This zesty cheese dip, spiked with fresh diced green chilies and a hint of lime, is especially flavorful and fun to serve for your next gathering. It also makes a great spread on tortillas for a wrap for a picnic lunch! We use cream cheese and goat cheese, along with sharp white cheddar for a little punch, and poblano, Anaheim, and jalapeño peppers for a little pop. You can serve it cold or hot, but we do love it hot and bubbly on tortilla chips!
Green Chili Goat Cheese Dip
You can easily adapt this recipe to your own heat tolerance by using more or less, hotter or milder, peppers in your rendition. The goat cheese gives it an especially great flavor and the sharp cheddar gives it a bit of a bite, while the cream cheese holds it all together and gives it a nice creamy texture. Cooking the peppers makes them much milder than they are when raw, so even using a whole jalapeno, would not make this too hot for the average person. You can also use the peppers raw in this recipe and that is fun too! Simply remove the seeds and stem and finely chop the peppers before adding them to the cheeses. I still like to precook the shallots for this dip, though!This dip is wonderful cold, and I venture to say, even better hot, so you can serve it either way. We also served it as a topping for homemade chicken enchiladas in lieu of sour cream, and that was fantastic!
Ingredients
Green Chili Goat Cheese Dip
- 4 oz. goat cheese at room temp
- 4 oz. grated sharp white cheddar cheese
- 4 oz. cream cheese. at room temp
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 small shallot finely diced
- 1/2 jalapeno finely diced
- 1/2 poblano pepper finely diced
- 1 Anaheim Ortega chili, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon TJ’s Chili Lime Seasoning Blend
Instructions
- Meanwhile, place goat cheese in a bowl with cream cheese and mix well with a fork or an electric beater.
- Add grated cheddar cheese and all remaining ingredients and mix well.
- Now, you decide whether to serve cold as a spread for crackers or heated as a dip for chips. It is really good either way!
- If you decide to serve it hot, pat the mixture into a greased ramekin or small casserole dish. Here you have options. If you don’t mind the goat cheese getting a bit grainy, bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350 ⁰, until cheese is bubbly and the top is beginning to brown. This gives it a beautiful crusty top.
- If you prefer your goat cheese to stay creamy, then bake at 150 ⁰ F for 30-35 minutes, until heated through, but not bubbly on top.
- Serve warm with tortilla or pita chips.
Notes
Keep in mind that goat cheese is heat sensitive and will become a little bit grainy and start to separate when heated at a high temperature. It doesn’t affect the taste at all but if you prefer to maintain a nice smooth look to the dip, heat at a lower temperature just until the cheeses are melted. If you like the nice browned topping when it’s baked at a higher temperature, don’t worry about it being a little bit grainy. It still tastes amazing!