Whipped cream cheese dip with grilled pineapple

There’s a seemingly endless supply of cream cheese dips out there on the internet—and with good reason! It’s a great base for flavors and is, well, creamy and easy to dip. However, most dips are baked cream cheese dips. In the summer I like to leave the oven off, so this version is a whipped cream cheese dip!

To add even more flavor to the dip, I grilled some jalapeno and pineapple and mixed them into the whipped cream cheese with spices like tajine and garlic powder.

The final appetizer has some really delicious savory/sweet flavors that are addictive on almost any cracker or even pretzel chips!

How to make whipped cream cheese

The base of this dip is a very simple whipped cream cheese. Aside from that dip, I love making whipped cream cheese for bagels and such, especially when hosting brunch. It’s much easier to spread and if you keep it in the fridge after whipping, it’s spreadable right out of the fridge too.

It works well for cream cheese dips that you don’t bake, otherwise the cream cheese would be too set and it would be difficult to dip or spread a chip in a cracker.

Making whipped cream cheese is easy. In a bowl, combine some softened cream cheese with about 1/2 cup heavy cream and any seasonings you like. I like to use garlic powder and tajin spice for this dip.

If you omit the tajin seasoning, you can substitute chili powder, but also add 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt.

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until a uniform, smooth consistency is achieved. It should be light and airy and spread easily. Feel free to adjust the spices to your liking and add whatever else you like (a tablespoon of lime juice would be nice).

How to grill pineapple

Honestly, you don’t necessarily have to grill the jalapenos and pineapple for this dip. If you don’t have access to a grill, you can simply fold in fresh pineapple and chopped peppers. It will be delicious!

However, grilling the pineapple intensifies the sweetness while also reducing the liquid in the pineapple, which can make your dip a little watery.

Grilling pineapple is very easy. The trick is to make sure your grill is very hot and the grates are cleaned and lightly oiled. Grill the pineapple for 4-5 minutes on each side to allow some char on each side. If you want you can go longer. The jalapeno will take about the same amount of time.

When the peppers and pineapple are done, let them cool before chopping them up and adding them to the dip, otherwise the dip will melt and become runny.

This simply whipped dip is ready

Once your pineapple and peppers are grilled, you’re ready to finish this whipped cream cheese dip! Most importantly, allow the food to cool before dicing and adding to the dip.

I recommend dicing them fairly finely, adding half the ingredients to the cream cheese and tossing them in, then adding the remaining half to the dip for a powerful side dish.

This dip really tastes great when served straight away, as long as it’s only slightly warm. It also keeps very well at room temperature. The texture of the dip never gets weird. It’s an absolute winner of a summer bath!

A few other great cream cheese dip options

Cream cheese makes a wonderfully flexible base for dips. I’ve made so many good dips out of it over the years, like this Jalapeno Popper Cheese Ball or this Baked Goat Cheese Dip with Bacon that might as well be made with cream cheese. I also love the flavors in this Yellow Bliss Road Loaded Cream Cheese Dip!

I also love it in so many breakfast bread spreads like this Avocado Cream Cheese Spread or this Roasted Cherry Cream Cheese Spread!

Make this dip ahead of time

Most dips like these are not easy to make ahead of time. They get frozen and at the end you have to bake them again to get them back in shape. But this dip also tastes good straight from the fridge. The whipped cream cheese is still spreadable and in fact the flavors meld and intensify in the fridge.

So it’s a great dip to make ahead of time and serve within a few days!

My recipe for whipped cream cheese with pineapple dip