Cheese dip is the perfect party food, because everyone loves it, and this easy dip recipe includes bacon and cheese. Who doesn’t love that combo?! This bacon and smoked Gouda cheese dip recipe comes together in no time and is the perfect low carb appetizer or snack! There’s a secret superfood ingredient in this dip that you might want to add. So keep reading!
This recipe is totally opposite of Monday’s vegan lettuce wraps recipe, but hey, we are lovers all food (gluten free), including bacon and cheese. So my fellow bacon lovers, wipe that drool. But first, write down this recipe. Okay, really though, I need to explain a few things before you do.
You see, this cheese dip recipe is tasty and all, but it has purpose, just like all my recipes. The (optional) superfood secret in this recipe is not popular in our current American diet, but boy it should be! It’s the most potent superfood out there and EXTREMELY good for endurance athletes or those fighting adrenal fatigue. Which is why I brought some with me to New Zealand for the kiwi. He has Ironman New Zealand in 10 days; therefore we are making sure his nutrients and adrenals are IN CHECK!
Okay don’t run off yet, hear me out.
So what makes liver so AMAZING (nutrition wise)? Well, it contains more nutrients, gram for gram, than any other food source out there.
List below -> Source
- An excellent source of high-quality protein.
- Nature’s most concentrated source of vitamin A
- All the B vitamins in abundance, particularly vitamin B12
- One of our best sources of folic acid
- A highly usable form of iron
- Trace elements such as copper, zinc and chromium; liver is our best source of copper
- An unidentified anti-fatigue factor
- CoQ10, a nutrient that is especially important for cardio-vascular function
- A good source of purines, nitrogen-containing compounds that serve as precursors for DNA and RNA.
Have I convinced you yet? Well, even if you don’t add dried beef liver to this cheese dip recipe, you can still eat it and enjoy as is. The nitrate free bacon is from whole foods and the smoked gouda is actually raw cheese from our local farmer’s market. We love our local dairy farmer and the benefits of raw cheese. Raw milk/cheese is definitely easier to digest for those who are lactose intolerant. But I highly recommend getting to know your local dairy farmer and visiting their farm to see how clean it is, etc. Most of the time the farms are IMMACULATE and super safe for raw dairy.
Now that you have cheese on the brain, here’s the cheese dip recipe!
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Bacon Cheese and Chive Dip (gluten free)
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: 3 1x
Description
Bacon and cheese. Who doesn’t love that combo? This bacon and smoked Gouda dip with chives comes together in no time and is the perfect for an appetizer or snack! But there’s a secret superfood ingredient you might want to add.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup avocado or cold pressed olive oil
- 3 oz smoked gouda
- 2/3 cup crumbled feta or parmesan
- 2 tbsp shredded carrot (optional) I used a carrot relish
- 1/2 tsp chili pepper
- dash of paprika
- 1/4 tsp garlic (minced)
- dash of sea salt and black pepper
- 1 tsp honey mustard
- 1–2 tbsp chopped chives
- 1 oz (about 45 grams) nitrate free bacon
- Optional Add in –> 1 tbsp cooked chopped sausage, or dried beef liver bars to make it more like a pate.
Instructions
- First chop all your ingredients. Set aside. Soften your cheese or make sure it is at room temp for easy blending.
- Cook your bacon (or use bacon bits) and save a little of the bacon grease. Once cooked, chop both bacon and cheese into smaller pieces.
- Place cheese and chopped meats in a food processor and then slowly add in your oil while mixing. Once blended, add in your chive, seasonings, mustard, and vegetables (if using). Blend again.
- If you want your dip more smooth, add in a tbsp or so of cheese. If you like it more chunky (like above), omit extra cheese.
- Garnish with extra chive.
Notes
Tip –> save your bacon grease! it’s great for cooking or sautéing vegetables for another dish. keep it covered in fridge for when you are ready to cook.
Alright ya’ll, time to get back in the kitchen, the Kiwi Kitchen that is.
Have you ever tried raw cheese? what about liver?
Come on fess up! it’s good for you!
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Oh my gosh this looks AMAZING! I am definitely making this dip for Memorial Day!!
Random question, but which app or program do you use for your collages, like the one you have up top on this post?
Thanks girl!
i either use photoshop collages or picmonkey. both work great but picmoney is free! haha
Sweet! Thanks so much for the tip! I actually just took your tip and used PicMonkey for my most recent Memorial Day Round-Up Post!
http://www.afitphilosophy.com/2015/05/memorial-day-gluten-free-recipe-round-up.html
Thanks love!
woohoo! love it! way to go!
Gosh I LOVE Epic Bars! I stock up every time I’m the US. I really need them to come to Canada! Now, the liver ones, I have not tried yet, I’m a little freaked out by it. However, I feel that I must, so next time!
I adore you for endorsing raw cheese. It makes my lactose loving heart happy. Also, I dreamt I ate bacon this past weekend. It tasted good too. Of course it did; it’s bacon.
I love a good superfood but the thought of liver makes me quiver. My mom used to try to feed it to us when we were little. Maybe I’ll have to revisit it again considering the health benefits?????
that’s why i would try the epic bars first. a safe way into the liver realm. LOL!
Bacon got such a bad rep and I have to admit I still have that mindset! Liver… hmm… I ate a lot of liver pate when I was in Italy in college!
Don’t know if I could do it now!
haha well i think you’d like the epic bars, they are dried and taste like jerky, just softer
Love raw cheese (we try to focus on unpasteurised) and love liver! We have liver at least once every two weeks and it’s so good! Have never been able to find dried liver but you never know, one day those epic bars might make their way to our shores!
This looks delish by the way! 🙂
This is such great timing for this recipe as I would be able to make it with the beef jerky I reviewed recently. Thanks Lindsay!! 🙂
★★★★★
woohoo! let me know how it turns out Neil
I had a really weird image of me shrinking down into a tiny person (ala: honey I shrunk the kids) and skinny dipping in this dip!
★★★★★
not weird to me! jump in!
I’ve never seen a recipe in the healthy living blogosphere that includes liver. I love it, so…yay! hehe. Pinning this recipe to make for the next potluck/get-together. Or maybe just for my own consumption. Thanks, lady!! xoxo
woohoo! a fellow liver lover!
omg this looks amazing. I’ve been having more dinner parties with friends/neighbors recently so I’ll have to remember to try to make this! bacon + cheese…what could be better??
Bacon and Gouda – yummy! Liver… I guess I’ll have to try.
LOLOL you should have seen the face I made when I saw your secret ingredient. 🙂 I have definitely not ever eaten liver. It scares me….but I always try anything once!
Okay liver sounds super scary, but I do know there are MANY benefits to eating it. I would definitely have to hide it in something delish like this though!
stick with trying the bars first, then you can always add liver with beef to chili, etc. sneaky, eh?
I’m basically the most unadventurous eater there is, so I’ve definitely never gone the liver route before. Heck, I won’t even eat fish 😆 But what I don’t know can’t hurt me. Just saying 😉
well you have my permission to take it out. you like bacon thought right? heck just make the cheese and chive! LOL!
ooooh liver…..not sure how I feel about that, had some bad experiences with that when I was younger, but I will trust you! Love gouda and bacon though, yummy!
that’s why i think you’d like the epic bars. they are dehydrated like jerky, so the texture isn’t bad. so good for runners! and to avoid anemia
My husband and I were just talking about liver last night! What timing. This looks ah-mazing! Excited for James and his upcoming race. Sending lots of good vibes your way! xox
I am not a liver lover but would totally eat this!
Oh, bacon, gouda and chives sounds awesome. Liver?! I don’t know – pretty sure if I made it I wouldn’t tell about the secret ingredient until people decided that it was a hit!!!
Not exactly my type of things 😛
Ahh yum. why tease me with such cheesy deliciousness? Apparently I have been told that we’re eating a cheesy meal as soon as this paleo challenge is over! Just a few more days! Whoop. Team gouda here I come!
Though I can’t do the cheese, you’ve got me curious about trying that “secret” ingredient in another dip!
i was going to try this with daiya or almond cheese next!
Ooh, almonds and bacon are awesome together 🙂
Liver is a pretty amazing food. I can’t say I eat it though! But I remember my dad grew up with liver and onions and he still loves it. We’ve definitely gotten away from consuming organ meats as a culture!
I just tried an epic Lamb bar the other day while traveling and mmmmm soooo good!!! Minus the dairy this looks good, haha!!
I love raw cheese! And liver… I had chicken liver pate this weekend! I’ll eat anything. But you know you had me at the bacon. 🙂
Errrr… anything but white potatoes. 😉
My husband would be all over this!! I will have to make it for him.
This looks delicious!…love the colors!
ain’t it pretty? haha even tastier though to eat
You always convince me to try new foods. Liver has been on my ‘try this’ list for so long!
I’ve never had liver, but I had cow’s tongue snuck into some chili I ate before. That’s like half a point, right?
Oooooh chicken liver! A little intimidating, but this would certainly be a great way to sneak some in!
Bacon+cheese= yes please! Ha- that was lame but this sounds soooo good! My husband would absolutely love it! Hope you and the Kiwi are enjoying New Zealand!
I try to be open minded about food, so I’d probably give the liver a try. That said, my son would loooooove this dip! I have to make it for him.
Wow — I didn’t know Epic made the liver . . . . .I just munched down on a wild turkey cranberry bar and it was delish. And your dip looks delish too!
Ok, I can’t say I’ve ever really WANTED to eat liver, but I know from all of our nerdy nutrition podcasts that it’s awesome for you. If I work up the courage to give it a try, it’ll be in this recipe!
this looks like a crowd pleaser for all!!
I can’t lie. I’ve never done the liver dance (read: eaten it) but I have heard that it is SO GOOD FOR YOU. SO, I’ll try.
I also happened to make bacon for my FIRST TIME EVER yesterday (I know.) And I’m hooked. Need this cheesy goodness in my face. Pinned!
it would be good for the hubby. He should try the epic bars as snacks.
I love adding smoked cheese into things and this dip just keeps getting better with the addition of avocado and bacon. So good my friend!
I don’t know if I could do liver, especially with the way Alex talks about it! But I will just have to sub with something else because I don’t even do a lot of cheese and this is amazing!
Very intriguing! Never knew that about liver.
Wow this looks so yummy! Bacon and cheese together can’t be wrong!
OMGOSH
I read this and think YES!!! (for reals) perhaps liver is what I need?!
hmmmmm…
I really think it cannot cannot hurt to try.
i think you’d like them. So good for adrenal health. I share! I need to come give ya some!
Wow. Linds, this is like a sexy more delicious pate which you could faceplant the whole thing- I love liver so I’m game!
ahh yes, love it! and so good for adrenal health!