Hot Chorizo Cream Cheese Dip โ A recipe inspired by my little brother
This chorizo cheese dip is not, flavorful and a perfect party dip or appetizer. Enjoy it with some friends, family for game day.
Chorizo Cheese Dip Recipe
My little brother is man of few words. Indeed, he’s grown-up, a man who is only a few years my junior, but he’ll always be a little brother to me.
Since childhood, his silence was often overlooked because with so many frolicking kids in one household, all the loud chatter and squabble over the one television was usually ignored. With 6 high energy kids between the ages of 5-16, my parents became selectively deaf to all our loud obsessions and disputes over the Atari game system. A household of 6 kids and two joysticks was never a quiet one.
Mom and Dad knew each of our strengths, weaknesses and tendencies to conjure up crafty excuses as to why we didn’t finish our homework. Gosh, they’re so smart. They know us so well. So my little brother’s soft speech and gentile demeanor was of no surprise to them. The whole family and neighborhood friends accepted him as the “quiet kid” and we protected him with the armor of our sibling clan. No one dared tried to bully him in our hood.
my brother’s love for chorizo is boundless
It wasn’t until middle school that school counselors found his silence to be too unusual, somewhat threatening and tried to label him as clinical. Despite his great grade point average, they “concluded” that he needed help, even possible medication. They eventually became the enemy. My family had to fight the school system and prove to them that he was a normal kid. The school administrators tried to intervene as ambassadors to better his mental health.He was just quiet. He wasn’t a freak. To prove to the antagonists that he deserved to be in a normal school, he had to take a barrage of academic and mental health tests.
My parents told him to prove to everyone that he wasn’t a mute nor a clinical case. The repercussions of him failing was to simply take away his Atari video game system. That was enough to pull him out of his shell.
Lo and behold, he went in there, chattered his way through the tests and passed with flying colors. Little Brother was able to keep his beloved Atari. It’s amazing how kids make a 180 degree turnaround when they get threatened to have their toys taken away.
Till this day, he’s still a quiet type; a tender, passionate, gentle soul who normally never sparks conversation with anyone he doesn’t know. But when you bring up anything that has to do with video games, music, classical guitars, baseball, or fast cars, he’ll speak more than just a few words. Little brother will give you an ear-full.
Recently, I found another subject that has sparked his interest and has him talking for minutes on end. It’s his love of my sweet onion dip. He loves my sweet onion dip so much, that he actually adapted it and made it amazing. To have my little brother experiment with food has always been a miracle in itself, but to have him adapt a recipe of mine and make it his own was shocking to me.
Little Brother added chorizo to the sweet onion dip. He told me that. He talked with great excitement. He just couldn’t stop talking his chorizo cheese dip version.
I sat and watched him rattle eloquently about how delicious the chorizo was. He talked my ear off on his onion browning techniques, the best timing for the cheese melt and how his dip became the hit at his last party. He made it obvious that his love for chorizo and melted cheese was boundless and eternal.
My little brother may be quiet, but like many of people I know, they only want to speak when there’s a purpose. They’re the flies on the wall, the attentive, observant ones who would much rather listen than speak. I don’t find these folks threatening, but rather refreshing because it’s nice to just be able to sit with someone you love and care about, in silence.
This hot chorizo dip recipe is dedicated to him and rightfully so.
-diane
This hot chorizo cheese dip recipe was originally published in 2010 and is a reader favorite. I’ve re-edited and updated the recipe to make it easier to read and clarified more of the steps. Thank you! Here’s a roasted cherry tomato sweet onion dip and stove top artichoke dip you might enjoy.
Hot Stove-Top Chorizo Cheese Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound (455g) pork chorizo , most chorizo sold in packages come in 10-12 ounces. This amount will work fine too
- 1 tablespoon (30ml) vegetable oil (optional) , depending on the fat content of the chorizo. Leaner chorizo will need some oil coated on the pan, fattier chorizo will release plenty of fat for this dip.
- 1 cup (240ml) minced onion (about 1 small onion)
- 1 cup (240ml) mayo
- 8 ounces (227g) cream cheese
- 1/2 cup (120ml) freshly grated parmesan cheese
- fresh jalapeno or serrano chili peppers , sliced (optional)
- fresh chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- In large skillet, heat oil (if needed). Remove chorizo from casing and break-up into the pan. Cook for about 1 minute until fat is released. Add minced onion and chili peppers. Gently stir and cook for about 5 minutes or until chorizo and onions are cooked.
- Add mayo, cream cheese and freshly grated parmesan cheese. Continue cooking until all the cheese is melted and mixed well into the chorizo.
- If there is excess fat grease, soak up with paper towels (but you can leave the excess fat if desired because the fat is what makes it good!). Top with fresh chopped cilantro or cilantro sprigs.Serve with crunchy tortilla chips. And add a ice cold beer to complete the meal!
Nutrition Information per Serving
This chorizo dip turned out GREAT. The whole family loved it and they can’t wait to have it again when Super Bowl Sunday comes back next weekend. We’re extremely excited to welcome the end of football season with this delicious dip.
If I use light mayo will it effect the taste ?
Hi Stacie,
Depends on the mayo, but it shouldn’t too much.
I made this for my large family for a fun dinner tonight. Using 3 pounds of chorizo, I added 3 blocks of cream cheese and 1.5 cups parm. It was so cheesy – white looking, I didn’t bother with the 3 cups of mayo at all! Do you think this recipe just doesn’t scale well ? What would you have done to keep the mayo in, without seriously overdoing the whiteness of the dish? My version really didn’t look like a meat dish. However, it was yummy and all got eaten! Thanks!
Hi Jennifer- we’ve never tripled the dip before but it definitely would need adjustments. We’re making it again for a gathering and we’ll see if we can come up with a ratio for anyone wanting to make a larger quantity. Thanks for the feedback and glad the flavor was yummy!
Thank you! I’ll check back, as we have lots of chorizo in the freezer from the whole hog we bought this year.
Lots of Chorizo gets eaten in my neck of the woods – south San Diego County. There are so many ways to make it into something yummy. When I cook it, if I want to drain off the sometimes abundant grease, I use a coffee filter. It works like a charm. I’ll have to give this a try. Hats off to your baby brother. He reminds me of my oldest son.
You know what? I think this recipe might work great with the tacomeat from Marc Matsumotos Taco rice recipe. Can’t wait to give it a try.
Wow this is a widow-maker, but i love it :). Tell my family i love them…my heart….ahh
Just made it – came out great! I made it with turkey chorizo sausage from Whole Foods and with Neufchatel cheese (the 1/3 the fat cream cheese) and it worked great together. I didn’t buy any cilantro (because it always goes bad before I finish a bunch) but I really wish I had. I think the freshness of cilantro would really compliment the fattiness of everything else ๐ I’m serving it with celery so I’m sure that’ll do the trick (or everyone will just take tortilla chips from elsewhere at the potluck). Thanks for a great post!
Oh, YUM! Just made today and it is delicious! Thank you for posting this! Now to find a cold beer! ; )