Star Spangled Layer Dip

Our good friends Dan and Kathy Fahey joined us this afternoon for a Memorial Day cook-out. We had such a lovely day of feasting, sharing stories, lots of laugh and just relaxing and enjoying each other. Isn’t that what life is about??

I started us off with a fun American Flag layer dip. I found the recipe online from Katie Lee of ‘The Kitchen’ fame, and thought it was very cute. Katie calls it Star Spangled Layer Dip. It’s basically a traditional Mexican layer dip using refried beans, guacamole, sour cream, cheeses, salsa and black olives to make the stars.

I had a lot of fun putting this together and since you use all pre-made ingredients it was very easy. I was wondering how much better it would be if you used homemade refried beans and homemade salsa. I have a good friend (Hi Marina!) who makes the best refried beans, but these were pretty darn good.

Start by laying the refried beans in the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking dish. Did I mention there were just 4 of us for this festive occasion? This dip would easily serve 12 to 15 people, or more. I was going to add a second hors d’oeuvres. Thank goodness I did not. This was enough!

This is the brand of guacamole I used. I didn’t realize it, too contained queso. Just what this dip needed, more cheese! But it was very delicious.

Next spread the guacamole over the beans. Katie Lee calls for 16 oz. of guacamole. I used 24 oz.

And then the sour cream goes over the guacamole.

Use a knife to spread each layer evenly. Sprinkle scallions and cilantro over the sour cream. And next add the shredded Mexican cheese blend.

To make the shape of a flag, arrange black olives in the top left corner. Sprinkle the olives with a dusting of queso fresco. Katie calls for cotija cheese, but my local grocery didn’t have it. Hmmm….and I live on the border of Mexico. The 2 queso frescos (one crumbly; one creamy) worked very well together.

I used both a mild and medium salsa blended together. They had a little bite, but mostly deeply flavorful without much heat.

Spoon the salsa in stripes over the entire dish. Sprinkle the remaining queso fresco between the salsa stripes to create white stripes. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I made this the day before so it was nicely set up.

If you like heat, I think some very thinly sliced jalapenos in the scallion, cilantro layer would be a perfect addition; both texture and spice.

Serve with tortilla chips and more salsa. This would be a great appetizer to make for the 4th of July!

Happy Memorial Day!

Print Pin

5 from 1 vote

Star Spangle Layered Dip

An easy and delicious dip. Great way to kick off a patriotic holiday gathering!

Ingredients

• 2 15 oz. Refried beans, canned
• 2 cups Guacamole I used 3 8 oz. packages (24 oz.) guacamole with cheese.
• 4 Scallions, thinly sliced, light green and white parts only
• 2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped Katie Lee does not use cilantro in her recipe.
• 2 cups Shredded Mexican blend cheese
• 1/4 cup Black olives, or enough to evenly cover your flag block I used calamata's because they have so much more flavor than canned black olives.
• 1 cup Cotija, crumbled I used two different kinds of queso fresco.
• 1 1/2 cups Salsa, more for serving with the finished dip
• Tortilla chips for serving

Instructions

• Evenly spread the refried beans on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
• Spread the guacamole over the beans and then spread the sour cream over the guacamole.
• Sprinkle with scallions and the cilantro and then top with the Mexican cheese blend.
• To make the shape of the flag, arrange the chopped black olives in the top left corner of the dish. Sprinkle with a dusting of the queso fresco (or cotija cheese).
• Spoon the salsa in stripe formation on the rest of the dish. Sprinkle with the remaining queso fresco to create white stripes.
• Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Serve with corn chips for dipping.