Skinny Taco Dip
My friend, Sarah, is a vegetarian and one of the healthiest eaters I know. Which is why when she comes over for dinner, I make her bring her own food.
Hahaha! That’s funny.
But true.
She has taught me a lot about eating healthy and how to do it without making yourself miss the junk. I’ve made small changes to our family diet, and no one has even noticed! We eat brown rice now instead of white, I stick veggies into most foods I make, and we do a lot more grilling of fresh veggies than we do sauteing them in butter. Little changes have made a big difference around our house in the past year or so.
One of my favorite little changes has been this awesome skinny taco dip that Sarah makes. She brings it when we sit around by the pool, and I can seriously eat the entire dish in one sitting. And Sarah reminds me that it’s actually not bad for you, so I COULD eat the entire dish, if my stomach could handle all the beans. And it can. I have a stomach like a tank.
Because this dish is a fast favorite of mine, I had to share it with you. It’s a perfect summer dish to take to a BBQ (or to keep in your fridge and eat by yourself over the course of two days… or so I’ve heard…).
You’ll need:
A big container of plain Greek yogurt (I don’t know the size, just get the big one)
A taco seasoning packet
A can of refried beans
A can of black beans
1 bag of shredded cheddar cheese
Two medium-sized tomatoes
Three green onion stalks
First, mix the Greek yogurt with the taco seasoning. It substitutes for both the meat and the sour cream, and it is delicious! Slightly tangy, kind of spicy, and really filling. You won’t even miss the other stuff!
Then, spread the yogurt mixture into the bottom of a 9×13 pan (or something comparable). Like most layer dips, this one looks really pretty with all the colors in a glass bowl. But I don’t broke’d my glass serving dish, so I went with this little gem instead.
Next, take the can of refried beans and spread them over the yogurt mixture. It can be a little tricky to spread the beans over such a soft surface. I found that if I put glops of beans all over the yogurt, I could then gently spread it around with the backside of a spoon. (I forgot to take a picture of this, so you’ll have to use your imagination. Sorry.) The next time I do it, I might double the refried beans and put those in the dish first, then spread the yogurt over that. Either way, you want a layer of refried beans and a layer of yogurt.
Then, drain a can of black beans (one of my favorite foods ever, by the way), and spread them across the refried beans.
Sprinkle a layer of shredded cheddar cheese over the beans to make them super happy. There’s no happier bean than a cheesy bean.
Next, dice up the two tomatoes (I used one and a half medium tomatoes for my dish; it’ll vary depending on what dish you use). Chunk up the tomatoes and spread them across the cheese.
Finally, cut up green onions and sprinkle them over the top. A word of caution about the onions: they seem to intensify the longer they sit on the dip, so I wouldn’t add them until right before you’re ready to serve it.
Serve with tortilla chips and – voila! – a delicious summer treat that won’t expand your waistline too terribly! It’s delicious and light and filling. Always a crowd pleaser, and perfect for entertaining. You can’t go wrong!
13 Comments
Candice
Yum, I’m pinning this!
Heather@KeepCalmandLoveOn
Yum! I’ve had something like this before and it was delish…I’ll definitely be adding this to my recipe binder. Now if only I had a friend with a pool to enjoy it with! 😉
name*Beth
put your refried beans on the bottom then your yogurt or in my case sour cream on top of them. Solves the bean spreading problem and gives you a good sturdy bottom layer. We also put some salsa and/or chopped cilantro on the top. SOOOO GOOD.
nonnie
My mom has been making this (well, a less healthy version) since the 80s. In her version, it’s refried beans, guacamole, the sour cream/taco seasoning mixture, cheese, tomatoes, green onions and black olives. It’s about the best thing in the world!
Nikki
My Mom has also been making a less healthy version, such as Nonnie’s, but now I’m going to give yours a try. It looks delicious. Thanks!
Jacquie
Now this looks great, but I’m a REALLY fusser eater – so literally the only bit of this I would eat is the cheese…which seems to make it a whole lot less healthy – just a bowl of cheese would work for me though 😉
Anna Mary
I make your country crock casserole thing last summer and I plan to make this one too. Still need to get around to trying Chris’ chili, but in South Louisiana finding a coldish day is tricky…
Sheila
Make it even healthier and use your own taco seasoning! No MSG! I make a whole bunch ahead of time and store it in a ziploc container and spoon it out as I need…
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/taco-seasoning-i/
Kelly
Oh yes, this is a favorite of mine, as well. I’ve never used greek yogurt though, my recipe calls for sour cream. And, as already suggested, put the refried beans on the bottom…so it’s not so difficult to spread over the yogurt mixture. Guacamole is yummy on it, too 🙂
Dusty
I love Greek Yogurt! I use that in place of sour cream and regular yogurt, or crème fraiche. **If you are making this for a vegetarian be careful of the re-fried beans you use. A lot of re-fried beans have Lard in them.. Make sure you find vegetarian re-fried beans.
Kim
I second what Sheila said…take 2 minutes and mix up your own taco seasoning (I use the recipe on Annie’s Eats) and this recipe will be EVEN healthier. Packaged taco seasoning is pretty terrible for you (but obviously good in pinch). Otherwise, looks yummy!
melissa
Katie I didn’t really believe that substituting greek yogurt was going to taste good but I have to say this stuff is amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Autumn
I added corn. Yum!