Creamy Beef Taco Dip
Creamy, cheesy, delicious beef taco dip perfect for a party and a family dinner alike. This beef taco dip is made with ground beef, veggies, cheese, and some more cheese. You can easily adjust spice level by adding more jalapenos and chili peppers or even leaving the hot pepper seeds in.
For more fun Mexican inspired dips, check out my Hot Bean Dip and Ultimate Queso Dip.
Table of Contents
What an amazing version of a taco dip! This is not your typical layered cold taco dip but instead, it’s hot, creamy, and super cheesy. It will be the greatest hit at the party, just make sure you have enough dippers.
I love this dip because it’s quite easy to make but also, I can make it ahead of time and just bake it when I need it. The dip features cooked ground beef with vegetables mixed with smooth cream cheese and Mexican cheese mix. So it’s quite easy to cook it, mix it and then store in the refrigerator.
After you bake it, you can serve it as is, like a hot cheesy dip, or top it off with more vegetables. This dip would be great topped with diced tomatoes, jalapenos, shredded lettuce, avocado, black beans and corn, and even some guacamole and salsa.
Ingredient Notes
Ground Beef – use 90/10 meat to fat ratio ground beef. This ratio will still be juicy but not greasy.
Chili peppers – I like a combination of a jalapeno and red chili peppers but you can opt for something with a little more heat, like habanero or serrano peppers instead of jalapenos.
Taco seasoning – use original taco seasoning unless you need more or less spice, then choose accordingly.
PRO TIP: Remember most of the chili pepper’s spice is in the seeds so choose to leave the seeds in for more spice or discard for less. You can also select older or younger peppers based on their skin. Older peppers are much spicier than young ones and you can tell the age of the chili pepper by the brown veins on the skin. The more veins, the older it is.
See recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 375° and make sure to cast iron skillet is seasoned. (You can also use a regular cooking pan for the beef mixture and then transfer the dip into a 2-quart casserole dish to bake.)
Heat up a cooking pan over medium heat and some oil and cook onions until transparent. Mix in jalapeno and chili pepper and sauté until softened. Add tomatoes and then garlic and cook until fragrant and all vegetables are soft (1).
Add ground beef and break it up as much as possible as it cooks. Cook until the meat it done (2). Mix and break apart the clumps as the meat cooks.
Sprinkle taco seasoning over the beef (3), stir everything together well, and cook for a few more minutes (4). Once meat is cooked, transfer the meat and veggies mixture into a mixing bowl.
Stir in cream cheese until completely combined and smooth (5). Stir in 1 cup of Mexican cheese mix (6) and transfer into a baking dish or skillet. Top off with remaining Mexican cheese mix (7) and sprinkle chipotle chili powder and paprika over the cheese. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbles (8).
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can easily convert this recipe to a slow cooker. Start by cooking veggies and beef on stove-top just like instructed in the recipe.
Transfer cooked meat and veggies into the mixing bowl. Mix in softened cream cheese and all of the shredded Mexican cheese mix and transfer the mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and set it to cook on low for about 4 hours. (You can also cook it on high for 2-3 hours.)
Once the dip is done, you can set the slow cooker on the warm setting and serve it to your guests right in the slow cooker.
Draining ground beef or not has been a hot topic among my readers. Many people are firm believers in draining beef as it cooks and others are not.
I stand firm on not draining the beef but using slightly less fatty ground beef. There is SO much flavor in the juices that you would be literally pouring it down the drain. All these juices should be incorporated into the sauce or the dish that it’s cooked in instead of thrown out.
If you want to lower the amount of fat, simply choose leaner beef, like 90/10%. But remember, leaner beef means not as tender and not as juicy.
Adjusting spice level of this dip is very easy. This dip has a mild spice level and if you want to add more spice, add another jalapeno and red chili pepper. If you leave seeds in, that will add even more spice because seeds hold the most spice of the pepper.
When choosing jalapeno and chili peppers, look at the skin. Older peppers are much spicier than young ones and you can tell the age of the chili pepper by the brown veins on the skin. The more veins, the older it is, the spicier it is.
You can also choose to use mild or spicy taco seasoning to increase or decrease the heat level of the dip.
Yes, absolutely! You can prepare the dip all the way up to the baking step. Just transfer the dip mixture into an air-tight food storage container and store in the refrigerator for a day or two. When you’re ready to bake it, spread the cold mixture in a seasoned cast iron skillet or in a baking dish, add some shredded cheese on top, and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.
Some More Dip Recipes To Try
Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Cheese Dip – This creamy chicken dip is so easy to make with juicy rotisserie chicken, enchilada sauce, and a tasty mixture of sauteed veggies.
Queso Blanco with Chorizo – Fantastic, warm, cheesy dip that’s easy to make and perfect for every party. Zesty Queso Blanco made with chorizo sausage. One bowl wont’ be enough!
Cheesy Jalapeno Dip – Hot dip made with fresh jalapeno peppers and lots of cheese.
Hot 7-Layer Dip – This is not your ordinary 7 Layer Dip! It is hot and features lots of beef, veggies, and cheese.
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Creamy Beef Taco Dip
Ingredients
- 1.25 lbs ground beef 90/10 meat to fat ratio
- 1 Vidalia onion
- 2 Roma tomatoes
- 1 jalapeno
- 1 red chili pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 oz packet Taco seasoning
- 1 cup Mexican cheese mix to mix
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup Mexican cheese mix to top
- 1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
- 1/8 tsp paprika
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° and make sure the baking dish (or cast iron skillet) is lightly greased.
- Heat up a cooking pan over medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of oil for cooking.
- Dice onions, tomatoes, jalapeno, and chili pepper. (You can choose to discard the seeds or keep the seeds for extra spice.)
- Start to cook onions until transparent. Add jalapeno and chili pepper and saute until softened.
- Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes and cook until all veggies are softened.
- Add ground beef and break it up as much as possible. Cook until the meat it done. Mix and break apart the clumps occasionally, as the meat cooks.
- Sprinkle taco seasoning over the beef and stir everything together well.
- Once meat is cooked, transfer the meat and veggies mixture into a mixing bowl.
- Stir in cream cheese until completely combined and smooth.
- Stir in 1 cup of Mexican cheese mix and transfer into a baking dish or skillet.
- Top off with remaining cup of Mexican cheese mix and sprinkle chipotle chili powder and paprika over the cheese.
- Bake for about 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbles.
Notes
- More or Less Spicy: Remember most of the chili pepper’s spice is in the seeds so choose to leave the seeds in for more spice or discard for less. You can also select older or younger peppers based on their skin. Older peppers are much spicier than young ones and you can tell the age of the chili pepper by the brown veins on the skin. The more veins, the older it is, the spicier it is. You can also use mild or spicy taco seasoning according to the spice level you desire.
- Make Ahead: You can prepare the dip all the way up to the baking step. Just transfer the dip mixture into an air-tight food storage container and store in the refrigerator for a day or two. When you’re ready to bake it, spread the cold mixture in a seasoned cast iron skillet or in a baking dish, add some shredded cheese on top, and bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes.
- Make It In A Slow Cooker: Start by cooking veggies and beef on stove-top just like instructed in the recipe.
Transfer cooked meat and veggies into the mixing bowl. Mix in softened cream cheese and all of the shredded Mexican cheese mix and transfer the mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and set it to cook on low for about 4 hours. (You can also cook it on high for 2-3 hours.)
Once the dip is done, you can set the slow cooker on the warm setting and serve it to your guests right in the slow cooker.
Nutrition
Categories:
Appetizer Recipes, Beef Recipes, Cinco de Mayo Recipes, Dip Recipes, Gluten Free Recipes, Mexican and Tex-Mex Recipes, Super Bowl Recipes,All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.
Wonderful Dip ! I added 1 can of Refried beans and used 1 can of diced tomatoes. Great last minute ( husband volunteers you) dish. Everyone loved it ! Thanks for sharing.
So glad you liked it 🙂
Made this New Year’s Day for a snacky kind of holiday/football watching dinner. Everyone loved it. I added a can of drained and rinsed black beans just cuz I had them and thought it’d be tasty. Great recipe. Will definitely use again.
where is the taco seasoning uses?
Thank you so much for letting me know, Kelly! You’d add it while cooking the beef. I will fix it asap!
THIs is an awesome combination of flavors. I think I’ll make this for the Labor Day pool party! I agree with you about instructions for new gadgets. I love the gadget, but don’t want to blow it up the first time I try to use it. Read those rules carefully! Lol Thanks for sharing.
Wishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Haha, thank you, Linda!
I hope you got a chance to make it 🙂
Your email address isn’t working. Can you please check it out and fix it? Thanks!