[ed-Seth: Thanks again to Matt Gase, Michigan grad and CEO of Eat Well Embrace Life, for being a most excellent sponsor of Joe Pichey’s most excellent recipes. How I’d rank them: 1) Sriracha Carrot, 2) Yellow Lentil, 3) Edamame, 4) Black Bean, 5) Three-Peppers (no relation), 6) Wasabi Edamame, 7) White Bean, 8) Red lentil, 9) Beet, 10) Any other hummus. I don’t like beets. My wife keeps buying it because her list is almost my list in reverse.]

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This is probably the easiest recipe we will do all season. I kinda feel like I’m cheating this week because the crockpot is making an appearance. Yes, the crockpot. If you’re anything like me, you love dips and always have a dipping’ station at your tailgate. We usually have about 4-5 dips out and several crockpots going. This recipe was given to me by my friend Nic-Awesome and is my new favorite dip.  Of course, I had to trick it up by smoking the chicken but that step is not necessary. You can go with store bought chicken if you’d like and just toss it all in together. Either way we go, you will love this one. Thanks Nic.

 
Ingredients:

• 1 block of Cream Cheese (8 OZ)
• 4 chicken breasts or 6 chicken Thighs
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 oz crumbled blue cheese
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 cup Hot Sauce (Franks is my favorite)
• 1.5 TBS Spicy Ranch Seasoning
• 4 green onions – (roughly chopped)

[Hit THE JUMP to gooey goodness]

Directions:

Set your smoker up for indirect heat and shoot for a temp of 250 degrees.  If you would like to grill the chicken over direct heat, that will work as well. If using a smoker, add a chunk of pecan wood for smoke flavor. Place your chicken pieces on the hot grate and go until you have an internal temp of about 160 degrees. It should only take about 30 – 45 minutes if grilling over indirect heat.  All we are trying to do is get some smoke on these and are not worried about cooking them to completion as they will finish in the crockpot. I added a little hot sauce to the chicken, but it’s not mandatory. Smoke sticks better to wet meat, or so I’ve heard.

As your chicken is cooking, spray the inside of your crockpot bowl with non-stick cooking spray.  Add the remaining ingredients to your GAME DAY crockpot and set on high. I reserve a few blue cheese crumbles for topping later.

Mix well and let go for about 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. If you have more time, go ahead and set on low. On the low setting, it will take about 4 hours to melt and combine.

Once the chicken has reached 160 degrees, remove from the heat and chop into small pieces. You can also pull apart with forks if you prefer pulled chicken over chopped.

Add the chicken to your crockpot and mix well.  Let go for a few hours and serve with your favorite dipping chips. I love the thin pretzel crisps or even on the Jalapeno Sweet rolls for this.

Pair with one of the Eat Well Embrace Life Hummus dips and you have the perfect combination for your tailgate DIPPIN’ station. The Spicy Yellow Lentil Hummus is greatness! Maybe we can talk to Matt and get this changed to Spicy Maize Lentil Hummus.

As I mentioned earlier, this one can be done in the crockpot from start to finish using cooked chicken and it will turn out fantastic. I just love the mild smoke flavor in this dip and I’m sure your tailgate guests will appreciate you going that extra mile. Enjoy and GO BLUE!