3-Ingredient Sausage Dip

This easy Sausage Dip is delicious with only three ingredients. It’s super-addictive so get ready for a dip that you cannot step away from!

Video: Making Easy Sausage Dip

Type of Sausage For Dip

This recipe is easiest to make if you use sausage meat that is not in casings. It’s sometimes called Bulk Sausage Meat. That’s essentially just the meat that they would use to make sausage links or patties, but before it’s put into casings or shaped into patties. 

Jimmy Dean sausage meat comes in a tube and is usually near the bacon. You can also get other kinds of bulk sausage meat where the ground meat and the sausage links are found. I’ve tried this dip with the Jimmy Dean Original, with the grocery store breakfast sausage meat, and with Italian sausage meat. All of them have been delicious!

Salsa Versus Rotel

I think this dip recipe was originally made with Rotel, but a lot of people use salsa instead. For me, I always have a jar of salsa open in the fridge, and a spare jar in the pantry, so it’s easy to just use some of that. But I’ve also made it with Rotel (the one with tomatoes and green chilies) and you can’t really tell the difference. 

You’ll use 1 and 1/4 cup salsa, which is equivalent to the 10 ounce can of Rotel. Don’t drain them before adding them in. Put it all right in there. Whether you use mild or hot salsa totally depends on what level of spiciness you want in your sausage dip.

What Kind Of Cheese To Use

This easy sausage dip recipe calls for cream cheese. However, I’ve also made it with Velveeta cheese and it’s delicious. So you can go with either one, or a combination. (Want another easy Velveeta recipe? Try this Velveeta Mac n Cheese, also with only three ingredients!)

If you wanted to use a shredded cheese instead, you need to add some moisture. The easiest thing to do is to add 1/4 cup of heavy cream right after adding the salsa. Then stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese. Alternatively, you can use half of the amount of cream cheese (so that’s 4 ounces) and then add 1 cup of shredded cheese.

If you’re using shredded cheese, just make sure it’s something that melts well like mozzarella, Cheddar cheese, or Monterey jack. 

Keeping Sausage Dip Warm

I like to make this dip in a cast iron skillet and then serve it right in the skillet. The heat in the pan keeps it warm for about as long as it takes my guests or family to gobble it up.

However, if you’d like to keep it warm for longer, you can. There are a few things you can do:

• Make it in a skillet and then transfer it to a slow cooker on the Warm setting.
• Brown the sausage in a skillet and then transfer it to a slow cooker, add the other ingredients, stir, set the slow cooker to low. Stir it occasionally until everything melts, about 1 hour. Then set it to Warm for serving.
• Make this dip in the Instant Pot. Brown the sausage using the Sauté setting. Add in the other ingredients and stir to melt together. Set the Instant Pot to Keep Warm and serve it straight from there.

Make-Ahead: Refrigerating and Freezing

You can make this dip ahead of time and then put it in a sealed container and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days. Or, put it in the freezer for up to a month.

Whether it’s in the fridge or freezer, it can separate a little bit. But that’s ok. Just stir it well while heating it slowly and it will come back together.

Reheating Sausage Dip

This dip is very easy to reheat. Whether it’s cold from the fridge or freezer, do one of the two following:

Heat it in the microwave: Put it in a microwave safe container. Heat on 50% power (or on the defrost setting) for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between each interval, until it’s hot.

Heat it on the stove: Put it into a saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring often, until hot.

What to Serve with Sausage Dip

This appetizer dip is a hit at parties or for game day and always disappears quickly. I like to top it with some chopped green onions.

Serve the dip with tortilla chips, crackers, or veggies to scoop it up. You can even serve it over biscuits (going on that sausage gravy and biscuits feel).

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