And so it has begun.
Every 3 minutes, James has been getting notifications from ESPN about another football player who is injured and out for the season, roster projections, and anything that might even mildly pertain to football in some obscure way.
He keeps patiently explaining to me every single thing that I somehow forgot about the game since last year. Is a safety a guy or a play? Both? How does one “run downhill” on a flat field? People “pitch” in football? WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?!
Despite the fact that I am riding the struggle bus straight in to football season, I am so excited about it. I like watching the games. I like drinking the beer. I like mimicking the reactions of everyone else in the room so they totally think I have a clue about what’s going on.
But most of all, I love the food. (Surprise, surprise!) Wings, dips, chips, and more– it doesn’t get much better than that when sitting around the TV on game day.
James has been begging me lately to make another dip, insisting that I “give the people what they want”. (I’m serious, he said exactly that.) I had a few cans of corn laying around, so I mixed it in with a bunch of my favorite ingredients on a whim and hoped for the best.
And “the best” is exactly what I wound up with.
Loaded up with bacon, jalapenos, and cheese, this dip will be an instant Football Sunday classic. A sprinkle of basil might seem a bit weird here, but trust me, it brings the dip to the next level.
Try not to eat the whole skillet to yourself. I’m telling you, I could have if everyone else didn’t swoop in the second it came out of the oven. Cheesy Bacon Jalapeno Corn Dip is my new weakness.
In fact, before you dig in, share a photo on Instagram and tag #hostthetoast to show it off to all of your hungry friends… and me. I will be living vicariously through you. I can’t wait to see your tasty dip!
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Cheesy Bacon Jalapeno Corn Dip
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 8 strips bacon
- 2 (11 oz) cans whole kernel sweet corn, drained
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
- Parmesan cheese, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a cast iron or ovenproof skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until slightly crispy. Remove from heat and set on paper towels to absorb excess grease. Drain off all but 1 teaspoon of the grease remaining in the pan. We want to use the bacon grease to grease the pan and add more bacon flavor to the dip. Crumble the bacon.
- Combine the corn, jalapeno, cream cheese, mozzarella, salt, cayenne, half of the bacon, and half of the basil. Scoop into the skillet and bake for 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the remaining bacon and basil, and parmesan cheese to taste. Serve immediately.
What size of a skillet did you use?
Hi Lance, I believe it is a 10″ skillet =)
Will it still be good if I don’t have cream cheese : (
Guys try makin this with 8 ears of roasted corn cut from the cob ,It’ll make ya dance a ring around ya old lady
What temp is this cooked at. I am going to make ahead and then bake in an oven safe dish for a Christmas fiesta.
Heck yes!!
Sweet Mary Sunshine. Just tried this recipe to bring to a corn roast as I thought it a fitting contribution. Amazing. I added more jalepeno because I personally wanted a little more kick but what a fantastic flavor combination! Sharing is difficult, be warned. Thanks so much!
I’m so glad to hear that, Katherine! =) Thanks for commenting and letting me know!
Hi, I just wanted to Thank you for the recipe. I made it for the super bowl yesterday and it was awesome. I also, have a suggestion for any left overs you might have. I turned it into a delicious soup today by simmering in a little stock and then adding a bit of cream. It was like a corn chowder. I added some cut up potato skins I had left over too, but it would have been fine without them.
Thanks, Lola! I’m so glad to hear that you liked it, and the leftovers suggestion sounds awesome. I’ll have to try that sometime =)
sounds outstanding
Ha! You are hysterical! I grew up with two football obsessed guys (Father and Brother) who before the days of cell phones and the internet would sit around the kitchen table reading stats to each other from the newspaper. I still have no idea what any of that stuff means but I’m with you about sitting around relaxing on the weekends with yummy food—especially this dip—Good Lawd!!!
Haha I’m glad you can relate, Kate =)
Can you cook the bacon in a regular skillet then put it in a oven safe dish?
That would be fine, Marie!
This looks fantastic. I wonder if there is a way to make this a crock pot recipe?
Can y this be done in a crock pot?
I totally made this in a crock pot. It turned out really well.
Does this really only serve 4?
It really depends. It’s an appetizer– if it is the only appetizer being served, I’d say it will very happily serve 4 grown men (and fill them up), but if there is more food around and someone isn’t looking to fill up on dip, then you definitely could get more servings out of it!
Do you use shredded parm or that powdered parm you put on spaghetti?
Sounds like an easy appetizer!! What do you think about subbing out the Basil for Cilantro? I’d love to try this, but don’t know if I’d have nearly as good of a reception with the Basil.
I’m doing the cilantro with it today… Basil would tone it downs or people but I want Tom icky it u am a notch!
Omg this was supposed to say “I’m using the cilantro today. Basil would tone it down, but I want to kick it up a notch!”
For those of you who cooked it in the crockpot, did you still prepare it the same way and just cook it in a crockpot instead of in the oven?
Also, I am considering substituting green onions instead of basil. Thoughts?
This is delicious! Very different ingredients than your typical dip…but it all works! I think it feed more like 6-8. It is rich!
I’m so glad you like it, CJ!
I like that you used what you had. I’m inclined to go with cilantro rather than basil but I might try splitting it the first time to try both. I’d add some Splendishes house and South of the Border seasoning to taste and go for it!
Splendishes house??
Could I make this dip in a crock pot?
I haven’t, but a few people in the comments have said they did and that it turned out well!
I swear I could have written your football comments myself. I finally gave up and started saying/admitting, “I’m just here for the commercials and food folks – so don’t ask me what team I’m for or who my favorite player is.” I’m trying this recipe thhis year – I’m so excited. These are all of my favorite foods groups. This is the one time a year I’m justified in eating nothing but appetizers for lunch and dinner. 🙂
by the way – if I end up taking photos and putting it on my blog I’ll totally give you credit and ping back to you. Love your recipes!
Could I use turkey bacon instead since I do not eat pork?
Definitely!
HI, Morgan!
I am so excited to try this cheesy bacon jalapeno corn dip! The only thing is I am not a huge fan of apricots/apricot preserves. Is there anything else you can think of that I could substitute instead of that one ingredient? Thanks so much in advance!
Erica 🙂
Where does this call for preserves??
Love love loved this. I used fresh corn because it is what I had. Cheddar and cilantro only because that is generally what I have on hand. Such a good idea! Was a hit!
Making this again today, for the FOURTH time. Works well in the crock pot as well for parties!! Thank you for this FANTASTIC recipe!! ❤️
I really wanted to love this, but found it rather boring. In order to punch it up, I added two cans of Hormel Chili (without beans). After cooking the bacon, I put everything into a slow cooker, and let the cheese melt. This disappeared within minutes at a Super Bowl party I went to.
Can I make this in a crockpot for bigger gatherings?
suggestions for what to use if you don’t have an oven sproof skillet or cast iron one…
This recipe looks delicious. I have lots of corn and jalapeno. Great way to use them. Thanks for sharing.
Made this for Thanksgiving and it was a big hit! I’m making it right now for Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. They said make a big batch so we can have it both days! A few changes I’m trying this time (per suggestions)–more jalepeno, switching basil to cilantro, using provel cheese (it’s a St. Louis thing) to give a smoky flavor. Can’t wait til summer to try with fresh roasted corn! Thanks for the recipe!
UPDATE: We liked the extra jalapeno, some liked the cilantro, others preferred the original recipe with basil. Guess that’s a personal preference. But the provel cheese did NOT work. Changed the texture, and not favorably. Back to mozzarella!
The flavours all go really well together (I was skeptical about the basil and parmesan with corn, bacon and Jalapeno’s but it works!). My only suggestions for anyone making this is skipping the salt, it was just too much with 10 slices of bacon and the salt from the tortilla chips and putting in 1.5-2 Jalapeno’s peppers, I couldn’t really detect it with 1 and I really love the flavour combo of cheese, jalapeno’s and bacon. I also used a baking dish instead of a cast iron skillet to cook it in and it was just fine.
I do not have cast iron skillet can I just do in a casserole dish
So surprising! The basil is what through me but that was what brought it all together. I made this a few weeks ago for some girlfriends and it was delicious. I’m making it again for Mother’s Day. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Can I make it a day ahead and then heat it up in a skillet?
This dish was a hit immediately. I didn’t have much basil but I just added more. Cilantro. Had my co workers licking their fingers and wanting the recipe immediately. Its sooo good
★★★★★
I was going to print this off but I noticed it would print off a photo of the recipe and a bunch of ads too! Can you make it so your recipes don’t include all that? It’s a waste of printer ink
Is it possible to make ahead of time and put in fridge and warm up in a warming dish or crock pot ?
★★★★★
I have brought this dip to a few pot luck dinners BBQs and it is a huge crowd pleaser.
★★★★★
I fixed this before and didn’t really have Basil. Didn’t really miss it. I used cilantro instead and it was just as great. My co workers loved it. I used Frito lays Scoops to scoop it up. So refreshing and good.