15 Minutes. Elevated. Next level. Mind-Blowing…
…too much? Am I overselling it? Can a Five Layer Dip actually blow your mind?
My friends, I believe it can. This is not your average Mexican layered bean dip. This is a heavenly combination of creamy refried beans leveled up with green chiles. Rich and well seasoned sour cream. Guacamole with briny, spicy jalapeños. Bright, fresh pico de gallo. Peppery jalapeño jack cheese. A beautiful shower of fresh cilantro (options for my cilantro haters).
It’s glorious.
I do not appreciate a dip that lacks texture. I appreciate excitement.
Let’s not just slap together a bunch of mushy ingredients and call it good. Let’s level it up and really bring our dip making A game.
Let’s make ourselves the hit of the party shall we? And not just with our sparkling personalities, but with our crowd-pleasing, ultra impressive food contributions. I can make this happen friends. Stick with me.
Scroll past the recipe if you’re looking for tips, substitutions, questions, etc. and details on how to make this recipe, but if you want to get straight to it, here’s my recipe-ish…
Five Layer Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup tomatoes diced
- 1/4 cup white onion diced
- 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 can refried beans about 1 1/2 cups
- 1 4 oz can diced green chiles
- 1 cup guacamole
- 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños chopped
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 1/2 cups jalapeño jack cheese shredded
- Cilantro
Instructions
- In a bowl combine the tomatoes, onion and lime juice. Season well with salt and set aside.
- Mix the beans with the green chiles and spread into the bottom of a serving dish.
- Mix the guacamole with the jalapeños and spread evenly on top of the beans.
- Mix the sour cream with the chili powder, cumin and garlic. Spread on top of the guacamole.
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly on top of the sour cream.
- Spread the tomato salsa on top (using a slotted spoon and allowing the accumulated juices to remain in the mixing bowl)
- Top all with a big sprinkle of cilantro.
- Serve with tortilla chips.
five layer dip Recipe ingredients, tips, substitutions:
Beans – canned refried beans make up the bottom layer, so just use your favourite brand. If you find them difficult to mix you can throw them in a bowl and microwave them for a few seconds to soften them a bit.
Sour Cream – I use regular, full fat sour cream, so I can’t speak to how this would turn out with low fat or fat free versions. You can substitute a thick, full fat Greek yogurt though.
Guacamole – I prefer to make my own by mashing up a couple avocados with nothing more than some lime juice and salt, but you can use store bought guac in a pinch.
Pico de Gallo – I make homemade fresh salsa pretty much weekly, and I can tell you it’s very forgiving. Use whatever tomatoes you have. I prefer to use sweet onions in my salsa. Second choice would be white onions. Yellow and red are a bit strong for me in this.
Cilantro – go ahead and omit it if you are a cilantro disliker (it’s genetic friend and it’s not your fault and I will not shame you for it). A shower of sliced green onions can be used in its place.
Jalapeño Jack Cheese – feel free to sub in another cheese. Regular jack, havarti, mild or medium cheddar are all good options.
Five Layer Dip Recipe Variations:
All the Accessories Version – now some may argue that this adds layers and we can no longer call it a five layer dip but i say who cares. Don’t listen to the haters. For this version, keep everything as written, but along with the cilantro on top add another handful of pickled jalapeños, some sliced green onions and some sliced black olives.
Spicy Version – chop up a fresh jalapeño and mix it into the guacamole. Garnish the top with another sliced fresh jalapaño if you’re feeling super brave.
Taco Version – instead of the suggested seasonings, stir a package of taco seasoning into the sour cream. Instead of the fresh pico de gallo use jarred salsa as the top layer. Sometimes I like a top of layer of shredded iceberg lettuce in this version.
five layer dip recipe, how to make it…
This won’t take you more than 15 minutes and makes such a great appetizer for a dinner party, picnic, bbq… can’t really think of an occasion where it wouldn’t work.
First thing to do is chop up your tomatoes and mix them with the onion and some lime and salt. Let this sit to bring the flavours together while you assemble the rest of the dip.
The next step is mixing up some canned refried beans with green chiles. This gives the beans a little extra punch of flavour.
Then mix up your guacamole layer by either making your own guac (my preference) or using store bought (you do you friend) and adding in some pickled jalapeños. This gives some heat, a little vinegary tang and a little crunch.
Next is the sour cream layer but let’s spruce that up a little too… add in some tasty spices and some garlic… then spread it over the guac layer.
Grate up a whole bunch of jalapeño jack cheese and spread it over the sour cream layer.
Now you can add the fresh tomato salsa you made. Use a slotted spoon to remove it from the bowl you made it in and let the accumulated juice drain off and remain in the bowl. Dollop the salsa all over the cheese.
Top the whole works with a good shower of chopped fresh cilantro and serve with your favourite tortilla chips.
looking for some more great appetizer recipes? try these…
- Barbeque Chicken Sliders
- Tomato Garlic Confit – on Ricotta and Calabrian Chili Honey Crostini
- Loaded Avocado Dip with Chili Crisp
- Loaded Avocado Dip with Chili Crisp
If you like this Five Layer Dip Recipe let me know what you think in the comments below, try it for lunch serve with this Elote Pasta Salad and please find and follow me on Social Media!
