This Million Dollar Dip Is a Rich Addition to Any Party

When there's a dip at a party, it's impossible to not have a good time. Whether it's an easy spinach dip, something trendy like whipped feta, or even s'mores dip, you can't be bored when there's a bowl of dip in front of you. Just hand over the crackers and turn up the music!

I've made my fair share of dips, but until recently I had never heard of this one: Million Dollar Dip, aka Neiman Marcus Dip. The dip—which originated from a restaurant at Neiman Marcus—is almost like a zhushed-up pimento cheese.

The base is a mixture of cream cheese and mayonnaise (and sometimes just mayonnaise), and it's loaded with shredded cheddar, bacon, green onion, and toasted slivered almonds. It's incredibly easy to make, and even easier to eat. As you can imagine by the ingredients, there's a lot of texture going on making it a rich addition to any party.

The Origin of Neiman Marcus' Million Dollar Dip

According to lore, this dip was created in the 1950s by Helen Corbitt for the Zodiac Room, which is a restaurant located in a Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas. When I reached out to Neiman Marcus to confirm, they declined to comment. It's likely called the "Million Dollar Dip" because of its "rich" ingredients—mayonnaise, bacon, cheese, etc. There is no official recipe online—but plenty of copycat versions.

How to Make Million Dollar Dip

To make the dip you'll need:

• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 (8-ounce) package shredded cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
• 4 green onions, sliced thin and divided
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper

Toast the slivered almonds in a pan over medium heat until golden brown. Let cool. Cook the bacon until extra crispy—I prefer the oven method. Drain the bacon and let cool before chopping into bits.

Combine the softened cream cheese and mayonnaise in a bowl and mix until smooth. Stir in the package of shredded cheese, bacon bits, 3 of the green onions, slivered almonds, and the pinch of cayenne pepper. Mix until combined. Top with the additional green onion.

Wrap the bowl in plastic wrap or cover with a lid and let chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour. I recommend serving the dip with some sort of buttery cracker, but raw veggies would be nice too.

To Cream Cheese or Not to Cream Cheese?

There are two kinds of copycat recipes for Neiman Marcus' Million Dollar Dip—those that are only mayonnaise-based, and those that also include cream cheese. The mayo-only recipes seem to be the most popular, but I wanted to include cream cheese for a couple of reasons.

• First, some of the reader comments on other recipes mentioned that the mayonnaise flavor shined through, and I didn't want that to be the overwhelming flavor.
• I thought the cream cheese would add a creamier textural element to balance out the rest of the ingredients (the bacon, the slivered almonds, etc.).

But hey: if you want to omit the cream cheese from this recipe, you can omit it without changing anything else about the above recipe.

2 Tips for Making Million Dollar Dip

• Make sure your cream cheese is softened: If your cream cheese isn't soft, it's going to be really hard to mix with the mayonnaise. If you're really in a pinch, I recommend giving the cold cream cheese a whirl in your stand mixer with the paddle attachment to warm it up.
• Amp up the flavor: If you want to play around with the flavor of this dip, I'd recommend starting with 1/4 teaspoon each of garlic and onion powder. Also, a few dashes of hot sauce wouldn't hurt.