A velvety cream cheese party dip enriched with sweet bell peppers and a few complimenting spices.
Our guests couldn't get enough of it, that I had to share it with everyone.
TL;DR
Originally, I would prepare my jalapeño pepper cream cheese dip, but some of my friends are simply not into hot foods.
In fact, they love red and yellow sweet peppers (aka bell pepper or paprika).
This texture is technically inspired by my jalapeño dip version and the flavor profile by a cheese spread known as Liptauer in Europe.
Ingredient Notes
- Cream Cheese — Your favorite brand, I do like Philadelphia.
- Bell Pepper — Red, orange and/or yellow ones, I like to use small mini sweet peppers because they are more tender. You can use all three colors or one only.
- Lemon Juice — Freshly juiced.
- Salt & Black Pepper
- Parsley — Freshly.
- Chives — Freshly.
- Caraway Seeds — Optional if you can't get it. It lends the dip a special “Euro” touch. You can use cumin instead, but the two taste very differently. Cumin will be ok as well, just not the same taste.
- Paprika — Sweet or smoked. Lately, I have been enjoying the smoked Paprika from Spain. If you are using sweet paprika, try getting your hands on authentic sweet Hungarian paprika.
Process Overview
Step 1
Cut the bell pepper into smaller pieces and then chop small.
Step 2
Place the chopped bell pepper into a mixing bowl (reserve some to use as garnish) with the cream cheese and roughly combine.
Step 3
Add the seasoning to the bowl, the salt, pepper, caraway seeds and paprika.
Also add in the lemon juice and cut fresh parsley and chives. Reserve some chives for the topping.
Step 4
Mix your dip well so that all ingredients are well combined.
Place bell pepper dip into serving bowls and top with chopped chives and bell pepper pieces.
📖 Recipe
Cream Cheese Bell Pepper Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Mini Sweet Pepper red or yellow or orange
- 8 ounce Cream Cheese
- Salt to taste
- ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Paprika sweet or smoked
- ½ Teaspoon Caraway Seeds optional, you may substitute with cumin
- 2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice fresh
- ½ Tablespoon Parsley fresh, chopped
- ½ Tablespoon Chives fresh, chopped
Topping (Reserve some main ingredients to use as a topping)
- Parsley
- Chives
- Mini Sweet Pepper chopped
Instructions
- Cut the clean mini sweet pepper small and chop them further a bit down.2 Mini Sweet Pepper
- Place the chopped mini peppers into a mixing bowl with the cream cheese and roughly combine everything.8 ounce Cream Cheese, 2 Mini Sweet Pepper
- Add seasoning to the mix: The salt, black pepper, paprika, and caraway seeds.Salt to taste, ¼ Teaspoon Black Pepper, ½ Teaspoon Paprika, ½ Teaspoon Caraway Seeds
- Continue adding to that the lemon juice, cut in fresh parsley and chives.2 Teaspoon Lemon Juice, ½ Tablespoon Parsley, ½ Tablespoon Chives
- Stir everything well so that your dip ingredients are properly incorporated.
- With the help of a silicon spatula, place the dip into small serving bowls.
- Top your dip with some reserved garnish, the colorful bell pepper pieces and fresh green chives and parsley pieces.Parsley, Chives, Mini Sweet Pepper
- Serve up at room temperature or cooled with your favorite dippers.
Notes
Equipment
- 8" Chef Knife
- Kitchen Scissors
- 2 Serving Bowl about 5 oz or 140 ml each
Nutrition
Serving & Storing
This is a dip that you can serve up at a gathering or party, but you can just make it for yourself on a movie night.
Pick and serve along dippers of your choice:
- Ritz Cracker or Saltines
- Grissini Sticks
- Vegetable sticks such as carrot and cucumber.
This dip can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge for up to 5–6 days. Check the date on your cream cheese, too.
Prep the dip from A to Z, as per my instructions, place a clean wrap on the serving bowl and keep in the fridge until serving time.
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