Ingredients
- Something creamy
- Something flavorful
- Acid and Salt
- Extras
Preparation
Step 1
START WITH A CREAMY BASE
If you have a food processor or blender, this is the time to break it out—it's not essential, but it will make the process of making a creamy dip significantly easier and faster. Fill the processor or blender with a creamy base: choose sour cream, yogurt, mayo, crème fraîche, cream cheese, mascarpone, labne, buttermilk, or a combination of any of these. You want about two cups.
ADD YOUR MAIN FLAVOR
This is the fun part: how do you want your dip to taste? Add a handful of fresh herbs and maybe a bit of garlic to your creamy base. Add half an avocado if you want to make it even creamier and greener. (One of my favorite go-to combos is Greek yogurt, dill, parsley, basil, and avocado.) Or add some caramelized onions or shallots to sour cream (or any creamy base) for a classic French onion style dip. Other flavoring options include roasted red peppers, tahini, blue cheese, anchovies, pesto, feta, bacon, capers, canned artichoke hearts, spinach, or scallions. Pick one—or a few—and add to your creamy base. Puree until smooth (or dice up your flavorings and stir them into your creamy base by hand).
ADD ACID AND SALT
All that rich creaminess needs an acid to balance it out. Add a splash of vinegar, or lemonor lime juice, and a pinch of salt and give it another whirl. To that yogurt-herb-avocado base I add a bunch of lemon juice. To that caramelized onion-sour cream base I add a splash of white wine vinegar. Now taste and add more acid or salt if needed until it's well balanced.
FINISH WITH A FLOURISH
Before you serve your creamy dip, hit it with some spice: a pinch of cayenne pepper perhaps, or a sprinkling of smoked paprika or chili flakes. Or, for an herbaceous dip, a swirl of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of more chopped herbs. It doesn't really matter what you finish it with, as long as you garnish with something. You took the time to make the dip, so you may as well take the extra half minute to make it look pretty.