This spicy Italian sausage dip is creamy, tangy, smoky and has nice chunks of sausage that give you something to bite into. The two ingredients that make it special are smoked paprika and smoked Gouda. The smokiness works great with the fennel flavor of the Italian sausage and makes this dip a fantastic appetizer with a short ingredient list.
My ingredient notes:
I got the idea for this dip from this broccoli soup with Italian sausage that I created a few years ago. The soup combines smoked paprika, Italian sausage, cheese, and liquid smoke and I wanted to have a similar flavor combination in this dip. Liquid smoke wasn't the right ingredient here because it's so powerful that it's tricky to use in something with a small volume, such as a dip. So I looked for something else to intensify the smoky flavor and landed on smoked Gouda. The cheese brings a mildly sweet and smoky flavor to this dip that works wonderfully with the remaining ingredients.
Photos of the recipe process:
- Saute minced onion and cook the sausage.
- Stir in smoked paprika.
- Whip cream cheese and sour cream in a bowl.
- Whip in the cooked sausage and the cheese. Transfer to a baking dish and bake until hot and bubbly.
How to serve the dip:
I love to eat this dip with garlic bread but it's also great with raw or cooked vegetables or even plain bread.
Full Recipe
Spicy Italian Sausage Dip
Equipment:
Ingredients:
Method:
- Heat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Heat the oil in a cast iron or non-stick pan until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until starting to soften (2 to 3 minutes).½ tablespoon mild olive oil, ¼ cup minced onion
- Add the sausage chunks and cook until no longer pink and starting to brown on the edges. Stir in the smoked paprika, then take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes.11 ounces bulk hot Italian sausage meat*, ½ tablespoon smoked hot paprika
- In a mixing bowl, whip cream cheese and sour cream together until smooth.8 ounces full-fat block cream cheese (softened)**, ¾ cup full-fat sour cream**
- Add the cooked sausage to the mix and whip until combined. Whip in the smoked Gouda.3 ounces grated smoked Gouda
- Transfer the mix to the baking dish(es). Note that the dip will rise a little bit in the oven so don't overfill the baking dishes.
- Bake, uncovered, until hot and starting to bubble on the edges (15 to 20 minutes).
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