Disclosure: Gay Lea Foods partially sponsored the TV segment where I revealed the Made Over Chip Dip
That day my kids thought they walked into the wrong house...
I was testing dips for a television segment “dip off” – the host was making her famous chip dip and I was doing a recipe makeover – and the primary dipper was, you guessed it, chips.
And there were chips and dips EVERYWHERE.
Truth be told, I’m not a chip dip lover. I just don’t dip my chips. Veggies though, that’s a different story. So I wanted to create a dip that could do double duty as a chip AND a veggie dip.
Before I go any further, I’m not trying to make chips healthy.
Chips are clearly not an every day food. We all know that they are not the healthy snack. We eat chips for the tasty crunch, not for nutrition.
If you want chips, eat chips.
I’m not going to tell you to eat a piece of celery instead – unless you like to eat celery or are looking for an every day healthy crunchy snack. Then sure, eat the celery.
I will tell you to put your chips in a small bowl and enjoy them that way instead of taking handfuls out of the chip bag – you’ll be less likely to mindlessly munch your way to the bottom of the bag.
Making over this dip was really just for a fun -- sometimes I like to play with recipes to see what I can create. Sometimes it's to change up the taste. Sometimes it's to make them a little bit healthier. And really, how much chips n' dip do you eat? And how often? For most of us, if you don't eat it regularly, it's likely non-consequential in the big picture.
Okay, back to the dip. First, the original recipe
Annette’s 3 Onion Chip Dip
1 cup (250 mL) regular sour cream
1 cup (250 mL) mayonnaise
3 Tbsp (45 mL) 3 Onion Dip Mix (Epicure)
Mix together. Chill at least 30 minutes.
Even as a non-dip lover I can appreciate the tasty factor with this dip. The challenge was to create a dip that was a bit healthier than the original dip but still had the same great taste.
Challenge accepted!
I needed to keep my made-over dip similar to Annette’s original dip. The idea was that we were going to have a blind taste test with the hosts LIVE on air – only I would know which dip was hers and which was mine.
Pressure was on!
The 3 Onion Dip Mix was a key component that had to stay the same in order to keep the same flavour profile. The other ingredients I could play with.
I briefly considered pureed white beans, but that would likely change the texture. And I wanted it to be something that was just as ridiculously simple and easy to make. So pureed silken tofu was also out. Plus both would likely be detectable in terms of texture and flavour.
I do some work with Gay Lea Foods and so Nordica Smooth Cottage Cheese popped into my mind almost immediately. It has a very similar texture to regular sour cream but with less fat and the added bonus of protein. (Smooth is packed with protein – it’s a go to for all my dips!).
I also wanted to reduce the amount of mayonnaise – that’s where most of the fat and calories are coming from. But as I found out when I cut the mayo in half, it also adds creaminess. And without it, the texture was off; it was too thick.
What to do?
I experimented by adding a couple of teaspoons of canola oil – it’s neutral in taste but I figured it would add the creamy mouth feel similar to the mayonnaise. It worked!
After a few days of eating copious amounts of dip and chips (I switched to veggies after a few handfuls of chips and a belly ache to go with them), I had a dip that I knew was a winner!
The made over dip has half the calories, fat and sodium. It also has a bit of protein and calcium for a wee nutrition boost. It doesn’t make chips a healthy snack, but that wasn’t the intention.
The real win: it tastes amazing!
I’m still not a chip dipper, but if you are, you’ll love this dip! I also serve it with fresh veggies and it’s delicious on a baked potato.
Want to know what happened? Watch the segment here.
Shannon’s Chip Dip Recipe Makeover
1 cup (250 mL) Nordica Smooth Cottage Cheese
½ cup (125 mL) mayonnaise
2 tsp (10 mL) canola oil
3 Tbsp (45 mL) 3 Onion Dip Mix
Mix together. Chill at least 30 minutes.
I’m not big on worrying about calories or counting grams of fat, but it’s kinda fun to see what happens when you tweak to a recipe.
Original Dip: Each 2 tablespoon serving has approximately 124 calories, 13 grams of fat, 1 gram of protein, 88 grams sodium
Made-Over Dip: Each 2 tablespoon serving has approximately 65 calories, 6.2 grams of fat, 2 grams protein, 44 mg sodium
Happy Dipping Friends!
Vibrantly Yours
Shannon