Loaded with corn, peppers, cream cheese, sour cream, and oh so much yummy cheese, this hot corn dip recipe will become your party go-to! The addition of just a few spices, chipotle and garlic, brings this dip to the next level of flavor. Have a bag of corn hanging out in your freezer? Come on–give it some life–let it live its best life as hot corn dip!!
No Matter the Occasion–This Dip Will Be In Hot Demand!
When this dip appears at a family gathering, the spinach and French onion dip sadly gets left behind. We’re not going to say there is a stampede to get to the hot corn dip, as that might reflect poorly on our loved ones–but well…. It’s always the first to go!
What to Dip into this Corn Dip?
We love corn chips! Corn and more corn for us! Of course, tortilla chips will work. Butter crackers would be decadent! And if you are looking for more veggies in your life, fat slices of bell peppers or cucumbers are also delish!
Serve hot, but not too hot! You don’t want to kill your guest! Coming out of the oven, it will be molten hot. Wait 10-15 minutes before serving. We like making this in a cast-iron skillet as it retains heat and will keep this dip hot for up to an hour.
Leftovers
If you by some chance have leftovers of this delicious dip, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Smeared on a tortilla, it makes an amazing quesadilla! Even a cold spoonful snacked on is really good–come on, we know you wanted to know that!
Ingredients:
Corn. Corn is the star of this recipe! Of course, fresh corn is best! If using fresh corn, you’ll need about 4-5 ears of corn. If you just need a corn dip fix when fresh corn isn’t in season, frozen corn works well in this recipe! Throw it in the skillet to char while still frozen. Canned corn will work if it is all you have. Keep in mind that canned corn has quite a bit of salt in it, so you most likely won’t need to salt your dip.
Cheese. We like a combination of Sharp Cheddar and Monterey Jack Cheeses for this recipe. Any type of yummy melty cheese will work! If you want to amp the heat up, think about adding Pepper Jack cheese. Do grate your own cheese! Pre-grated cheeses are actually treated so they won’t clump together in the bag. That treatment keeps them from melting as well as freshly grated cheeses.
Dip Base. This dip starts with the classic American mix of cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo. The origins of this combo isn’t clear to us, but it works to create a rich creamy base for hot dips. If any part of this combination turns you off, know that this is a mix or match situation. All cream cheese, all sour cream, and even all mayonnaise will work to create a rich creamy hot dip base! – Or a combination of any of them!
Fruit & Vegetables:
Lime. The most satisfying dishes have a great balance of fat, spice, acid, and flavor. The lime juice in this dip provides much needed acid. For the 1 tablespoon of juice called for, you’ll need 1-2 limes. We know it would be nice if we could be more precise, but you know limes–some are juicy and some not so much!
Onion. We’ve decided to use raw onions in this recipe as we think the sharp bite of onions is a nice balance to the sweetness of the corn. Feel free to saute the onions before adding them or to substitute green onions in this recipe. Or omit them all together!
Roasted Red Pepper. The roasted red pepper in this recipe adds a lot of color and flavor. You can use jarred roasted red bell pepper, but it’s easy enough to roast your own. All you do is place your pepper on a grill or under the broiler for about 15 minutes. Turn and rotate every few minutes until the skin is blackened. While it roasts, your pepper will puff up as it steams from the inside. After you remove it from the grill or broiler, it will then deflate–it isn’t pretty, but it’s oh so delicious! After cooling for a few minutes, the skin will peel right off. Slice into strips, dice, and it is ready to hop into your corn dip.
Seasonings:
Chipotle Powder. Chipotle’s smokiness adds a nice flavor to this recipe. We feel it doesn’t have a lot of heat–but we realize we are not the most reliable on judging heat! So we suggest starting with ¾ teaspoon, tasting, and adding more as you mix together the base of the dip. In our kitchen, a tablespoon or two isn’t too much!
Garlic Powder. Garlic Powder usually isn’t our thing. We like minced garlic. But, in this recipe, garlic powder is the perfect addition as it imparts that delicious garlic flavor without any distracting pieces of garlic.
Technique
Our technique tip is directly related to our cheese ball expertise! Over the years of making Christmas cheese balls, we’ve learned the easiest way to combine cream cheese and shredded cheese is with a mixer. In no time at all the shredded and cream cheeses are combined into a smooth mixture. So we decided that would be a great way to blend the base of this dip. We don’t use the blender to add the vegetables as we want to keep them chunky!
Other than that little hint, this recipe is easy to execute, and one we think everyone will love!
Hot Corn Dip
Hot Corn Dip
Instructions
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Remove cream cheese from the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature. This will take about 30 minutes.
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While cream cheese comes to room temperature, roast red pepper, juice lime, finely diced onion, and shred the jack and cheddar cheeses.
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Preheat oven to 375°F.
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In a large bowl, place cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, garlic powder, chipotle powder, Tellicherry black pepper, 1 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese, and 1 ½ cup shredded jack cheese. Blend with a mixer until smooth. If you do not have a mixer, put some muscle into it and blend it by hand!
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Taste your mixture for salt and chipotle powder. Add more if needed.
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Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the frozen corn. Cook, stirring occasionally until corn is lightly charred.
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Stir hot corn into cream cheese mixture. Add roasted red pepper and onions and stir until combined.
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Place the dip mixture into a baking dish or oven-proof skillet. Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the top of the cream cheese mixture.
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Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the dip is hot and bubbly.