Cheesy Corn, Cheddar and Chipotle Dip

I’m a sample addict.

It’s kind of embarrassing actually, but I live for samples. When I know I’m going to be making a trip to Sam’s or Costco, I skip lunch and make sure to go at the prime time (1pm) to fill up on samples. I mosey on over to our neighborhood cheese shop weekly just to sample 20+ cheeses so I can settle on one exorbitantly expensive hunk of cheese to nibble on for the week. I make sure to go to the grocery store notoriously known for their generous quantity of samples gracing every square inch of open space. And I ALWAYS ask to try deli meat prior to officially making a sound decision on what’s best that day.

The one redeeming quality about this little dirty secret of mine is that I feel too guilty just sampling away, so I inevitably return home with an obscene amount of snacks that shouldn’t be anywhere near my pantry.

I estimate that I consume an average of 1,000 extra calories per week just testing out random foods….Again, completely embarrassing. Although, apparently not humiliating enough to stop myself…

A few weeks ago as I was sampling my way through another grocery store trip, I approached a rather mundane looking dip. I honestly wasn’t excited about it in the least, and even hesitated for a moment thinking that maybe the five varieties of cheeses I tasted seconds before was enough….but it was there, so the tasting commenced.

It was…creamy, cheesy, spicy….goodness…for lack of a better word. It was almost like a pimento cheese dip, but wasn’t blended and had infinitely more flavor. Because I rarely buy dips pre-made (I find it’s easier, more cost effective and healthier to make them at home), a mental note was engrained into the back of my mind to recreate it immediately.

When a last minute dip was needed for an impromptu Bachelorette gathering (#teamkaitlyn), I immediately retrieved the little note I’d tucked in the back of my mind from the prior week.

The ingredients are items that might be found in your fridge, and the preparation is blissfully simple, making this the perfect dip to whip up when you need to bring an crowd-pleasing app somewhere at the last minute.

While the grocery store version was full of mayo, cream cheese, and cheddar cheese, my version skips the mayo altogether, replaces it with non-fat plain greek yogurt, low-fat cream cheese and 2% milk extra sharp cheddar cheese to retain maximum flavor, while also cutting out quite a bit of fat.

A flavor punch comes in the form of a couple of smoky diced chipotle peppers (only use one if you’re sensitive to spice) and a little bit of garlic powder.

Of course with can’t have corn dip without corn… It was a beautiful day out, so I decided to grill the corn which gives the dip another great layer of flavor, although it was mostly because I didn’t want to dirty up my freshly cleaned kitchen. If you don’t feel like breaking the grill out, you could also cut the kernels off the cob and sauté them in a little bit of olive oil, pop the entire cob into a pot of seasoned boiling water or even cut the kernels of off the cob and steam them in the microwave. Whichever way you go, the end result is pretty much the same.

A last bit of texture is added with some green onion, and the dip is complete.

I highly recommend the ever-so elegant Ritz cracker to accompany this flavor-packed dip, but any old wheat thin, triscit or other highly desirable equivalent will work lovely as well.