Chicken Dip

I've always loved, and given a work out to, my big red crock pot. The past several weeks we've been without a source of gas for the stove (more on that in a few days) so the ol' crock pot has been doing extra duty. I was in a bit of a quandary when a recent family get together required my bringing a couple of dishes and someone had already signed up for veggie and fruit trays. Then I remembered this great dip recipe from a co-worker.

There are four basic ingredients plus an optional fifth:



2 large cans of chicken breast
1 cup of Ranch
8 oz cream cheese
2 cups of cheddar
Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste, optional
       (You could omit the Tabasco and use Jalapeno Ranch instead)



Rinse and drain the chicken breast. Using two forks, shred the chicken.

Put all of the ingredients into your crock pot and cook on high for 20 minutes. Stir frequently to get everything all nice and melty and mixed.

 



Big Red is a  3.5 quart capacity crock pot. That's kind of big for these amounts. I actually used my Dip Master (don't you love that name) which holds 1.5 quarts.


It just barely took all of the ingredients when I put them in cold but was a good size once everything melted. The Dip Master does not get as hot as quickly as a regular crock pot so I did have to nuke the ingredients to hurry things along. If you have a big honking crock pot you might want to look for a smaller one, a Dip Master, or even a fondue pot. I promise that this dip is worth it.

Once all the ingredients are all melty and bubbly, turn the crock pot to warm and serve with tortilla chips, crackers, veggies. It does need to stay in a warm crock pot or fondue pot as the dip will begin to firm up as it cools.



Next time I make this--- crabmeat.

Now let me warn you--- this is a very rich recipe. Even though it's not shown here (because I used what I had), I would strongly encourage low-fat ingredients. Yes, yes- some folks just don't care for the taste of low-fat ingredients. That's where the hot sauce comes in handy- gives it a bit of zing.

So get that crock pit warmed up and enjoy.

See ya next time.