TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
SERVES: 24 pieces
Chef’s knife
Cutting board (not my exact one but very similar)
Mixing bowl
Whisk
Cheese grater
Pastry brush
Mini muffin tin
For the dip
1/2 cup sour cream, room temp
1/2 cup cream cheese, room temp
1/4 cup grated parm (about 1 oz)
1/2 cup finely chopped dill pickles
1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili flakes
For the phyllo cups**
4 sheets phyllo dough
1/4 cup butter
Other
Fresh dill for garnish
Make your phyllo cups. Preheat oven to 400F. Roll out thawed sheets and place one sheet down. Brush with melted butter, and lay another sheet down. Repeat with 4 sheets total. Cut the sheets into 2.5 inch squares and place each square in the mini muffin tins. Bake for about 8-10 minutes until deeply golden. Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.
Make your dip. To a large bowl, add room-temp cream cheese and sour cream and whisk until smooth. Add in remaining ingredients: 1/4 cup grated parm (about 1 oz), 1/2 cup finely chopped dill pickles, 1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped, 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp chili flakes and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and set aside in fridge until ready to serve.
Assemble. Place about 1/2 tbsp dip into each shell and top with a piece of fresh dill. Serve immediately.
Making ahead:
the phyllo cups can be made a day or 2 in advance. Let cool completely and store carefully in a ziploc or container, just be sure they don’t break! No need to reheat.
you can make the dip a few hours - a few days in advance as well, it actually gets better the longer it sits.
spoon the cold dip into the cups right before serving. And I can confirm these don’t go soggy for at least 3 hours (maybe even longer but that’s all they lasted here 😉 ).
Phyllo dough: if you can find premade phyllo cups, definitely use them to make your life easier. Sadly I can’t find them anywhere but making them yourself is pretty easy. You’ll have a lot of sheets leftover so make a few batches and fill with other dips, seafood salad, quiche, salsa, or go the sweet route and fill with your favorite pie fillings topped with whipped cream!
What pickles to use: use your favorite dill pickle. You may need to adjust some of the lemon and salt depending on how strong your pickles are, and note the flavor will get stronger the longer the dip sits. I used a spicy dill in my final test and found it to be a bit too much, so stick with a milder dill, unless you have some real pickle fanatics at the party.
Hot vs cold dip: I tested this both ways and found that the texture was better cold, and the flavors of this dip deserve to be served cold. The crisp flavors of the sour cream and pickles are much more satisfying when ice cold. It’s also likely these cups will sit out and come to room temp if you’re serving these at a party, so it’s also just not worth it.
Anything else? Drop a comment below if you have any questions, and don’t forget to let me know if you make it!