Warm & Cheesy 7-Layer Skillet Dip, Ready For Gameday _ From The Test Kitchen _ Bon Appétit

**Creating the Perfect Skillet Dip**

For me, starting by making my own just to control the texture and spiciness is the best way to go. I begin by melting my butter, as I prefer it over oil, adding a nice dairy richness that complements the beans very well. Once the butter is melted, I add all of my onions, cooking them on a lower heat till they get a bit translucent, then crank the heat up to build color and bring out their natural sweetness. This step is crucial in developing the flavor and texture of the dip.

Next, I add my garlic and cumin, as these two ingredients complement beans really well. Once that garlic starts smelling fragrant, I add my chopped tomatoes, taking a full tablespoon of salt, which might seem alarming at first, but beans are very thirsty and can suck in a lot of salt. Adding the beans, a cup of water, and simmering them together allows for control over the texture, with the option to keep it chunky or smooth.

To finish the dip, I turn off the heat and add a little bit of vinegar, which wakes up all the flavors and adds a nice tanginess. The last step is my favorite part – building the dip with a combination of flavors. Starting with water at medium-ish heat, adding ground cumin and Adobo sauce from the can of Chipotles, followed by a pinch of salt, creates a base that's both flavorful and acidic.

The magic ingredient, however, is American cheese, which melts virtually instantly due to sodium citrate, helping it hold everything together without breaking. If not used correctly, the cheese will separate into a grainy, oily mess. To avoid this, I use a combination of cheeses – Monterey Jack adds more flavor and helps balance out the richness.

With the warm component ready, I prepare the garnishes: thinly sliced scallions, diced avocado, pickled jalapenos, cilantro, and lime juice. These ingredients add texture, acidity, heat, and freshness to the dip, making each bite exciting and interesting. To assemble the dip, I dollop cheese sauce over sour cream, leaving it in dollops for a layered effect. Next, I add salsa, pickled jalapenos, cilantro, scallions, and finish with a squeeze of lime juice.

This dip is not just a flavorful combination; it's also visually appealing, making it perfect for game-day snacking or any occasion where you want to impress your guests. With its creamy texture, balanced flavors, and vibrant colors, this skillet dip is sure to be a touchdown at any gathering.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis dip is the what the touchdown I'm incompetent with sports quite clearly but I promise you I know what I'm talking when it comes to the dip this is my version of a seven layer dip the one that you find in the supermarket is usually really prettily layered with very distinct sections of sour cream beans guacamole or whatever this has similar elements but it comes together in a skillet it's warm and it's cheesy and it's fresh the biggest Flex of this recipe is using American cheese I know some of you are going to be like that's not cheese stop it it's actually miraculous invention it has sodium citrate in it it melts and it stays melty and gooey and that's what you want in a queso I include a slightly sharper cheese this one is Monterey Jack just to bring a little bit more flavor the American cheese can be a little acidic so this one balances it out I always like to shred my own cheese because the pre-shredded one is tossed in some cellulose to prevent clumping in the bag and it doesn't melt as well okay next I'm going to prep the stuff that I need for the refried bean layer I'm going to start by dicing up an onion slice some garlic the Chipotle peppers I think most of us are familiar with they're essentially smoked Jalapenos in this vinegar Adobo sauce they're quite potent so I don't want it to be that spicy the last thing I need to do is rinse and drain my beans most recipes start with canned refried beans for this one I wanted to start by making my own just to control the texture the spiciness I am going to start by melting my butter I use butter instead of oil I think it adds like a nice dairy richness that complements the beans very well once the butter is melted I'm going to go in with all of my onions I like to cook it on a lower heat till it gets a bit translucent then crank the heat up and you can build color that way you can see that the onions have picked up quite a bit of color I'm going to go ahead and add my garlic and also the cumin I think it complements Beans really well once that garlic starts smelling fragrant I'm going to go in with my chopped triple glaze takes a full tablespoon of salt which seems a little alarming but beans are really thirsty and can suck in a lot of salt add the beans a cup of water and as this is simmering I'm just going to go in with my potato masher and really at this point you can control the texture you can keep it very coarse and chunky or you can make it really smooth and put a bunch of effort into it the last thing I'm going to do is turn the heat off and I finish it with a little bit of vinegar this just wakes up all of the flavors I'm going to push them to the back of the stove and make my case so nice this is probably the most fun and interesting part of the recipe to me it starts with a bit of water medium-ish heat a little bit of ground cumin and also some of that Adobo sauce from the can of Chipotles then a pinch of salt of course and once the water comes to a simmer I'm going to add the magic ingredient of American cheese and you can see it it just melts virtually no time at all that sodium citrate is really working hard here and helps keep everything together so it won't break on you what I mean when I say the cheese will break if you don't use the right combination of cheeses it will separate into this grainy oily mess the cheese will be in clumps at the bottom and it just never comes together no matter how much you stir it and now I'm going to add my other cheese which is Monterey Jack just to bring a little bit more flavor this part I like to do off the heat just to minimize any chances of it breaking and there should be enough residual heat uh in the pan I'm delighted with how mine looks right now it's perfectly smooth and melty and runny and here's what I love about using the queso over just melting cheese on top is that it buys you some time and it still tastes fluid as you're sitting in front of the game and eating it both the warm components of my Skillet dip are ready so now I'm going to move it over and we're going to build it in the skillet okay I have all my garnishes now that I'm going to prep I'm going to start with my scallions thinly slice them next thing I'm going to do is the avocado hold the knife fairly stable and then twist the avocado you could spoon out the avocado but I don't know I like to peel the skin off gently and lovingly okay I'm going to dice these keeping them fairly large toss them in some lime juice and salt otherwise they're going to be a little too bland okay here is the warm Bean there you can see it's thickened up a bit as it's sap I'm going to start by dolloping some of this cheese sauce all over the sour cream I prefer to leave things in like dollops and not really spread them out in an even layer because then I feel each bite is more interesting that way next is the salsa uh let's do avocados next pickled jalapenos they have this nice acidity that cuts through all the richness a little bit of cilantro on top tearing it apart and then some scallions wow I think it looks spectacular I'm really excited I love that you can see every component it's colorful it's fresh okay I'm going to squeeze lime on this for us yeah you're good right yeah okay that's it just dip in it's a dip no need to be polite that's so good it's super limey which I love but it's really well seasoned it's so nice and creamy Mmm better than Supermarket seven there it is oh one thousand percent and I love the pickled jalapenos on top that's nice yeah you know I love me love a good dip and this was a good dip TouchDown for sofa the beans are kind of grounding the whole dish and then there's just enough cheese where it feels fatty and unctuous and then you have all of these toppings that are adding texture acidity heat damn very proud of this dipthis dip is the what the touchdown I'm incompetent with sports quite clearly but I promise you I know what I'm talking when it comes to the dip this is my version of a seven layer dip the one that you find in the supermarket is usually really prettily layered with very distinct sections of sour cream beans guacamole or whatever this has similar elements but it comes together in a skillet it's warm and it's cheesy and it's fresh the biggest Flex of this recipe is using American cheese I know some of you are going to be like that's not cheese stop it it's actually miraculous invention it has sodium citrate in it it melts and it stays melty and gooey and that's what you want in a queso I include a slightly sharper cheese this one is Monterey Jack just to bring a little bit more flavor the American cheese can be a little acidic so this one balances it out I always like to shred my own cheese because the pre-shredded one is tossed in some cellulose to prevent clumping in the bag and it doesn't melt as well okay next I'm going to prep the stuff that I need for the refried bean layer I'm going to start by dicing up an onion slice some garlic the Chipotle peppers I think most of us are familiar with they're essentially smoked Jalapenos in this vinegar Adobo sauce they're quite potent so I don't want it to be that spicy the last thing I need to do is rinse and drain my beans most recipes start with canned refried beans for this one I wanted to start by making my own just to control the texture the spiciness I am going to start by melting my butter I use butter instead of oil I think it adds like a nice dairy richness that complements the beans very well once the butter is melted I'm going to go in with all of my onions I like to cook it on a lower heat till it gets a bit translucent then crank the heat up and you can build color that way you can see that the onions have picked up quite a bit of color I'm going to go ahead and add my garlic and also the cumin I think it complements Beans really well once that garlic starts smelling fragrant I'm going to go in with my chopped triple glaze takes a full tablespoon of salt which seems a little alarming but beans are really thirsty and can suck in a lot of salt add the beans a cup of water and as this is simmering I'm just going to go in with my potato masher and really at this point you can control the texture you can keep it very coarse and chunky or you can make it really smooth and put a bunch of effort into it the last thing I'm going to do is turn the heat off and I finish it with a little bit of vinegar this just wakes up all of the flavors I'm going to push them to the back of the stove and make my case so nice this is probably the most fun and interesting part of the recipe to me it starts with a bit of water medium-ish heat a little bit of ground cumin and also some of that Adobo sauce from the can of Chipotles then a pinch of salt of course and once the water comes to a simmer I'm going to add the magic ingredient of American cheese and you can see it it just melts virtually no time at all that sodium citrate is really working hard here and helps keep everything together so it won't break on you what I mean when I say the cheese will break if you don't use the right combination of cheeses it will separate into this grainy oily mess the cheese will be in clumps at the bottom and it just never comes together no matter how much you stir it and now I'm going to add my other cheese which is Monterey Jack just to bring a little bit more flavor this part I like to do off the heat just to minimize any chances of it breaking and there should be enough residual heat uh in the pan I'm delighted with how mine looks right now it's perfectly smooth and melty and runny and here's what I love about using the queso over just melting cheese on top is that it buys you some time and it still tastes fluid as you're sitting in front of the game and eating it both the warm components of my Skillet dip are ready so now I'm going to move it over and we're going to build it in the skillet okay I have all my garnishes now that I'm going to prep I'm going to start with my scallions thinly slice them next thing I'm going to do is the avocado hold the knife fairly stable and then twist the avocado you could spoon out the avocado but I don't know I like to peel the skin off gently and lovingly okay I'm going to dice these keeping them fairly large toss them in some lime juice and salt otherwise they're going to be a little too bland okay here is the warm Bean there you can see it's thickened up a bit as it's sap I'm going to start by dolloping some of this cheese sauce all over the sour cream I prefer to leave things in like dollops and not really spread them out in an even layer because then I feel each bite is more interesting that way next is the salsa uh let's do avocados next pickled jalapenos they have this nice acidity that cuts through all the richness a little bit of cilantro on top tearing it apart and then some scallions wow I think it looks spectacular I'm really excited I love that you can see every component it's colorful it's fresh okay I'm going to squeeze lime on this for us yeah you're good right yeah okay that's it just dip in it's a dip no need to be polite that's so good it's super limey which I love but it's really well seasoned it's so nice and creamy Mmm better than Supermarket seven there it is oh one thousand percent and I love the pickled jalapenos on top that's nice yeah you know I love me love a good dip and this was a good dip TouchDown for sofa the beans are kind of grounding the whole dish and then there's just enough cheese where it feels fatty and unctuous and then you have all of these toppings that are adding texture acidity heat damn very proud of this dip\n"