Julie Clark
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Pepperoni Pizza Dip
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Pepperoni Pizza Dip is a delicious appetizer made with pizza ingredients. It’s a baked cheesy dip recipe that can be prepared in about 30 minutes.
When the weekend rolls around, I immediately start craving pizza. We love using our brick oven to make the best homemade pizza around, but some weekends I need quick and easy. This baked pepperoni pizza dip gives all the flavors of pizza that you love and is ready in under 30 minutes.
This cheesy dip recipe is a close cousin to our Olive Garden copycat mozzarella fonduta. I took that much loved recipe and tweaked it slightly to create this pepperoni pizza dip.
About this pepperoni pizza dip recipe:
- Flavor: You’ll have the flavor of at least 3 different cheeses, pepperoni and pizza sauce. Plus, you can add any of your other favorite pizza toppings.
- Texture: The texture of this pizza dip is creamy and cheesy. The cheese is stretchy….you’ll get an amazing cheese pull! The texture comes with any toppings you want to bake on top.
- Method: I make this baked cheese dip in the oven, but you could use a slow cooker if you’d like. Layer the ingredients in as the recipe suggests and set the slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours or until the dip is completely melted.
What is pizza dip made of?
This pizza dip is made of cheeses, pizza sauce and pepperoni. It doesn’t have a crust, which makes it a great option for those who need to be gluten free. You’ll need these ingredients:
- Sour cream. Some pizza dip recipes are made with cream cheese to give it a firmer base, but I prefer the flavor and creamy texture of sour cream.
- Seasonings. Italian seasoning, garlic powder and dried red pepper flakes.
- Shredded Italian Cheese Blend. Normally I prefer shredding a block of cheese to add to baked recipes. But with this, I prefer a pre-shredded Italian cheese blend so you get the flavors of mozzarella, asiago and provolone.
- Freshly shredded Romano and Parmesan cheese. Freshly shredded works best for this. You’ll have a total of 5 cheese flavors in this dip.
- Pizza Sauce. Use your favorite pizza sauce in this recipe. I used Mid’s all natural pizza sauce.
- Pepperoni. This is to give the dip a pizza flavor. Add any other of your favorite pizza toppings.
How to Make Pepperoni Pizza Dip
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, 4 cups of shredded cheese and the parmesan/romano cheese blend. Mix well.
- Transfer the cheese mixture to a 10″ round cast iron skillet or 11×7″ baking dish.
- Top with the pizza sauce. Then sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese. Place pepperoni slices on top.
- Bake for 14 minutes, or until the cheese is lightly bubbly around the edges.
- Then set the broiler to high and broil for 2 minutes. Watch it closely and remove if it starts to get too brown on top.
Recipe Variations
There are other ingredients you can add:
- Italian sausage
- crumbled ground beef
- tomatoes
- diced bell peppers
- banana peppers
- black olives
- onions
- mushrooms
- or even pineapple
What to Serve with Pizza Dip
This dip is excellent served with Italian bread, baguette slices, homemade pretzels or a brown bread. It’s also good with pita chips, hard pretzels, tortilla chips or other Italian flavored crackers.
Storage Instructions
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave to get it melted again.
Pepperoni Pizza Dip
Pepperoni Pizza Dip is a delicious appetizer made with pizza ingredients. It's a baked cheesy dip recipe that can be prepared in about 30 minutes.
Servings 8
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
- 6 cups shredded Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese, divided
- 6 tablespoons Parmesan and Romano cheese blend
- 3/4 cup pizza sauce
- 17 pieces sliced pepperoni
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
- In a medium bowl, combine the sour cream, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, 4 cups of shredded cheese and the parmesan/romano cheese blend. Mix well.
- Transfer the cheese mixture to a 10″ round skillet or 11×7″ baking dish.
- Top with the pizza sauce. Then sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese. Place pepperoni slices on top.
- Bake for 14 minutes, or until the cheese is lightly bubbly around the edges.
- Then set the broiler to high and broil for 2 minutes. Watch it closely and remove if it starts to get too brown on top.
- Serve while warm with sliced Italian bread.
Notes
For the smoothest texture, buy blocks of parmesan and romano and use a microplane cheese grater to grate the cheese very finely. This will help it melt in smoothly.
Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 8, with 1 serving being ⅛ of the cheese dip. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**
Nutrition
Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 39mg | Sodium: 378mg | Potassium: 123mg | Fiber: 0.5g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 334IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 238mg | Iron: 0.4mg
