Every year, for as far back as I can remember, we’ve spent Christmas Eve at my grandparents home. While I thoroughly enjoyed stuffing myself with baby onions, mini pickles and tiny quiches, the highlight of the evening was always Grandad’s Shrimp Dip. Upon arriving at my grandparents house, I’d kick my shoes off and race – socks slipping and hair flying – into the living room, where a glass bowl heaped with dip sat on the coffee table. I would dig through the bowl for shrimp and shove salty, dip laden chips into my little mouth as fast as I could.
This year, our tiny apartment was the place of honour for the Smith family Christmas Eve gathering. Sadly, Grandad passed a couple days before Christmas, which makes me all the more thankful for holiday traditions that are passed from one generation to the next. I will proudly carry on the shrimp dip tradition and, in the process, share this delectable recipe with you.
Note: For those of you who are looking for something super healthy and instagram photo worthy – this recipe is not for you. But, for those shrimp lovers looking to splurge a little on a dangerously addictive dip – dig in!
Ingredients:
– 1 package of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
– 2 tbls cream
– 2 1/2 tbls mayonnaise
– 1/3 cup ketchup
– 3 tspns lemon juice
– 3/4 tspn celery salt
– 8 dashes worchester sauce
– 200 g, fresh, pre-cooked, baby shrimp (peeled and deveined)
Instructions:
1. Let cream cheese soften. Mix all ingredients (except shrimp) together in a mixing bowl until smooth.
3. Add shrimp whole. (Shrimp should be pre-cooked, peeled and deveined. Fresh shrimp are much preferable over frozen or canned.)
4. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat. Serve dip with plain, salted potato chips or crackers. Enjoy!
This will forever be one of my favourite holiday treats. What’s one seasonal snack you look forward to every Christmas? Share in the comments!
Yum!!! Do the shrimp need to be diced or left whole? I guess depending on the type of cooked shrimp?
I just leave them whole (and usually purchase fresh baby shrimp rather than frozen or canned).
How do you prepare the shrimp cos I’ guessing this is not cevice style? 🙂
For ease, I bought pre-cooked baby shrimp from the fresh fish area in Safeway. I made the dip, let it chill and then added the shrimp right before serving. Since it’s a cool dip I didn’t worry about heating the shrimp up. (Unless you’re using frozen ones, then they’ll definitely need to be thawed first).
Sweet!