Spooky 7 Layer Halloween Spiderweb Taco Dip

You NEED to try this Halloween spiderweb taco dip as soon as possible! It's a fun, festive, and delicious snack perfect for celebrating the spooky season. Filled with 7 layers of Mexican-inspired ingredients, it's a hearty dip that's sure to be a real crowd pleaser!

A closeup of a spider made out of black olives and a web made out of sour cream on top of Halloween taco dip.

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📋 About the Recipe
🛒 Ingredients
📓 Instructions
⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations
❄️ How to Store
🔍 FAQs
💭 One More Tip
Bonus tip!
🍴 Related Recipes
Spooky 7 Layer Halloween Spiderweb Taco Dip
Reviews

📋 About the Recipe

This spooky Halloween taco dip is a super quick and easy recipe made with ingredients you probably already have on hand!
It's also a fun and festive appetizer complete with a sour cream spiderweb and a black olive spider. Great for kids and adults alike!
Full of fresh produce, it's a healthy and filling dish, perfect for a night of trick or treating and binging on Halloween candy or for a night of celebrations, costume contests, and spiked apple cider.
Making this homemade taco dip from scratch allows you to customize it fully to your liking. Make it spicier by adding cayenne pepper and extra jalapeños or substitute the tomatoes for other fresh vegetables.
This 7 layer dip is a meatless, vegetarian recipe (buy vegetarian refried beans made without lard to keep it 100% vegetarian), which is perfect for nearly any eater. There is also no baking or cooking involved.
Though this is great for Halloween, it can also be made any time of the year as an appetizer or snack. Just leave off the sour cream spiderweb and the black olive spider for a delicious year-round 7 layer taco dip.
Serve this spooky dip with homemade tortilla chips and this "black and orange" Halloween snack board!

🛒 Ingredients

A few notes about the ingredients:

Refried beans - refried beans are the base layer of this 7 layer taco dip. They add a creamy, hearty texture to the dip.
Avocado - avocado is the main component of the homemade guacamole. When grocery shopping, you'll want to pick out ripe avocados with a little give, so they are easily mash-able.
Garlic, onion, jalapeño, lime - these ingredients help to flavor the guacamole. If you buy store-bought instead, you can leave them out.
Cumin, chili powder - these are Mexican-inspired seasonings used to season both the guacamole and the sour cream. They're cheaper and better for you (way less sodium) than the pre-made taco mixes.
Fresh salsa - if using store-bought, buy salsa that says "thick" or "chunky" on the label so it isn't too watery. Also, choose the fresh salsa in the refrigerator section of the grocery store instead of the jarred shelf-stable kind. This salsa is made with better ingredients and has much better flavor than the jarred kind. You can also make a homemade "chunky" salsa as well.
Sour cream - the sour cream mixed with the seasonings is spread in the middle of the dip and provides a punch of flavor and a rich creaminess. Then, plain sour cream is added to the top to create the spooky spiderweb.
Mexican cheese - shredded Mexican cheese is a blend of Monterey jack, cheddar, queso quesadilla, and asadero cheeses. You can also just use shredded cheddar or colby jack instead.
Tomatoes - tomatoes add a bright and fresh element. You can also substitute them for other vegetables if you're not a fan of tomatoes.
Scallions - scallions are a pretty garnish, but they also provide extra flavor to the dip. Slice them thin so they aren't too overpowering.
Black olives - black olives create the spider in the middle of the web. You can also chop up additional olives and arrange them around the perimeter of the dip along with the tomatoes and scallions.

📓 Instructions

Homemade guacamole made with a pestle and mortar.

1. Make the homemade guacamole: mince the garlic and add it, along with a pinch of salt, to a large bowl or a mortar. Using a fork or a pestle, mash the garlic until it forms a paste.

Add in the peeled avocados and mash until they're creamy with a few small lumps. Add in finely diced onion, jalapeño, cilantro, ¼ teaspoon cumin, ¼ teaspoon chili powder, and juice from one lime. Mix it all together, scraping the bottom to mix in the garlic paste, just until fully combined. Don't over-mix.

Adjust salt, pepper, and other seasonings to your taste.

2. Make the homemade salsa, if using.

Sour cream mixed with spices in a glass mixing bowl.

3. Make the seasoned sour cream: in a medium bowl, add 1 cup of sour cream. Sprinkle with ¾ teaspoon chili powder, ½ teaspoon cumin, and a pinch of salt. Mix to fully combine.

Refried beans spread out in a large pie dish.

4. Assemble the taco dip: in the bottom of a large pie dish (10 inches (24 centimeters) in diameter and 2 inches (5 centimeters) tall), add in the refried beans and spread them around until smooth and the entire bottom is covered.

Homemade guacamole spread out on top of the refried beans in a large pie dish.

Next, add the guacamole in a thick layer over the beans.

Sour cream mixed with spices spread out on top of guacamole in a large pie dish.

Then, add the seasoned sour cream.

Salsa spread out over the seasoned sour cream in a large pie dish.

And then, the salsa from edge to edge.

Shredded Mexican cheese sprinkled over the salsa in a large pie dish.

And finally, top with an even layer of shredded Mexican cheese.

Chopped tomatoes and scallions on top of the shredded cheese and around the perimeter of a large pie dish.

5. Garnish: garnish the outer edges of the dip with a layer of diced tomatoes and a sprinkle of sliced scallions over top.

6. Make the spooky sour cream spiderweb: add plain sour cream to a Ziploc bag. With scissors, snip a small amount of the corner off the bag to create a hole.

The beginnings of a sour cream spider web on top of the shredded cheese.

Use the bag to pipe the lines for the spiderweb. Start by adding 2 criss cross lines. Then, create a third and fourth straight line, by piping diagonally through the center of the first 2 lines to create 8 quadrants.

A sour cream spiderweb in progress on top of the shredded cheese.

Connect the lines with a small "u" shape between each one, starting with the innermost parts of the lines, working your way outward.

Continue adding the "u" shape until you've reached the end of all the lines. If you've spaced yours about the same as mine, you should end up with 4 "u" shaped lines connecting each straight line.

A completed sour cream spiderweb on top of the shredded cheese.

7. Create the black olive spider: cut an olive in half lengthwise for the spider's body. Then, slice the other olives into 4 circular rings widthwise (discard the round ends of the olives). Cut the rings in half to create 8 curved legs.

A closeup view of a black olive spider on top of the sour cream spiderweb.

Place the olive half on the spiderweb and arrange 4 "legs" on each side.

Create multiple spiders with extra olives, if you'd like.

8. Serve: Serve this spooky 7 layer Halloween taco dip with your favorite tortilla chips, crackers, or cut vegetables.

A completed Halloween 7 layer taco dip with a black olive spider on top of the sour cream spiderweb.

⁉️ Substitutions and Alterations

Instead of canned refried beans: you can make your own refried beans or blend/mash another variety of beans until they're the same consistency.

Instead of avocado, garlic, onion, jalapeño, and lime: you can buy store-bought guacamole.

Instead of sour cream: you can use plain greek yogurt. However, it may be a bit more bitter.

Instead of tomatoes: you can top the spooky taco dip with roasted corn, chopped bell peppers, diced jalapeños, cilantro, or shredded lettuce.

Instead of black olives: you can use any kind and color of olive that you like. Make sure to remove the pits.

❄️ How to Store

To store: It is recommended that you make this Halloween spiderweb taco dip the day you plan to serve it. However, if you have leftovers, cover the dip tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

To freeze: Freezing is not recommended.

Labelled layers in 7 layer Halloween taco dip.

🔍 FAQs

How do you prevent this 7 layer taco dip from becoming watery?

There are a few things to keep in mind to prevent the dip from becoming watery:

1. For best results, make sure to serve the dip the same day you make it. See below for how to prepare the guacamole, salsa, and sour cream ahead of time, if needed.

2. Choose a brand of canned refried beans that is thick, yet creamy. This will provide a more solid base for the taco dip. I like Trader Joe's brand or La Preferida.

3. If using a store-bought salsa, pay attention to the label. Choose a salsa with descriptions like "thick" or "chunky," so it has less liquid to it.

4. If making homemade salsa, finely chop all of the ingredients with a knife, instead of blending it in a blender.

Can I make the guacamole, salsa, and seasoned sour cream ahead of time?

Yes, you can make all 3 ahead of time, if making them from scratch.

For the guacamole, make it the day ahead and store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator until you're ready to add it to the dip. For additional tricks on preventing it from turning brown, see the tips below.

For the salsa, you can either buy a chunky store-bought salsa in the refrigerator section of your grocery store (refrigerated salsas taste fresher than shelf-stable jarred salsa) or you can make it homemade the day before and store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to add it to the dip.

For the Mexican seasoned sour cream, you can also mix the seasonings into the sour cream the day before adding to the dip. Store it in an airtight container in your refrigerator until ready to use.

Is this taco dip served hot or cold?

This Halloween taco dip is best served cold.

This is a vegetarian taco dip, so there is no meat added that you would need to keep warm.

💭 One More Tip

When making guacamole, try not to over-mix it. The more air you incorporate into the avocado mixture, the quicker it’ll turn brown.

Instead, mash the avocados just until they’re soft, then add all of the other ingredients, and mix them all in at the same time.

If you mix after each addition of the garlic, jalapeños, and onions, you might introduce excess air into the guacamole, oxidizing it (turning it brown) a lot quicker and causing it to look unappealing.

Bonus tip!

In addition to not over-mixing the guacamole, you can also help prevent it from turning brown by storing it in an airtight container in your fridge.

To keep it fresh even longer, reserve the avocado pits and place them directly into the guacamole. This will limit the amount of air touching the guac, slowing the oxidation (browning) process.

Then, you should provide an extra airtight seal by adding a piece of plastic wrap pressed right on the top of the guacamole before covering it with an airtight lid.

The less air touching the guacamole, the less it'll brown before you're ready to eat it.

Spooky 7 layer Halloween taco dip in a large pie dish with chips around it.

Check out the web story for this delicious dip!

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Comments

5 from 14 votes (9 ratings without comment)