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I’ll never forget my first experience of needing to bring a food item to a family meal. I needed to bring an appetizer and I had no clue what to make. My mom suggested I make the family’s shrimp dip recipe. It was a perfect suggestion because it’s one of the best dip recipes I know of if you want a dip that is fast and easy to make as well as a crowd pleaser!

Shrimp Dip Recipe: An Easy, Go-To, Appetizer

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This shrimp dip recipe is one that my family serves often. In fact, in the last several years there isn’t a holiday I can think of when this wasn’t an appetizer choice.

We actually like it so much that we sometimes make it to eat for lunch. It’s served for lunch at least once when we visit my grandparents in Florida. The shrimp dip recipe is one of those that is so easy to make and everyone loves it. You seriously can’t go wrong with this dip.

In the end this was the perfect choice for my first appetizer to make and take somewhere. With only three ingredients there is little to buy, not much to do to prep it, and there is truly no way to mess it up! All you have to do is spread out the three layers, set some crackers out next to it, and you’re done!

One of the best things about this appetizer is that it is always a crowd pleaser . I have made this shrimp dip many times since that past Thanksgiving and every time I take it somewhere I almost always receive multiple compliments on it. I recommend putting it on a fun plate too if you have one.  It really adds to the look. Any regular dinner plate will do though.

If you want you can play around with this dip and mix things up so you’re not always making the same thing every time. You can do this by making it a crab dip instead. All you would need to do is buy a can of crab meat instead of a can of shrimp. For the most part they taste the same, but it does change it a little. Also, it allows you to purchase whatever can of seafood you can find cheaper at the store. It never hurts to find different ways to save money on food!

Here’s What You Need to Make the Shrimp Dip Recipe

• 1 Brick of Cream Cheese
• 1 Can of Shrimp (or Crab) – I personally like the can of tiny shrimp pieces better, but any can of shrimp will work
• 1 Jar of Cocktail Sauce
• 1 Box of Crackers

How to Make Shrimp Dip

Making the shrimp dip recipe is very easy. The most important thing you need to remember is to get the brick of cream cheese out at least an hour before you make the dip. Otherwise it’ll be too hard to easily spread.

The first thing you’ll want to do, once your cream cheese has softened, is to place the entire brick of it on the plate that you will be using. Then use a knife to spread it out. Continue spreading it until the thickness is the same on all areas of the plate.

Next, open and drain the can of shrimp. Before taking the shrimp out of the can use a fork to crumble the shrimp pieces up. To do that simply move the fork around inside the can. Once the shrimp is all crumbled up pour the pieces on top of the cream cheese and spread it all around the plate.

Finally, dump the bottle of cocktail sauce on top of the shrimp and spread it around. Pour about 2/3 of the bottle on and add more if needed.

Shrimp Dip

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Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 8oz Brick of Cream Cheese
• 1 Can of Shrimp (or Crab)
• 1 Bottle of Cocktail Sauce
• 1 Box of Crackers

Instructions

1. Take the cream cheese out an hour before making the dip to let it soften.
2. Spread cream cheese all over the bottom of a dinner size plate.
3. Drain shrimp, crumble (just use a fork to move it around in the can), and spread on top of the cream cheese.
4. Pour out the cocktail sauce and spread it on top of the shrimp (start with about 2/3 of the bottle and add more if needed).
5. Serve with crackers.

More Party Dip Recipes:

• Lime Ball Dip
• 21 Day Fix Bean Dip