Seven-layer dip is beans, guacamole, sour cream, pico, cheese, olives and green onions in one pan. The trick is the top, and the top is about when the pico goes on: game morning, drained.
At the lot: It rides in the cooler and goes out in a pan nested in ice, in the shade, with chips on the side, because sour cream and guacamole turn fast in the sun. Here's how to pack a cooler. Homegating: Build it, chill it and put it out at kickoff.
Home gear: a 9 × 13 in. pan with a lid (a foil pan with a lid works) and a fine-mesh strainer
30 MIN
At home, the night before and the morning of
5 MIN
At the lot
12
Serves
Ingredients
Beans
- 2 cans (16 oz each) refried beans
- 1 packet (1 oz) taco seasoning
Guacamole
- 4 ripe avocados
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Layers
- 2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
- 1½ cups pico de gallo
- 2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican-blend cheese
- 1 can (2.25 oz) sliced black olives, drained
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
Serve
- 2 large bags tortilla chips
Steps
At home
- Stir the refried beans and taco seasoning together and spread them in an even layer across the bottom of the pan.
- Mash the avocados with the lime juice, salt and garlic powder. Spread the guacamole over the beans all the way to the edges, so it's sealed in.
- Spread the sour cream over the guacamole, again to the edges. If you're building it the night before, stop here: press plastic wrap onto the sour cream, cover and refrigerate.
- The morning of the game, set the pico in a strainer for 10 minutes to drain. Scatter it over the sour cream, then the cheese, the olives and the green onions.
- Cover the pan and keep it in the fridge until it goes in the cooler.
At the lot
- Keep the dip in the cooler until you're ready to eat.
- Set the pan in a larger tray of ice, in the shade, and serve it with the chips.
Pack for the lot
Lot notes
- Two pans beat one: for a big crowd, build 2 pans and keep the second in the cooler until the first runs out.
How much seven layer dip do you need for 20 people?
Make 2 pans. That's 4 cans of refried beans, 2 packets of taco seasoning, 8 avocados, 4 cups of sour cream, 3 cups of pico, 4 cups of cheese, 2 cans of olives, 8 green onions and 4 bags of chips. It feeds up to 24.
Gear for this cook
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