Recipes Appetizers Dips Cheese Dips 17 Crave-Inducing Cheese Dips Whether you're craving spicy queso or creamy fondue, this roundup of our favorite cheese dips has you covered. By Bridget Hallinan Bridget Hallinan As an Associate Food Editor, Bridget Hallinan primarily focuses on home cooking content for Food & Wine.com. She writes and edits recipe content, interviews chefs for helpful tips and tricks, and works on franchises such as our cookbook roundups and taste tests. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 28, 2023 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Try to name a better snack than a bowl of molten, gooey melted cheese — we’ll wait. Let’s celebrate some of our favorite ways to serve the ultimate snack. If you’re a fondue fan, we have plenty of recipes, from Gouda, Pancetta, and Onion Fondue with Pretzels to a Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue. For a little spice, there’s always Rick Bayless' simple, no-frills formula for Queso Fundido, as well as more elaborate affairs, like this layered Queso Flameado. Of course, for comfort food, it's hard to go wrong with our four-cheese Warm Spinach-Artichoke Dip. For other options, including a simple whipped feta and classic pimiento cheese, browse our collection of favorite cheese dips below. 01 of 17 Nacho Snack Dinner with Sweet Potato Queso Antonis Achilleos This is a great idea for movie night or game night. Or, you know, any time of any day during the whole year. Smooth, creamy pureed sweet potato helps thicken this queso, while the subtle sweetness adds more dimension to the flavor. Get the Recipe 02 of 17 Classic Swiss Cheese Fondue Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Cheese fondue is said to have originated on Alpine farms as a way to feed a family inexpensively. Now, this concoction of melted cheese is a decadent way to celebrate chilly winter nights. It features melted Gruyère along with other Swiss cheese; Emmentaler, Vacherin Fribougeois, Appenzeller, and Raclette are blended in, depending on the region and personal preferences. Splashes of kirsch and wine and a bit of garlic are the traditional seasonings, but you can add a few chopped herbs, a swirl of mustard, or a spoonful of toasted spices if you like. Eat the cheese, dipping accompaniments like cubed bread, cooked potatoes, sliced apples, pears, cornichons, pickled pearl onions, and salami into the pot. Get the Recipe 03 of 17 Spinach Maria Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Spinach Maria is a classic dish originating from Calhoun's, an East Tennessee barbecue joint. It's made with lots of spinach, Monterey Jack cheese, and crushed red pepper. The cheese sauce is rich with warmth from the cayenne and nutmeg, and the extra layer of melted cheese on top makes it perfectly indulgent. As tasty a side dish as this is, it's also great served as a dip with toasted pita wedges or tortilla chips. Get the Recipe 04 of 17 Pimento Cheese with Salt-and-Pepper Butter Crackers © CON POULOS TV chef Carla Hall makes her own crunchy crackers to serve with her cheese spread, a riff on a Southern classic. While the butter crackers are highly recommended, use store-bought saltines and celery sticks if you’re tight on time. For a fantastic vegan version of this dish, find a recipe here. Get the Recipe 05 of 17 Walnut Pesto and Goat Cheese Dip William Meppem For this delicious and easy cheese dip, toasted walnuts are blitzed in a food processor and combined with chèvre, shallots, and watercress. Diced avocado adds an extra layer of creamy richness on top. Get the Recipe 06 of 17 Corn Queso Fundido Chris Court F&W's Justin Chapple uses frozen sweet corn, poblano chiles, onions, and garlic to create this cheesy, slightly spicy dip. Half of the corn is puréed, which adds just enough chunkiness to the dip. For a spicier result, Chapple garnishes the queso with thinly sliced jalapeños in addition to radish matchsticks and cilantro for a freshness and crunch. Get the Recipe 07 of 17 Whipped Feta with Cucumbers Seth Smoot The taste of the Mediterranean shines through in this airy feta spread that's served with olive oil–marinated cucumbers. Spoon both mixtures on pita chips or toasted baguette slices. For a slightly more involved variation on this theme, try our recipe for Smoky Baked Zucchini Chips with Whipped Feta. Get the Recipe 08 of 17 Queso Fundido Frances Janisch This classic recipe for queso fundido from Rick Bayless keeps it simple: chiles, onion, and tomato are briefly cooked in a skillet, then Monterey Jack is gradually added and stirred so that it melts smoothly and evenly. Bayless like to add a splash of tequila to the pan before the cheese, which adds earthy notes to the dip (feel free to skip this extra step if desired). Get the Recipe 09 of 17 The Stinker Cheese Fondue © Abby Hocking This fondue made with Taleggio, a melty, brine-washed Italian cheese, is cookbook author Liz Thorpe’s favorite. Including its rind enhances the funkiness and adds an almost bacony flavor. The recipe also calls for Époisses cheese and a floral, dry Riesling. Get the Recipe 10 of 17 Silky Potato Fondue Con Poulos In this recipe, David Barzelay takes his master cheese sauce recipe and incorporates potatoes, white wine, and lemon juice, resulting in a supersilky dip that holds up at the table for far longer than most fondues. This is so good that it goes with everything from crudités to Ruffles potato chips. Get the Recipe 11 of 17 Blue-Cheese-and-Walnut Dip with Waldorf Crudités David Malosh This dip starts by toasting and chopping walnuts, then adding them to a combination of blue cheese, mayonnaise, and buttermilk to create a Waldorf-style dip. A touch of vinegar and minced shallot add a little extra savoriness and acidity. The Waldorf theme would not be complete without apple and grape crudités. Get the Recipe 12 of 17 Aged Gouda Fondue with Caraway Croutons Ryan Robert Miller "My friend Natalie's mother, who lives in Amsterdam, brings me aged Gouda each year," chef Barbara Lynch says. "I wanted to serve it as a fondue instead of on its own as an hors d'oeuvre." For those without an overseas cheese connection, Lynch suggests buying an eight-month-aged Gouda — "Nothing too smoky; just a beautiful, salty Gouda." Get the Recipe 13 of 17 Gouda, Pancetta, and Onion Fondue with Pretzels © Quentin Bacon Leyden, a Dutch cheese flecked with cumin seeds, inspired Laura Werlin to create this cumin-spiced Gouda fondue. Serve it with soft, warm pretzels or pickled vegetables for dipping. Get the Recipe 14 of 17 Philly Cheesesteak Queso Abby Hocking F&W’s Justin Chapple combines Tex-Mex queso and Philly Cheesesteak to make his crowd-pleasing dip. He mixes provolone and white American cheeses to form a gooey base for sautéed peppers, onions, and thinly sliced rib-eye steak. Justin recommends serving this dip with toasted slices of hoagie rolls, but tortilla chips are just as delicious. Get the Recipe 15 of 17 Achari Pimiento Cheese Spread Victor Protasio Chef Farhan Momin gave this Southern staple a makeover by incorporating his mother’s classic Indian pickling spices into the cheese mixture. Serve this with some crackers, between two slices of white bread, or with toasted naan. Get the Recipe 16 of 17 Queso Flameado Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley In this irresistible snack, charred poblano pepper and pureed cilantro and serrano chiles serve as a built-in salsa, layering spicy, garlicky flavors into the rich, melted cheese. Flaming it with tequila makes the whole thing a little extra. The pickled carrots on top add acidity and brightness; feel free to substitute pickled jalapeño slices if you have some on-hand. Get the Recipe 17 of 17 Warm Spinach-Artichoke Dip Justin Walker This luxe version of the classic features four kinds of cheese, plenty of tender artichoke hearts, and a crisp, golden top. 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