Name: Smoky Charleston cheese dip
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 10
Ingredients: ½ cup mayonnaise; 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened; 4 ounces Gruyére, shredded; 2 ounces New Zealander cheese, shredded; 5 sundried tomatoes in oil, rinsed, patted dry and then finely chopped; 3 marinated Kalamata olives, finely chopped (herb-marinated work best); 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped; 8 slices bacon, crumbled; 8 butter crackers, crushed (we used Ritz Roasted Vegetable); butter crackers (for serving)

Recipes

Smoky Charleston cheese dip recipe

By ForkingSpoon

May 24, 2019

1.33k

It’s a good thing that this smoky Charleston cheese dip doesn’t take much time or effort to put together because it isn’t going to be around very long once you set out the crackers. Heaping spoonfuls of creamy cheese with crispy bacon on butter crackers may not impress your friends at the gym but your family and friends will be floored by this simple and super-addictive dip.

Trisha Yearwood has a long string of hits to her name and her Charleston cheese dip can certainly be counted among those. After trying her recipe for ourselves, including such a delicious dip on our site was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, Facebook and Pinterest were already blowing up with recipes of her original dip, so we decided to tweak things a bit and experiment with a smokier version for ourselves using some leftover Gruyére and New Zealander cheese we had purchased for other things. In addition to those exceptional cheeses and sundried tomatoes, we also incorporated a handful of some herb-marinated Kalamata olives we picked up from an olive bar* earlier in the week. Baked with sundried tomatoes and the Gruyére cheese, this smokier dip loved the tangy olives and was even better than we had hoped.

Inspired by Trisha Yearwood’s recipe on the www.foodnetwork.com.

* Olive bars are about as common in Texas as a Ford F-150 sporting an Obama/Biden bumper sticker so needless to say an olive bar was a pleasant surprise.

Image: ForkingSpoon

Smoky Charleston cheese dip recipe

Yields10 Servings

This smokier version of Trisha Yearwood's Charleston cheese dip uses smoky cheese, sundried tomatoes and olives for a delicious departure from the original.

Prep Time10 minsCook Time15 minsTotal Time25 mins

Ingredients

½ cup mayonnaise

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

4 ounces Gruyére, shredded

2 ounces New Zealander cheese, shredded

5 sundried tomatoes in oil, rinsed, patted dry and then finely chopped

3 marinated Kalamata olives, finely chopped (herb-marinated work best)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

8 slices bacon, crumbled

8 butter crackers, crushed (we used Ritz Roasted Vegetable)

butter crackers (for serving)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the cheese dip
In a medium bowl, mix the mayonnaise, cream cheese, Gruyére, New Zealand cheddar, olives and garlic. If you can't find New Zealand cheddar, you can substitute 1 ounce of medium cheddar and 1 ounce of Gouda cheese.

Cook the cheese dip
Transfer the mixture to a shallow baking dish (a 9-inch pie plate or gratin dish works well). Top the mixture with the cracker crumbs and bake until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Garnish and serve the dip
Remove the pan from the oven and top your dip with bacon crumbles and chives. Serve it immediately with butter crackers, pita or bagel chips.

Notes

Sargento describes New Zealander as a distinctive cross between cheddar and Gouda cheese. If I couldn't have an equal mix of cheddar and gouda as a substitute, I think I'd go with the Gouda over the cheddar but a medium cheddar will work too I'm sure.