Homemade Spicy Cheese Dip Recipe + Sausage Smashed Burger Recipe

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jimmy Dean®.  All opinions are entirely my own.  #JDFAMILYTABLE

Good morning!  Today I have a really yummy cheese recipe to share with you!  I will be honest, I love cheese and I love yummy food and even though it is early in the morning, is it ever too early to be planning what you will be eating later today?  I don't think so!  So today is extra special because I am sharing a yummy and oh-so-simple Homemade Spicy Cheese Dip Recipe plus a fun Sausage Smashed Burger Recipe!  So I have you covered for appetizers, a party, game day or even just dinner all in today's post!  Stick around and snag both of these recipes!

We make it an important part of our day to eat dinner together as a family.  Whether we have a full course meal or a pizza, we always eat together and make it a point to check in with each other and our days.  Our lives are busy and I know they are only going to get busier as my kids get older, so instilling this tradition early will hopefully help my children open and talking as they get older.

The other day, before dinner, I made my yummy homemade spicy cheese dip recipe and my kids just sat at the table and ate and ate and ate...and talked and talked and talked.  Some of our best memories are made when we are gathered together eating food and so I love to have easy and delicious recipes that bring us together!  As I mentioned before, I am sharing two recipes with you today, both my yummy homemade spicy cheese dip recipe and Jimmy Dean®'s recipe for a Sausage Smashed Burger Recipe.  Both are yummy and both are a great way to bring family and friends together to talk, bond and make memories!  And I am excited to find some fun and delicious uses for sausage beyond breakfast too!  It really can make a great addition to any meal time!

This homemade spicy cheese dip isn't really too spicy, it just has a nice little kick to it.  But you can definitely modify this to take out all the spice, or you can kick it up a notch and make it even spicier!  So you have a lot of room to make this recipe all your own!  Here is the recipe:

Homemade Spicy Cheese Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage, Hot
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 cup lowfat Milk
• 8 oz block of medium Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Directions:

1. In a pan over the stove, cook Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage until it is thoroughly cooked and broken up into little pieces.
2. Melt butter over medium-high heat in a saucepan over the stove.
3. Once butter is melted, add flour and whisk until combined.
4. Gradually add in milk while whisking until it is combined and smooth.
5. Raise heat to high and let it barely begin to boil.  Turn off heat and add cheese, stirring until cheese is smooth and incorporated.
6. Add sausage to cheese mixture and stir until combined.

Add scallions and tomatoes if desired.

Serve with chips and enjoy!

If you want to take away heat, use Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage in Country Mild or Original.

If you want to add more heat, add ¼ teaspoon or more red pepper flakes to the recipe!

This cheese dip is so delicious and not made with any cheese-like-processed-substances so it is better than most cheese dip recipes!  It is made with super yummy ingredients and is so yummy.  I am pretty sure my kids ate a good portion of this recipe all by themselves!  Ha!  They loved it so much!  And so did my husband.  This was really a hit with my family and makes a great dip to bring to a party, serve as an appetizer or to have on game day!  As with all cheese dips, this dip will stay yummy and melted as long as it stays warm.

You can snag the printable recipe for this yummy homemade spicy cheese dip near the end of the post!

As part of my campaign with Jimmy Dean® I was also asked to recreate their Sausage Smashed Burger Recipe.

There are a few parts and pieces to this recipe, but in the end the combination of flavors is surprising and yummy.  So if you are looking for something beyond your basic burger this season (or throughout the year) this is a good recipe to print and save for later!

Oh and I snagged both of my Jimmy Dean® Roll Sausage at Meijer.

I also found the brioche buns I uses in the smash burger recipe there as well in their bakery.

Sausage Smashed Burger Recipe

Serving size: 4

Prep time: 25 minutes

Inactive time: 1 hour

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Jimmy Dean® Original Sausage
• ½ cup Homemade Pickles, see recipe below
• 1 cup Sprout Slaw, see recipe below
• 4 cups diced onions
• 2 tablespoons oil
• ¼ cup unsalted butter
• 8 slices brioche bread
• 2 tomatoes, sliced
• 1 cup shredded jarlsberg cheese

Homemade Pickle Recipe:

• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup water
• ½ cucumber, seeded and sliced

Sprout Slaw Recipe:

• 2 cups shaved Brussels sprouts
• ¼ cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon garlic paste

Directions:

1. Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a sauce pot and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add cucumber slices.  Refrigerate for an hour before use, the cucumbers will be tender yet still have texture.
2. Combine Brussels sprouts, mayonnaise and garlic paste in a mixing bowl; keep refrigerated until use.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium.  Add onions, butter and cook on medium-low heat for 30 minutes, stirring often until onions are tender.  Drain and reserve excess butter to toast bread slices, refrigerate onions until cooled.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of reserved onion butter in the same skillet over medium.  Toast 2 slices of bread at a time until desired doneness, repeat with remaining ingredients and set aside.
5. In the same skillet, heat the tomato slices until a slight charring occurs, set aside.
6. Combine the sausage and caramelized onions together in a mixing bowl.  Divide the sausage mix into 4 equal parts and roll into individual ball-shapes.  Using the same skillet, smash the sausage into the skillet with a flat spatula until you have your desired thickness.  Cook over medium heat for 12-15 minutes or until the natural juices run clear.  Finish with the shredded cheese and let melt before removing from the skillet.  You can cook them all in the same skillet or two at a time.  Layer the burger between toasted bread with tomatoes, pickles and slaw.  Enjoy!

What a fun way to incorporate sausage into any meal and what a fun and unique burger idea!

Here is the printable recipe for my homemade spicy cheese dip:

 

So now I want to know, do you try to have family meal times daily or occasionally?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Jimmy Dean®. All opinions are entirely my own.