This easy and quick-to-make party dip is always a hit, watch it fly off the table! It’s a baked cream cheese dip with crumbled bacon, mayonnaise, and cheddar cheese. Before baking, top the dip with crushed Ritz crackers for added crunch. Ready within 35 minutes, serve once brown-edged and bubbling!

A cast iron skillet filled with bacon dip.

Everyone Will Love this Bacon Cheddar Dip

A super cheesy, creamy dish filled with crispy bacon and topped with crunchy Ritz crackers… could it get any better? This recipe has all the mouth watering flavor combos with the addition of crumbly textures. Needless to say, you’ll reach for this when you need some quick party appetizer ideas.

When choosing appetizers for entertaining whether it’s game day a holiday or just having friends over, you can never go wrong with something cheesy. Add bacon and you’ll always have a winner. Serve it alongside a hot pimento cheese and corn dip, vidalia onion dip, or creamy queso dip with chorizo, all creamy hot appetizers that everyone loves and will compliment the flavor of the bacon.

If you want a creamy hot dip without cream cheese to serve with it, try a warm crab dip made creamy with a bechamel sauce, both are creamy and rich but with different flavors.

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In addition to cheese, crispy bacon is the real reason why this dip goes so quickly. People go crazy for perfectly cooked bacon recipes! Just wrap something in bacon like bacon wrapped tater tots, or bacon wrapped chicken bites and everyone will be singing your praises. With bacon cream cheese dip, you’ll get crispy bacon and creamy cheese in every bite.

What Makes Baked Cream Cheese Dip So Special

A great recipe made in minutes with simple ingredients you probably already have
It goes well with crostini, baguette slices, tortilla chips, or fresh veggies
You can serve it hot or at room temperature making it the perfect appetizer for your next party
The crunchy Ritz cracker topping makes this recipe stand out

What You’ll Need for an Easy Party Dip

Ingredients for bacon cheese dip. — Gather the ingredients.

Cream cheese – Make sure you use full fat cream cheese for the best results
Mayonnaise – This adds some tang but there’s not too much so that it breaks down when heated.
Green onions – These give a mild onion flavor that isn’t too pungent. Feel free to add more spices like garlic powder or ranch seasoning if desired.
Cheese – Freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese is the prime choice for this easy dip recipe.
Bacon – Crispy bacon works best for this recipe.
Ritz crackers – The soft yet crumbly texture of Ritz is the perfect topping for this hot dip. You could use panko crumbs with butter instead.

Pro Tip: Do you know how to get the crispiest bacon? Add flour and avoid the splatter and get super crispy and tasty bacon.

How to soften cream cheese

You will need the cream cheese to be at room temperature. You can take it out of the refrigerator and wait about an hour, or for this recipe, you can quickly soften it by placing the unopened package in bowl of hot water.

Simple Steps for Making Baked Cheddar Cheese Dip

Step 1: Cook the bacon

You want crispy bacon with minimal to no excess grease. Once cooked, pat it off with a paper towel to remove any grease. Crumble it into small pieces.

Pro Tip: When making a lot of baking, it can be easier to cook the bacon in the oven. Just place in a cold oven on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes. No splatter all over your stove, and clean up is easy.

Step 2: Mix ingredients

Mix the cream cheese and mayo then add the rest of the ingredients.

Cream cheese, mayo, cheese and green onions in a glass bowl. — Combine the mayo and cream cheese.

BAcon dip ingredients combined in a bowl with a spatula. — Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.

Step 3: Top and bake

Add Ritz crackers on top of the dip then bake. Serve hot!

Ritz crackers crumbled on top of bacon dip in a skillet. — Sprinkle the top with Ritz crackers.

Pro Tip: You can prep this easy recipe ahead of time and bake right before you’re ready to serve. This way, you’ll have a hot and fresh dip straight out of the oven.

An iron skillet of bacon cream cheese dip.

Some Helpful Tips for Making Cream Cheese Dips

Room temperature cream cheese – Room temperature cream cheese compared to cold cream cheese will mix much better. Set it out 10-15 minutes before preparing for best results.
Thin bacon – Using thin sliced bacon is a great idea because it gets extra crispy. You won’t be able to taste the difference between thin and thick bacon in the dip.
Shallow serving dish – A casserole dish or something similar works best for serving. This way, people don’t have to dig to the bottom of a bowl. You can also serve this in a bread bowl. Just scoop it out into a bread bowl once it has baked.

If you loved this recipe, give it a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating! Also, snap a picture of your finished dish and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #butterandbaggage and tagging me @butterandbaggage.