Ruffled Apron Blog

Spicy Sausage Dip

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March Madness is here.

No, not the excessive amount of snow that is happening all over the country this March.
No, not that crazy ending to “The Bachelor.” Which by the way was CRAZY.

I am talking about THE March Madness, the NCAA College Basketball Tournament.

Growing up in North Carolina in the 90’s, college basketball was the most popular “professional” sport. The NBA, MLB, NFL were nonexistent in my life. You had 2 choices: to be a Duke fan or a Carolina fan.

At my Catholic elementary school, every year we got to have a “dress down day” when Duke played Carolina and wear our team’s favorite jersey. Same thing went for the start of the NCAA Tournament. We decorated basketballs for the school’s hallway in our favorite team’s colors and wrote about who we wanted to win when we practiced our cursive.

Basketball was life.

Which is why I am lucky that I married someone who: despite not growing up in North Carolina, despite having every major league sport in his hometown, despite not going to a school with a power 5 basketball team – might actually like college basketball more than me.

So much that he suggested I devote an entire week here to our favorite snacks to make for the big games and to enjoy over these new few action packed weeks!

So, I guess that brings me to my dip.

This dip is something my friends and I made all the time in college because it checks all the boxes:
*Cheap
*Easy
*Delicious

It has only 4 ingredients and can be made in your slow cooker so you can set it and forget it. Plus, it is basically a meal since it almost contains every food group.

Pro Tip: If you choose to dip with chips it can most definitely be a meal. I may or may not have had this for dinner on numerous occasions in college and the few years after!

You also don’t have to use a slow cooker, should you choose to forego your individual plans…err sorry, I am still stuck on that bachelor ending.

Should you not want to dig out your slow cooker from that hallway closet you have been meaning to clean out for 2 years, you can totally do this on stive top! Simply, brown the sausage, drain and excess grease and add all the other ingredients – heat on low until melted and combined!

See? I told you it was easy!

Now, go make this and let me know what you think!

Oh, and GO DUKE!

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Spicy Sausage Dip


Servings 12 1/3 cup servings

Ingredients

  • 2/3 pound hot italian sausage, casings removed
  • 2 10 ounce cans tomatoes with green chilis
  • 2 8 ounce bricks cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup monterrey jack cheese, shredded

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown sausage until fully cooked.  Transfer sausage crumbles to a slow cooker and add tomatoes with green chilis, shredded cheese and cream cheese.  

  2. Cover and turn slow cooker to low for about an hour, stirring occasionally until all is melted and combined.  Once completely combined, serve in a bowl or in the slow cooker on warm.

Recipe Notes

I prefer to serve this straight from my slow cooker on warm so that it says gooey melted. If the dip starts to stiffen up, you can reheat in intervals in the microwave or turn the slow cooker back to low. Be sure to stir often so that it doesn't burn.