♦ 2 Lb. Block Velveeta Cheese

♦ 16 oz. Jar of your favorite Salsa (Medium or Hot, it's what you like best)

♦ 15 oz. can of Hormel Chili No Beans (you can use a generic brand, it works just fine. Also, depending on the amount of chili taste that you want, you can certainly use more than one can or a bigger size.)

♦ 1 lb. Ground Beef

♦ 1 Tbsp. Minced Onion

♦ 1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic

You can make this dip in a regular pan on the stove top if you want. I find it to be 100% easier to do this in a crock pot. If you choose to make this on the stove, you will need to stand at the pan at all times to stir the dip, as it will burn on the bottom of the pan, even on low heat if you don't.

If you use the crock pot, all that you will be doing is throwing everything together into the crock pot and stirring occasionally. You will not burn the cheese in the crock pot if you keep the heat on low, and just check on it every so often.

I totally recommend the crock pot with this. It is so easy, and in my opinion, tastes better since the crock pot is not metal. As always, do what you are most comfortable doing, however, if you have never used a crock pot, then I suggest you start. It is much harder to mess the food up, and harder to burn food in a crock pot. If you are already familiar with the crock pot, then you already know what I am saying here! Enough said.

If you are preparing this dip for a party, again, I cannot emphasize enough using the crock pot. When you are doing a lot of cooking for party, there is enough stress just in preparing everything else alone. You are trying to clean the house, take care of the kids, getting your other food items ready, etc. etc... Using the crock pot for this will free up at least 2-3 hours of your time.

Using the pan on the stove top, you have got to have someone standing there to stir. Using the crock pot, you will put everything in, and not have to even mess with it again for at least an hour. It cooks slowly, so putting everything together at least an hour or two before your party starts, the crock pot buys you this time, and will most definitely be your best friend.

There are so many little variations that you can make to this recipe, to make it exactly how you want it. There is a simple way, (by simple, I mean even a teenager that has never so much as boiled a hot dog could do it...)

There is a simple + hamburger way.

Simple + Jalapeno Peppers way.

And simple + do it however you want it way.

What I am trying to say here is that this is really fool-proof. Follow the basic concept, and then add whatever you want to it, and you can come up with your own genuine recipe for a Velveeta Cheese Dip of your own. I will give you suggestions for things that can be added at the end....which by the way, the end isn't far....because it is simple!

This is best used as an appetizer. You can't beat an appetizer that is made with Velveeta. Moving on.......

I am going to assume here that you have chosen to use a crock pot. Honestly, if you don't, and no offense, but you are an idiot. Having said that....

Plug your crock pot in, and turn it on low heat. This isn't like an oven where the need to pre-heat is a must. You just turn it on, put everything together, put the lid on, and let it do it's thing.

→The simplest recipe for this is to cube up your block of Velveeta Cheese. Simply cut up the block into pieces, there is no rocket science here.

Put the Velveeta pieces into the crock pot. Pour in your jar of salsa, and your can of chili with no beans....cover with the lid, and let it sit for the next hour. Don't keep taking the lid off to check on it, it is NOT going to burn. Keeping the lid on will keep the heat in, making the Velveeta melt quicker. After about an hour or so, stir everything together. It is done. You can even call it "Chili and Velveeta Cheese Dip." Call it what you want, it is scrumdeliumptious!

Like I said before, this is most definitely the easiest way. This simple way here is probably one of the best cheese dips you have ever tasted in your life. Yes, you can add more and make it even better, but I wanted to put this first just in case you are wanting to save a little money, and not have to buy anything else. Also, there is no cooking involved here, other than the crock pot doing the cooking for you.

Serve with tortilla chips. or whatever your favorite chip is! I think that this tastes best with tortilla chips.

So, if you are looking for the easiest way out, but still want an "Out of this world" cheese dip for your guests, feel free to use only these 3 ingredients and call it a day.

→Add hamburger to your basic recipe. I have found that for a 2 lb. block of Velveeta, 1 lb. of hamburger is plenty. If you are having a party for more than 10-12 people, you can use 2 of the 2 lb. blocks of Velveeta. If you are using a big size crock pot, there is plenty of room. You can just double the amounts of everything you put in. Another good money saving idea though, you can add another block of Velveeta and leave the amounts of the other ingredients alone. The dip is still delicious. The taste of the chili and salsa won't be quite as prominent, but it is still a crazy good taste!

→When you are cooking your beef, (hamburger,) add one Tbsp. of minced onion, and one Tbsp. of minced garlic. This just adds some more flavor. It is really not important to do, but if you like the onion and garlic taste, absolutely go for it. It just makes it that much better.

→If you like beans, you can also use the chili with beans. Keep the beano near by.

→Add Jalapenos! If you love jalapenos, then add them to it. I am not a huge fan of jalapenos, but I have made this dip with jalapenos when I had company coming, that I knew were fans of jalapenos. Another good idea is to just have the jalapenos there, sitting to the side of the crock pot. If someone wants them, then they are available, and for the ones that don't like the jalapenos, they can still enjoy the dip without them. I would suggest going this route, since jalapenos are one of those things that either you like 'em, or you don't.

→If you want a zestier Velveeta cheese dip, use the Mexican Velveeta to create a mexican cheese dip. You can do this numerous ways. Since the Mexican Velveeta already has some of the zesty ingredients in it, you can just simply cube up the Mexican Velveeta into your crock pot, and add hamburger. Or, you can follow your basic recipe and just substitute regular Velveeta for the Mexican kind, and let it have all that flavor. For me, this is a bit too spicy, but, if it is spicy that you like, then this is probably your answer. Go for it.

Just a few more things that you could simply add to the basic recipe would be bacon, bacon bits, black olives, fresh chopped onions, chopped green onion, and or cilantro.

I know that there are many other things that you could put in this, I just wanted to put the main things that I find the easiest to do. But, you put into it whatever it is that you like, and make this all your own.

One more helpful hint, if you are making food to serve at a birthday party, and the party takes place during the cold months, I many times have made a big pot if chili, and made this dip to go along with it so that my guests have something to munch on while they are sitting around. It is always a crowd pleaser, and I never have any left over. I have even watched my guests slather right on top of their chili! And that too, is good by the way. Mmmmmmm.......