Chili Cheese Dip
The Super Bowl skillet dip: seasoned ground beef and beans bubbling under a melted-cheese cap, finished under the broiler. Eaten with tortilla chips.
Overview
Ground beef browns in a wide oven-safe skillet with onion and garlic. Spices (chilli powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika) bloom in the fat. Tomato passata, kidney beans, a splash of stock, salt and pepper simmer for 20 minutes to thicken. Surface scatters with a thick layer of grated cheese (cheddar + Monterey Jack). Goes under a hot grill for 4-5 minutes till bubbling and crisped at the edges. Tops with sliced spring onion, jalapeños, soured cream. Eats hot with tortilla chips.
Ingredients
Beef base
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
- 1 onion (large, finely diced)
- 4 garlic cloves (minced)
- 500 g lean ground beef (15% fat)
- 2 tablespoons chilli powder
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tin (400 g) chopped tomatoes
- 1 tin (400 g) kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
- 100 ml beef stock
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée
Topping
- 200 g mature cheddar cheese (grated)
- 100 g Monterey Jack cheese (or mozzarella; grated)
- 2 spring onions (sliced thin)
- 1 fresh jalapeño (sliced into rings)
- 100 g soured cream
- A handful of fresh coriander (chopped)
To serve
- A large bowl of tortilla chips (salted)
Method
Stage 1 - Brown beef
- Heat the oil in a wide oven-safe skillet (a 28 cm cast-iron is ideal) over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion; cook 5 minutes till translucent.
- Add the garlic; 30 seconds.
- Add the ground beef; break up with a spoon; brown 6-8 minutes.
Stage 2 - Spice
- Stir in the chilli powder, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika, salt and pepper.
- Cook 1 minute till fragrant.
Stage 3 - Simmer
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, beef stock and tomato purée.
- Stir; bring to a simmer.
- Reduce heat to medium-low; cook 18-20 minutes till thickened.
Stage 4 - Cheese cap
- Heat the grill / broiler to high.
- Smooth the surface of the chilli; scatter the grated cheddar and Monterey Jack evenly across.
Stage 5 - Broil
- Slide the skillet under the grill 4-5 minutes; the cheese should melt, bubble and turn gold-spotted.
Stage 6 - Top and serve
- Scatter the sliced spring onion, jalapeño rings and chopped coriander.
- Dollop soured cream in the centre (or serve on the side).
- Bring the skillet straight to the table on a heatproof board.
- Serve with the big bowl of tortilla chips.
Notes
- Lean-ish beef (15% fat): too lean = dry; too fatty = greasy puddle on top. 15% is the right balance.
- Bloom the spices in the fat: dry-toasting briefly with the beef releases the volatile compounds. Skip and the dip tastes flat.
- Two cheeses, not one: cheddar for flavour, Monterey Jack for melt. All-cheddar gives an oily separation; all-Jack tastes bland.
- Cast-iron is the move: the residual heat keeps the dip molten at the table for 20+ minutes after broiling.
Storage
- Reheats well in a 180°C oven covered 15 minutes; add fresh cheese on top before reheating to refresh the cap.
- Keeps 4 days refrigerated.
- The base (without cheese topping) freezes 2 months; thaw, reheat, then cheese and broil to order.
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