Basketball Bean Dip and Chips

Why serve ordinary chips and dip for your March Madness party when you can serve decorated Basketball Bean Dip and Chips? This game-day appetizer is so much fun that your party guests will cheer!

Chips and dips seem to be fairly standard fare for a basketball-themed March Madness party so I decided to create a fun-themed version of chips and dip that you can serve at your March Madness parties.

Tortillas are cut into small rounds and misted with orange food coloring spray. Then black food coloring is drawn onto the chips to create the seam lines in each basketball.

The chips are fried or baked and then used to scoop up a simple dip made with melted cheese and refried beans. To make the dip look like a basketball, I colored some of the refried beans with black food coloring and then used it to pipe on the seams.

If you'd like to spice up your dip, just stir in some salsa with the cheese and beans. You could even sprinkle some cayenne pepper onto your basketball chips for a real burst of heat.

Bean Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cans (15 ounces) refried beans, divided
4-6 drops black food coloring
16-ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

Supplies

fine mesh sieve
rubber spatula or spoon
disposable piping bag (or heavy-duty zip-top bag)
9" pie plate

Instructions

Make beans creamy and smooth.

• Measure three tablespoons of refried beans into a fine mesh strainer.
• Use a rubber spatula or spoon to press the beans through the strainer.  Scrape mashed beans from the back of the strainer into a small bowl.
  • You could also puree the beans in a blender or mini food processor.
• Add 4 drops of black food coloring and stir.
• Add 1-2 more drops until you reach the desired shade of black.
• Spoon into a disposable pastry bag or zip-top bag.

• Pour the remaining refried beans into a large mixing bowl.
• Add cheese cubes.
• Heat in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until the cheese melts.  Spread evenly on a 9" pie plate.

Pipe the lines on the basketball.

• Cut the tip off the pastry bag or zip-top bag.
• Pipe the basketball seam lines (the black beans) onto the dip.

This dip can be served hot or cold.  Heat in microwave for 4-6 minutes until hot. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, so you can make it ahead of your party, then just heat it before serving.

Basketball Tortilla Chips Recipe

Ingredients

flour tortillas (120 chips can be made if using 10 burrito-size tortillas)
Wilton Orange Color Mist
Black Food Marker
vegetable oil for frying
salt

Supplies

2 ½" round cookie cutter
Deep Fryer or a stockpot and a candy thermometer
aluminum foil, parchment paper, or wax paper

Instructions

Cut and decorate tortilla chip basketballs.

• Set flour tortilla on a cutting board.  Use a 2 ½" round cookie cutter to cut circles from the tortilla.
• Cut as many tortilla rounds as you would like. (I made 72 chips for the picture.)
• Set tortilla rounds on a sheet of aluminum foil, parchment paper, or wax paper.
• Spray each round with Wilton's Orange Color Mist. Use the black food marker to draw the basketball's seam lines onto each tortilla round.
  • If your marker gets dry while creating these, pour a few drops of black food coloring into a small bowl.
  • Put the tip of the marker into the food coloring allowing it to soak into the tip.
• Continue drawing lines on the tortilla rounds, re-soaking tips as needed.
  • Note: If you don't have a black food coloring marker, you can also use a thin paintbrush to paint the black food coloring onto each basketball. You need a much steadier hand for this method, however.

Fry the chips.

• Heat oil in a fryer or stockpot to 350 degrees. Fry about 10 tortilla rounds at a time, flipping them over midway through, until golden brown, about 30 seconds per side.
• Set hot chips on paper towels and immediately sprinkle with salt.
• Allow the oil to come back up to temperature before continuing.
• These tortilla chips will last up to 2 weeks if stored in a tin or about a week if stored in a Tupperware or Rubbermaid-type container.
  • You can also choose to bake these chips.
• Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray or brush them with oil, and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve basketball tortilla chips with basketball bean dip or your favorite dip.

Storage

The chips will keep up to two weeks if stored in an airtight tin, and the dip will keep for several days in the refrigerator, so you don't have to fuss too much the day of the game. Just sit back and relax as you cheer your team on to victory!

What team would you like to see win this year?  If they make it into the final four will you host a party or maybe have a few friends over? What do you plan to snack on while you watch the big games?

Recipe

Recipe originally published on March 19, 2011

5 from 1 vote

Print

Basketball Bean Dip and Chips

Prep Time

45 mins

Cook Time

5 mins

 

Decorate a bean dip to look like a basketball then serve it with homemade basketball tortilla chips.

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: appetizer, cheese, refried beans

Servings: 20

Calories: 105 kcal

Author: Beth Klosterboer

Ingredients

Bean Dip

• 2 15-ounce cans of refried beans
• 4-6 drops black food coloring
• 16 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

Basketball Tortilla Chips

• 10 flour tortillas
• Wilton Orange Color Mist
• Black Food Marker
• vegetable oil for frying
• salt

Instructions

Bean Dip

1. Measure three tablespoons of refried beans into a fine mesh strainer.
2. Use a rubber spatula or spoon to press the beans through the strainer.  Scrape mashed beans from the back of the strainer into a small bowl.
3. Add 4 drops of black food coloring and stir.
4. Add 1-2 more drops until you reach the desired shade of black.
5. Spoon into a disposable pastry bag or zip-top bag.
6. Pour remaining refried beans into a large mixing bowl.
7. Add cheese cubes.
8. Heat in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 45-60 seconds, until the cheese melts.  Spread evenly in a 9" pie plate.
9. Cut the tip off the pastry bag or zip-top bag.

10. Pipe the black colored beans onto the dip creating the seams of a basketball.

Basketball Tortilla Chip

1. Set flour tortilla on a cutting board.  Use a 2 ½" round cookie cutter to cut circles from the tortilla.
2. Cut as many tortilla rounds as you would like. (I made 72 chips for the picture.)
3. Set tortilla rounds on a sheet of aluminum foil, parchment paper, or wax paper.
4. Spray each round with Wilton's Orange Color Mist. Use the black food marker to draw the basketball's seam lines onto each tortilla round.
5. Heat oil in fryer or stockpot to 350 degrees. Fry about 10 tortilla rounds at a time, flipping them over midway through, until golden brown, about 30 seconds per side.
6. Set hot chips on paper towels and immediately sprinkle with salt.
7. Allow the oil to come back up to temperature before continuing.
8. You can also choose to bake these chips.
9. Arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray or brush them with oil, and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
10. Serve basketball tortilla chips with basketball bean dip or your favorite dip.

Recipe Notes

This dip can be served hot or cold.  Heat in microwave for 4-6 minutes until hot. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, so you can make it ahead of your party, then just heat it before serving.

These tortilla chips will keep up to 2 weeks if stored in a tin or about a week if stored in a Tupperware or Rubbermaid type container.

Calorie count is for 1/20th of the bean dip.

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Beth Klosterboer

Hi, I'm Beth Jackson Klosterboer, a professional chocolatier & baker, cookbook author, and event planner. I love sharing recipes for happy occasions here on Hungry Happenings. I also create easy fudge recipes to share at HowToMakeEasyFudge.com, rice krispie treat recipes at HowToMakeCerealTreats.com, and easy cookie recipes at HowToMakeEasyCookies.com

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