Happy New Year!
I haven’t posted much this year. A lot of July through December goes towards working on our Dinner Theater, “The Charitable Sisterhood Christmas Spectacular.”
One of the fun things I made for the potlock for the show were the Black Bean Brownies! And they are great for gluten-free friends, so they can enjoy dessert, too!
The Recipe
The Sausage Cheese Dip recipe was adapted from Michael Kory. He has an instragram and facebook page with a few posted recipes from his cookbook. This is one of those recipes! I had to watch the video 20 times and then tweak the recipe – this is the result.
First Note!! I hate cottage cheese. I have never liked cottage cheese flavor, texture or anything. But if you put it in a dip like this blended up – I promise you the taco seasoning will cover it! The cottage cheese adds protein and substitutes for the large amount of sodium and calories of Velvteeta that traditionally makes this recipe.
To get the cheddar powder, I am using King Arthur Flour Cheddar Powder. You can also use cheddar powder by taking out the powder from a macaroni and cheese box.
You will see 3 types of cheese used. The Mexican and Cheddar cheese give the dip the cheddar flavor. The American cheese contains sodium citrate that will allow all of the cheese to melt MUCH better. The alternative is to add a pinch of sodium citrate from your pantry instead of the American cheese. But most people have American cheese in their house and not sodium citrate. If you do buy sodium citrate, you will probably just need one. A big bag could last me for years and years!
You could add a can of Rotel! I will try this next time and think it will be a great addition. You could also add jalapenos for a spicier version or just as a topping.
Serve the dip with tortilla chips, carrots, celery, bell peppers or pretzel chips! Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (440g) cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup (55g) Mexican cheese or Cotija cheese
- 1/2 cup (55g) Extra sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 slice American cheese
- 2 Tb. taco seasoning
- 1 Tb cheddar powder
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 8 oz. cooked and crumbled lean ground beef
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, add the cottage cheese and milk. Blend until smooth. (You could skip this step by using an immersion blender in the pot that you will cook it in.)
- Add the cottage cheese/milk mixture to a medium size pot and cook over medium heat until hot - about 5 minutes.
- Turn up to medium-high heat. Add the the Mexican cheese, cheddar cheese, American cheese, taco seasoning, cheddar powder, garlic powder and salt. Stir and cook another 3 minutes or until the cheese melts. Stir often!
- Add the beef and heat through.
- Enjoy hot sausage cheese dip!
Recipe adapted from Michael Kory
