I have a simple but yummy dip recipe for you today. I was looking through some old pictures and realized I had a bunch for this recipe. I now remember that at the time I didn’t take a picture of a chip or veggie dipped into the dip and was going to wait to get that captured before posting the recipe. I’ve changed my mind because I know myself; I will continue to forget to get that shot even though I make this dip regularly throughout the summer months.
As long as I can remember, my mom’s side of the family has made this dip. Oddly enough, I’ve never met anyone else that has although it’s so easy to make. So have no idea where this recipe originally came from. Besides being easy, it combines two of my favorite things…cream cheese and cucumbers. Yum!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Honestly, if you live in Michigan, Meijer has a pretty decent cream cheese. I only by the brand name when Sam’s Club doesn’t have the bricks. Personally, I’m not a fan of any brand of fat-free cream cheese although if that’s your thing you can go for it.
(I was making a double batch when these photos were taken, so you’ll notice the pictures have double what the recipe at the bottom states.)
I always cut my cucumber in half before peeling, you’ll see why soon.
Whichever way you prefer, whole or in half, peel that puppy. And no matter what else you do, do NOT cut the ends off. You’re going to need them for handles.
Now go ahead and shred that cuke. If you don’t have one of these box graters, it’s okay. Any grater will do. (Well, maybe not a micro plane.) I prefer the small grate myself, but I’ve had the dip when my brother only had a more conventional bigger grate and the dip was still delicious. You can see here why I prefer the cucumber in half with the ends still on. Of course, you can keep it whole and cut only one end off but it’s not very stable and may even break in half…not that I’ve ever done that before.
Now that your cucumber is basically slush, you’ll realize how much water there really is inside this vegetable.
Drain as much of that water out as you can. I usually will get my hands in there and kind of squeeze it out.
Add some salt and stir it in there. Set this aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. The salt will bring out even more moisture from the cucumber while it’s sitting.
Chop up the green part of your green onions. If you don’t have green onion, chives or scallions work here just as well. I’ve even made this with no onion, it’s just a bit more mellow.
Throw your softened cream cheese in a bowl. At this point, I generally will use the bowl I’m going to use to store this dip in the fridge. Also, if you’re cream cheese isn’t soft, just microwave it for 10-15 seconds. Be sure to unwrap it first!
Use a fork to mush the cream cheese around and throw your green onions in there.
Now give your cucumber mush another quick drain and add it to the cream cheese.
Stir that all together and add more salt if needed. This will be somewhat lumpy, but you don’t want any huge lumps of cheese. This is better if you let it sit at least a few hours in the refrigerator, but it’s not necessary if you don’t have the time to wait.
Serve with chips (Better Made Rainbow are my favorite with this), pretzels or use it as a vegetable dip.
CUCUMBER DIP
1 cucumber
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2-3 green onions
1/2 tsp. salt
Cut cucumber in half and peel. Using a grater, grate the cucumber into a bowl. Drain the shredded cucumber as much as possible. Add salt and mix together.
Slice green part of green onion. In another bowl, add softened cream cheese and mix together with the onion. By now the salt will have brought out more moisture from the cucumber. Drain the cucumber again and add it to the cream cheese.
Stir it all together until well combined. Dip should be lumpy but not have huge pieces of cream cheese. Add more salt if needed. If you have time, refrigerate for at least a few hours.
Serve with potato chips, pretzels or as a vegetable dip.
