Veggie and Chip Dips

Here are just a few simple recipes to try out. These are great party dips or just for you to have around the house.

Dill Vegetable Dip

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/8 cup milk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp. vinegar
1 tsp. dried dill
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. onion powder
dash garlic powder
*Note: Buttermilk can be used instead of milk and then vinegar can be omitted.

Whisk all ingredients and check for taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary.

Tips: I seriously make this dip about once a week - I just LOVE the dill taste in it. This dip is perfect for vegetables (it isn't a really good chip dip though). I always have chopped up veggies in my fridge that I just pull out for a snack, or I give to my kids at lunch time. My daughter eats raw veggies so well this way, and it keeps me snacking healthy too.

I always use FAT FREE mayo and LOW FAT sour cream. And honestly, I can't even tell the difference from when I use regular ingredients. I tried it with fat free sour cream and it turned out too runny so I'd go with low fat. But I love using the low fat because then I feel like I can load up those veggies a little more and not fill guilty that I'm ruining the goodness of the vegetables. Also DON'T use Miracle Whip - I tried it once and it tasted awful. I love Miracle Whip for sandwiches, but for dips - YUCK!

Chip Dip

1 carton of sour cream
1 jar of mayonnaise
1 package of dry ranch dip
1 package of dry onion dip

Pour the sour cream into a medium bowl. Fill the sour cream container with mayonnaise so you have equal parts of mayonnaise and sour cream. Then mix sour cream and mayonnaise together. Add about half the package of ranch dip and half the package of onion dip. Depending on how strong you like your dip, just keep adding the dry ingredients in equal parts until you reach a taste you love. Have some chips on hand to test with.

Tips: This dip is the best for chips but is also good on veggies. It is best with plain potato chips or Veggie Chips. A great low fat option is to buy baked potato chips which only have a few grams of fat per serving. And just like the dip recipe above, you can use nonfat mayonnaise and low fat sour cream to cut calories and fat.

This makes a lot of dip, so if you don't want to do the full recipe then just add equal parts of sour cream and mayonnaise and then equal parts of onion and ranch dip (that's what I always do - I NEVER make the full recipe).

Have fun dippin!

From the kitchen of Tannie Datwyler