Our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités for parties this Christmas and New Year holiday season include everything from a homemade traditional hummus recipe and an authentic Mexican guacamole recipe to recipes for Southeast Asian dips such as a Cambodian dip called prahok k’tiss and recipes for nam prik ong and nam prik num from Thailand.
When I was in my twenties I was as guilty as the next person of making last-minute trips to the supermarket to load up on store-bought dips, boxes of crackers and bags of corn chips for parties and social gatherings over the festive season and holidays.
Although there was one dip I always made at home after learning how to make an authentic Mexican guacamole in Mexico. That experience gave me a new appreciation for making homemade dips. I haven’t bought a commercial guacamole ever since.
These days we wouldn’t dream of serving guests a shop-bought French onion dip, and Terence thinks nothing of baking trays of crackers or a loaf of herb and olive bread – especially over the festive season, which is all about giving and sharing.
Our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités for Christmas parties and New Year soirees include favourites such as creamy hummus, traditional guacamole and tomato salsa, but we’ve also included some of our favourite Southeast Asian dips we recommend you make for spice-loving guests.
Do bookmark this collection of recipes for dips, as we’ll be adding more dip recipes over the next weeks.
Before you scroll down, we have more Christmas recipe collections you may like, including our best Christmas cocktail recipes, best Christmas starters (including devilled eggs), best Christmas salads, and best desserts for Christmas. We also have homemade edible Christmas gifts you can make and Christmas gifts for food lovers designed with Terence’s mouthwatering images in our Grantourismo shop.
Every day between now and Christmas, we’ll be adding more recipes and recipe compilations for Christmas day breakfast and brunch, Christmas finger food and nibbles, Christmas mains and sides, and ideas for Christmas leftovers, so do bookmark this page, drop by and visit again, or subscribe (bottom of the site).
Now before you scroll down to our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités for parties over the Christmas and New Year holiday season, I have a favour to ask.
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Now let me tell you about our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités.
Published 11 December 2021; Updated 13 May 2022
Best Dip Recipes for Crackers and Crudités for Parties over the Christmas and New Year Season
Homemade Traditional Hummus Recipe
This easy authentic hummus recipe makes a homemade traditional creamy hummus that a Lebanese friend taught Terence when we lived in Abu Dhabi in the late Nineties. We make this classic hummus recipe whenever we have cravings for Arabic food or are missing the Middle East. If you have a can of chick peas in the cupboard, hummus is one of the best dip recipes for crackers and crudités. It’s so easy to make and so delicious.
Easy Authentic Hummus Recipe for a Creamy Homemade Traditional Hummus
Homemade French Onion Dip Recipe for a Rich Caramelised Onion Dip
Make this homemade French onion dip recipe for a rich, creamy caramelised onion dip that will take you back in time to the dips you helped your mum make for backyard barbecues by stirring French onion soup mix into cream cheese or sour cream. Made from scratch, this onion dip recipe makes an even more delicious dip and is worth the little extra effort.
Creamy Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe with Salty Capers and Dill Pickles
My smoked salmon dip recipe makes an utterly addictive smoked salmon dip from scratch, made with cream cheese, sour cream, salty capers, zingy pickled gherkins, crunchy pink shallots, a little kick of paprika, and a whole lot of fresh aromatic dill and chives. I also add white pepper, garlic powder and sea salt, all of which you can adjust to your taste.
Creamy Smoked Salmon Dip Recipe with Salty Capers, Dill Pickles, Paprika and Fresh Dill
Easy Olive Tapenade Recipe for the Traditional French Tapenade
This easy olive tapenade recipe is based on the traditional French tapenade recipe from Provence in southern France that’s made with only four ingredients – black olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil. You could add garlic, herbs and spices, but this Mediterranean olive dip is absolutely delicious in its original form, eaten on fresh or toasted baguette slices or crostini or with cheese straws.
Easy Olive Tapenade Recipe for the Traditional French Tapenade Recipe with Only 4 Ingredients
Easy Cheese Straws Recipe for Your Cocktail Nibbles, Charcuterie Boards and Cheese Plates
Our easy cheese straws recipe makes grissini style cheese sticks, which are perfect dipped into the olive tapenade, above, or added to your charcuterie boards and cheese plates. Or simply serve them with a chilled bottle of crisp white or spritzes or negronis, and you’ve got some very enjoyable drinks snacks right there.
Easy Cheese Straws Recipe for Your Cocktail Nibbles, Charcuterie Boards and Cheese Plates
Russian Eggplant Caviar Recipe for Ikra
Our easy Russian eggplant caviar recipe makes ikra, known as the ‘poor man’s caviar’ during the Soviet period. This is a deliciously-rich version of this traditional Russian dip, spread or side dish that’s somewhere in between the ikra my baboushka made that was sumptuous and velvety and the ikra popularised during the Soviet era that more closely resembled a diced salad. It’s another one of our best dip recipes for crackers and can be made a couple of days ahead. It can also be eaten with baguette slices.
Easy Russian Eggplant Caviar Recipe for Ikra, the Soviet Union’s Poor Man’s Caviar
Sichuan-Inspired Eggplant Dip Recipe
This delicious eggplant dip recipe takes a classic Sichuanese braised eggplant dish and transforms it into an amazing dip. It’s another of our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités. You could also serve it as a starter before settling down to a full Sichuanese feast. It’s fantastic with our spicy Sichuan flavoured sourdough crackers (below), which were literally made for this dip.
Delicious Eggplant Dip Recipe Inspired by the Classic Sichuan Braised Eggplant Dish
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe
This authentic Mexican guacamole recipe makes a genuine Mexican guacamole that’s made table-side at good restaurants in Mexico. It’s all about the creamy luscious texture, bright green colour and full flavour of perfectly ripe avocados. It’s easily one of the best dip recipes for parties, and while it could be served with crackers and crudités, I recommend you try your hand at baking homemade tortilla chips or plain store-bought corn chips.
Authentic Mexican Guacamole Recipe Just Like Your Mexican Abuela Would Make
Chilli Con Carne Dip Recipe
While this chilli con carne recipe makes a good old bowl of chilli for those who like their chilli hot and smoky, this chilli con carne is also terrific eaten cold as a dip with homemade tortilla chips or corn chips. You’ll need to put this on the stove the the day before your party, as it takes a few hours, but not a lot of work, to make, and is another of our best dip recipes for parties.
Chilli Con Carne Recipe For Those Who Like Their Chilli Hot and Smoky
Easy Mexican Tomato Salsa Recipe
This easy red tomato salsa recipe makes a spicy Mexican salsa that we’ve been perfecting since we returned from our first big trip to Mexico and the USA way back when we first began travelling. Like the guacamole, it’s great with tortilla chips or corn chips, but it’s also another one of our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités.
Easy Red Tomato Salsa Recipe – How to Make Homemade Spicy Tomato Salsa
Crispy Chicken Skins with Spicy Chicken Mince Dip Recipe
This crispy chicken skins with spicy chicken mince recipe makes a fantastic snack for drinks or a Southeast Asian themed dinner party. When the chicken skins firm up in the oven, they form a perfect ‘crisp’ and an excellent vehicle for this classic minced dip found in Cambodia and Thailand.
Perfect Crispy Chicken Skins with Spicy Chicken Mince Recipe for an Addictive Southeast Asian Snack
Cambodian Coconut Minced Pork Dip Recipe
Cambodia’s delicious prahok k’tis dip is eaten with a combination of crunchy raw vegetables and blanched or steamed vegetables. If you’re not a fan of funky flavours like fish sauce and shrimp paste, you might want to leave the prahok (fermented fish) out. If you do want to try the prahok, head to your nearest Asian supermarket. If using this ingredient for the first time, perhaps reduce the amount of prahok.
Authentic Khmer Prahok Ktis Recipe for Cambodia’s Pork and Coconut Milk Dip
Cambodian Pork Coconut and Peanut Dip Recipe with Crispy Rice Cakes
This recipe for natang makes a Cambodian dip of minced pork, coconut cream and peanuts that’s made to be eaten with homemade crispy rice cakes, which in turn are intended to use up the rice that sticks to the bottom of a pot or any leftover rice, however, you can use store-bought rice cakes. This is another one of our best dip recipes for festive parties and social gatherings, especially if you want to serve something a little different.
Natang Recipe for a Cambodian Pork Coconut and Peanut Dip with Crispy Rice Cakes
Thai Rice Cakes with Chilli Prawn and Pork Dip Recipe
This Thai khao tang na tang rice cakes with chilli prawn and pork dip recipe makes a popular Thai snack or starter of homemade crispy rice crackers used to scoop up this creamy, slightly sweet, a little salty, and gently-spiced dip. A cousin of the Cambodian dip, above, it’s typically served with rice cakes but would also work with crackers and it’s another one of our best dip recipes.
Thai Khao Tang Na Tang Rice Cakes with Chilli Prawn and Pork Dip Recipe
Thai Nam Prik Num Recipe
This Thai nam prik num recipe makes a smoky green chilli dip that’s one of the best known Northern Thai specialties – so much so that it’s often called Chiang Mai chilli relish. Made from local chillies, it’s grilled on a barbecue with garlic and shallots and typically served with crunchy pork crackling and sticky rice, but could also be paired with crackers. It’s easily another of our best dip recipes for spice lovers.
Thai Nam Prik Num Recipe for Smoky Green Chilli Dip from Northern Thailand
Thai Nam Prik Ong Recipe
This Thai nam prik ong recipe makes a spicy pork and tomato dip from Northern Thailand. Served with fresh or steamed vegetables or sticky rice, which you dip into the bowl, nam prik ong is the most approachable of the Thai relishes and dips, not being as pungent or fiery as some. It’s another of our best dip recipes which could also go with crackers.
Tasty Thai Nam Prik Ong Recipe for a Spicy Pork and Tomato Dip from Northern Thailand
Sourdough Crackers Recipe
And you thought we were only going to share our best dip recipes. This sourdough starter discard crackers recipe makes a crispy cracker that’s a little salty, a tad spicy, a tiny bit tangy, and utterly addictive. Triangular in shape, they’re perfect for scooping up dips and they’re probably the easiest crackers you’ll ever make, so should inspire you to test out more sourdough starter discard recipes.
Sourdough Starter Discard Crackers Recipe – The Easiest Crispiest Crackers You’ll Ever Make
Spicy Sichuan Inspired Sourdough Crackers Recipe
This spicy Sichuan sourdough crackers recipe made with sourdough starter discard and Sichuan peppers makes a cracker that’s delightfully hot and numbing and incredibly moreish. Roughly shaped like a homemade corn chip, these crackers are perfect for eggplant dips such as baba ghanouj and mutabal, as well as hummus or muhammara, not to mention the dips from Thailand and Cambodia, above.
Spicy Sichuan Inspired Sourdough Crackers Recipe Made With Starter Discard and Sichuan Peppers
Do let us know in the comments below if you make any of our best dip recipes for crackers and crudités for parties over the Christmas and New Year holiday season. We’d love to know how they turn out for you.
