I Tried Over 50 Store-Bought Dips—These Are The 5 Worth Buying
With football season in full swing and holiday gatherings on the horizon, it’s more important than ever to have some dips on deck. Dip is one of the easiest and most satisfying snacks to serve at a party. But if you choose a subpar option at the supermarket, it can also be one of the most disappointing.
We may be biased, but we’ll always recommend making a homemade dip if you have the time and energy. Depending on the dip, we may even insist on it (there’s a reason why we’ll never recommend premade guacamole).
But when you're busy with other hosting responsibilities, supermarket dips come to the rescue. You shouldn’t have to sacrifice flavor and quality for the sake of convenience, so we conducted a taste test of gargantuan proportion. We tried over 50 different dips across five categories to identify the best of the best. Here's what made the cut:
Best Hummus: Esti Original Recipe Hummus
We skipped over all of the fun hummus flavors and went back to basics. We didn’t want to be distracted by bells and whistles and wanted to find which brand makes the best standard hummus. Our testers overwhelmingly went with Esti.
Where some brands faltered in the flavor department, Esti shined by having the most balanced blend. You can taste the lemon, garlic, and tahini in each bite without being overwhelmed. Plus, it has a rich texture rarely found in a store-bought hummus.
Esti also has a solid lineup of hummus flavors that taste just as good as their original recipe. Try the pesto hummus and thank us later.
Best Onion Dip: Heluva Good! French Onion Dip
We had only one rule when it came to onion dip: no extra ingredients required. The classic box of Lipton will always have a nostalgic place in our hearts, but the added steps kind of defeat the purpose of convenience (at that point, you might as well just caramelize an onion). But even if we included those options, Heluva Good! French Onion Dip would still rise to the top.
One of our tasters said that Heluva Good! is "exactly what I want from a French onion dip from the grocery store." It has a rich and tangy sour cream base, with plenty of savory onion flavor. You may not be getting real pieces of caramelized onion, but it tastes so good that you won't even miss them.
Best Spinach Dip: Trader Joe’s Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip
We tried products from across the spinach-dip spectrum—from cold and tangy to warm and cheesy—and the frozen spinach and artichoke dip from Trader Joe's was by far our favorite. This is a big, bold dip in a tiny package. All it needs is a couple minutes in the microwave (extra cheese optional but strongly recommended) to become an appetizer that'll be the star of your party.
It strikes the closest resemblance to a homemade spinach and artichoke dip, but with a lot less effort. Several tasters said that they could easily eat this with a spoon. And since it's from the freezer aisle in a compact box, you can keep this dip on hand for any last-minute appetizer needs.
Best Ranch: Marzetti Ranch Veggie Dip
Most store-bought vegetable trays feature Marzetti's Ranch in the center compartment. And compared to every other brand we tried, it was by far the best option. It's rich, creamy, and just the right amount of tangy. But the thing that set it far above the rest was its herbaceousness.
Every scoop of Marzetti's Ranch Veggie Dip is flecked with plenty of herbs (the brand doesn't reveal each one, but there's definitely lots of dill). It adds a bright freshness that we didn't find in any other ranch brand. It pairs perfectly with vegetables, naturally, but we also love it as a fresh foil for chips and chicken tenders.
Best Queso: On The Border Salsa Con Queso
There's a major nostalgia factor that comes into play with jarred queso. The vibrant, almost neon orange hue has been a game day fixture for generations. That being said, many of the store-bought offerings we tried were strangely gloopy and unappetizing. Our favorite in terms of both flavor and texture was from On The Border.
You still get the bright queso color you know and love, but On The Border's Salsa Con Queso doesn't come with a strange, artificial aftertaste. The pepper and tomato flavor adds a zesty counterpart to the rich and cheesy base. One of our testers put it plainly: "I want more!"
If you're serving a big bowl of queso at a party, we're always going to prefer our homemade recipe from Taylor Ann Spencer. But if you're in a pinch or you're using queso as part of a seven layer dip, this option is the best of the bunch.
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