Slow Cooker Sausage Cheese Dip – 🙌🏻🧀🍕This EASY dip tastes like cheesy sausage and pepperoni pizza, minus the carbs and crust! When you need a simple appetizer recipe for tailgating and game days, for casual entertaining, or holiday parties, look no further than this family FAVORITE cheese and sausage dip! Your Crock-Pot does all the work which is the best part!
Easy Slow Cooker Sausage and Cheese Dip
This dip tastes like cheesy sausage and pepperoni pizza, minus the crust and carbs.
It’s rich, decadent, and the perfect appetizer casual get-togethers, for tailgating and game days, for holiday entertaining like Christmas or New Year’s Eve parties, or anytime you’re looking for a scrumptious cheese dip!
The best part of this cheesy sausage dip recipe is how easy it is! It’s truly as simple as browning a bit of ground sausage, and then tossing that into a Crockpot along with pepperoni, canned tomatoes, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese – I told you it was cheesy!
Your slow cooker transforms the simple and common ingredients into warm, cheesy, pizza dip perfection.
Ingredients in Cheesy Sausage Pizza Dip
- Ground Italian pork sausage – I used sweet mild sausage but you can use hot and spicy
- Cream cheese – use full fat, brick-style cream cheese and not lite, and don’t use sour cream in place of the cream cheese because it’s more watery
- Petite diced tomatoes
- Bell peppers – I used green but other colors are fine
- Pepperoni
- Mozzarella cheese
- Parmesan chese
- Garlic poweder
- Italian seasoning
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How To Make Sausage Cheese Dip in a Crockpot
With less than 10 minutes of prep time (and about 90 minutes of total time if you slow cook on HIGH heat) this sausage and cheese dip is a winner.
- Brown the sausage and bell pepper in a skillet on your stove-top and drain the excess fat.
- Transfer the cooked sausage and peppers to a 6-quart slow cooker and add all remaining ingredients.
- Cover and slow cook on either LOW or HIGH heat depending on your preference. Stir a couple times during the cooking process.
- Serve warm and fresh with crackers, bread, tortilla chips, or your favorite dippers. Optionally, garnish with parsley, cilantro, etc. if desired.
what to serve with cheese and sausage dip
Storage
In the Refrigerator: This recipe will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. However, it’s best enjoyed freshly made.
To Reheat: I use my microwave for quickness and ease and reheat room temperature leftovers for about 30 seconds on high, or as needed.
Recipe FAQs
I like to brown the sausage for extra flavor and so that I can drain off any excess grease before adding the meat into the Crock-Pot. Without browning the sausage first, the dip could become greasier than you want.
I tend to use sweet Italian sausage (sometimes called mild sausage) for this recipe but you can use spicy or hot Italian sausage if you want the dip to have a bit of a kick.
Yes you sure can. The flavor will change slightly of course but the recipe will still work in basically the same way. Brown it, drain it, and add it to the slow cooker just like you would if you were using sausage.
If you’re a fan of mushrooms, onions, jalapeno peppers, chilis, or another type of savory add-in that you think would work well in a dip that has all the flavors of cheesy sausage and pepperoni pizza, go for it. I suggest browning or sauteing them with the sausage.
It’s up to you. I usually cook on high for about 90 minutes, but you can slow cook on low heat if you want to drag out the cook time. Just make sure your slow cooker is at least 5-quarts. Standard sized, oval slow cookers are 6-quarts which is what I use and show in the photos.
Mozzarella cheese is essential to give this cheese dip some pizza dip-like qualities. Ooey, gooey, and melty. Monterey Jack (or pepper Jack for heat) or provolone are other cheeses similar to mozzarella that will give the same effect. Parmesan adds some sharper flavor which balances the more mellow mozzarella. You definitely should use them both. I prefer them to shredded cheddar cheese, but it’s an option if you want to add a handful.
I have seen similar dips (sometimes called sausage Rotel dip) made with Velveeta and I do have ground beef queso dip that uses Velveeta but I haven’t tested it with this recipe.
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Slow Cooker Sausage Cheese Dip
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian pork sausage, I use mild sweet, hot or spicy may be substituted
- 16 ounces cream cheese, full fat, brick-style, do not substitute
- 14 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes, do not drain
- 1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and diced small (another color bell pepper may be substituted)e
- 1 cup diced pepperoni, loosely piled in cup (halve or roughly chop them as desired or use about 3/4 cup mini pepperoni)
- 1 heaping cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 to 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
Instructions
- To a large skillet, add the ground sausage, bell peppers, and cook over medium-high heat to brown and cook through, about 7 minutes. Stir, toss, and crumble the sausage as it cooks to ensure even browning. When done, drain the excess grease. Or simply use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked sausage crumbles and peppers from the skillet.
- Transfer the cooked sausage and bell peppers to a 6-quart slow cooker.
- Add all the remaining ingredients, and stir to combine, noting that if the cream cheese isn't extremely soft, it'll be hard to really "combine" things, which is fine.
- Cover the slow cooker and cook on HIGH for about 1 to 2 hours, OR cook on LOW for about 2 to 3 hours. Stir a few times during the slow cooking process.
- When everything has melted together and thickened up a bit, the dip is ready to be served with your favorite dippers such as crackers, bread, tortilla chips, etc. Optionally garnish with fresh parsley or other herbs.
- Storage and Reheating – Dip is best served warm and freshly made. But leftover dip will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days. Reheat room temperature leftover dip in the microwave for about 30 seconds, or as desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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