The 2-Ingredient Cream Cheese Dip My Sister Brings to Every Thanksgiving
We don’t have a ton of Thanksgiving traditions in my family. To be honest, I haven’t celebrated the holiday with my immediate family for almost two decades. Once I moved across the country to New York, plane tickets to California were always too expensive to justify flying home just a month before Christmas, and I became accustomed to figuring out my own dinner plans with a different group of friends each year, depending on who else was an orphan. But the one food tradition I’ve always kept with me is my sister’s ridiculously easy Thanksgiving cream cheese dip, which she always made growing up and still makes today because it’s such a crowd-pleaser.
Yes, this is the same sister who does her famous chili cream cheese dip for the 4th of July (clearly, she’s got a thing for cream cheese). This one feels a little fancier, even though it’s the easiest thing ever to throw together as a last-minute Thanksgiving appetizer. Rightfully so, appetizers tend to get forgotten on the Big Day, but everybody still likes something to snack on once they get settled with a glass of wine — or better yet, a Thanksgiving Margarita — and this one comes together in two minutes flat.
All you do is top a block of cream cheese with canned whole-berry cranberry sauce. Or better yet, simply use whatever cranberry sauce you’ve got going for the big meal. (This also makes an excellent leftover snack Thanksgiving weekend as a way to use up the cranberry sauce in the fridge.) You only need about 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce to get the cream cheese block nicely covered. Note: If you’re using canned, don’t just open the can and start spooning. Stir it up in a bowl before topping the cream cheese; it’ll help get rid of any imprinted lines from the can.
Now it’s time to top: You can get creative or not, depending on the level of effort you’re looking for. Sometimes we had this with just cranberry sauce; other times, we fancied it up with sliced green onions and chopped pecans. Slivered or toasted almonds also work. Even a little rosemary (which gives it an extra-festive look!). You’ve got options!
The one non-negotiable: Ritz. It’s the best cracker for the job, and the best part of the tradition.
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