip
- Place cubed cream cheese in a 4 qt. or larger slow cooker on high to begin melting.
- Cook the bacon and onion in a skillet. Once done, drain and transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add all the remaining ingredients, stir and place the lid on.
- Cook on high for 2 hours.
- Once done, turn to warm for serving while entertaining.
How to keep the skillet dip warm?
Once the skillet is out of the oven, transfer to a slow cooker on warm for serving while entertaining.Nutrition
This post has been updated from its original May 16, 2017 publishing with new content, photography, and clarified recipe directions.
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