This Fried Chili Cheese Dip Skillet is one of our favorite ONE POT dip recipes for tailgating! Loaded with vibrant Mexican flavors, it’s made for sharing. Serve up with crunchy taco boats for scooping! Skillet cheese dip never looked so good!
Mexican Cheese Dip Recipe
Oh my GOSH you guys…Wednesday is my favorite holiday of the entire year!!!! NATIONAL CHIP AND DIP DAY!! Better than my birthday and better than Christmas. On my birthday, I have to stop eating chips and dip to eat cake. Blah. Oh Christmas I’m distracted by hams and cookies and everything in between. On Wednesday March 23th we can eat chips and dip ALL DAY LONG and not feel bad about it. Best Day Ever!
If you’re going to celebrate Chips and Dip with an entire holiday, you better make some good chips and dip!
This Fried Chili Cheese Dip Skillet with Deep Fried Mini Taco Boats is THE BEST EVER. It’s perfect for cheat day, tailgating, literally any party, and of COURSE National Chip and Dip Day! Loaded with Mexican flavors, it’s perfect for your cinco de mayo celebrations too!
If you’re looking for our other chilis, be sure to check out our white chicken chili and my favorite chili recipe!
Why You’ll Love this Cheesy Beef Chili Dip Recipe:
- QUICK AND EASY: This is a pretty simple recipe to build, and the fact that it’s all made in one skillet means that even the clean up is a breeze!
- GREAT FOR A CROWD: This appetizer recipe will easily serve 8, and you can easily half or double it. It’s a super fun recipe that everyone will love dipping in to!
- SIMPLE INGREDIENTS: Made with a handful of easy to source ingredients, and if you are a fan of Mexican food, you are likely to already have most things to hand in your pantry!
This Fried Chili Cheese Dip HAS IT ALL. Cheese? Check. Ground beef? Check. Lots of flavor and spice? Check. TOTALLY SUPER SIMPLE AND MADE IN ONE POT? Check Check.
How to make chili cheese dip recipe
Be sure to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
- Deep fry the taco boats til browned and season with taco seasonings.
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet and stir in the green chilies and taco seasoning.
- Stir in the cream cheese and manchego.
- Stir in the pico de gallo.
- Top with mozzarella and allow to bubble. Do not stir.
- Serve warm with the fried taco boats for dipping.
Ingredients Notes
As you guys know, I’m an ambassador for Old El Paso. Every time I work with their products, I love them even more. They are just SO versatile. Simple, delicious ingredients. Just like I like my food. I used their green chiles (my FAVE), taco seasoning, and Mini Taco Boats for this recipe. The Mini Taco Boats just so happen to make the absolute BEST chips when deep fried and sprinkled with taco seasoning!! HOW have I not tried that before?? I’m hooked.
Totally! I love the richness of beef in this hot cheese dip, but you can easily make this with ground chicken, turkey or pork if you prefer.
This chili cheese dip is best served hot as soon as it’s made so that the cheese is perfectly bubbly and melty. You can get ahead of things by cooking up the ground beef mixture a day ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge.
This dip has a bit of a kick to it, but it’s not overly spicy. If you like it hotter, then use a spicier taco seasoning or add in some extra cayenne powder.
I love to use mozzarella for the topping as it gets perfectly melty and stringy. Other good melting shredded cheeses can also be used.
Serving Suggestions
This fried chili cheese dip is perfect served up these fried taco boats for dipping, or try it with chips, veggie sticks or anything else scoop-able! I also love it with:
Whatever you use to dip, this recipe is guaranteed to be a hit with everyone who tries it!
It’s hard to find a new favorite dip when you’re addicted like me, but this just might be the winner. I wish I could say it’s healthy…but like I said…everyone deserves a cheat day once in a while! Let National Chip and Dip Day be your cheat day! Or March Madness. Or your bday. Or the Superbowl. Really, any day. This dip is worth it!
If you guys have a favorite dip recipe, leave it in the comments below! I’m ALWAYS on the hunt for new hot dip recipes. I literally can’t get enough.
HAPPY NATIONAL CHIP AND DIP DAY! Enjoy the Fried Chili Cheese Dip Skillet!
More Dip Recipes
- Crockpot Sausage Cream Cheese Dip
- Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Cream Cheese Fruit Dip (Plus Fruit Board)
- Easy Taco Dip
If you make this recipe be sure to upload a photo in the comment section below or leave a rating. Enjoy! You can also jump to recipe.
Fried Chili Cheese Dip Skillet
Ingredients
- 2 packages Mini Taco Boats
- 1 1 ounce packet Old El Paso Taco Seasoning, divided
- Sea salt to taste
- 8 ounces 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1 can Old El Paso chopped green chiles
- 8 ounces low fat cream cheese
- 8 ounces Manchego cheese finely chopped
- ½ cup pico de gallo
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- more pico de gallo for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a dutch oven with canola oil, at least 2 inches deep
- Heat oil over medium high heat until 350F
- Add the Mini Taco Boats to the oil 3-4 at a time, pressing down to make sure the boats fill with oil. Allow to fry until browned, about 3 minutes.
- Remove from the oil and place on a paper towel lined paper plate. Sprinkle lightly with taco seasoning and sea salt on each side.
- Repeat with all of the remaining chips. Set aside.
- In an 8 inch skillet, heat the ground beef over medium high heat, crumbling as you cook. When almost cooked through, add the green chiles and the remaining ½ packet taco seasoning (you should use about ½ a packet on the chips) and continue to stir while they cook and combine.
- Add in the cream cheese and chopped manchego, continuing to stir and combine all the ingredients. It will be bubbly and ooey gooey!
- Stir in the pico de gallo and reduce heat to low/medium.
- Sprinkle with the mozzarella and cilantro and allow to bubble until top cheese melts. Do not stir in the mozzarella, allow it to create a top crust on the dip.
- Top with more pico and serve warm with the fried Mini Taco Boats.
- Enjoy!
Last step! Don’t forget to show me a pic of what you made! Upload an image or tag me @thecookierookie on Instagram!
Nutrition Information
can you make this in the crockpot?
I haven’t done this before but I am sure you could!
Lovely post it is. This is really delicious viber for PC, c s s
I was looking for some dip recipes, found this and it looks great, like all of these ingredients, ground beef for instance and the taco boats!, thank you for this different than my typical “queso” dip recipes!
So I noticed on this, and the Cowboy dip that you dont.mention draining off the grease from the meat after browning. Is that correct please?
If you have excess grease draining is definitely best. I try to use a low fat version to have as little grease as possible. Hope you love the recipes!
I love all that gooey cheese!
This looks so GOOD!! I can devour that whole pan myself! Can’t wait to try this!
Shoot! How’d I miss this holiday? I’m going to try to make up for it soon ;) Love this cheesy skillet dip – looks delicious!!
You take the best cheesy photos – seriously, that stringy cheese!!
I’d happily make this my dinner and eat the pan myself. Looks amazing and so cheesy.
BECKY!! This looks so ooey, gooey and delicious! I could eat that whole thing myself! :) Gorgeous photos!