A dip is the most efficient thing you can make for Thanksgiving. It takes ten minutes, it is better made the day before, it needs no oven, it holds for hours without deteriorating, and people eat it standing up during the long gap between arriving and sitting down.

It also solves a specific timing problem. Guests arrive across a ninety-minute window while you are cooking. A dip and something to dip in it is the entire solution to that hour.

Why cold dips are better on day two

Not a make-ahead compromise. An actual improvement, and there is a reason for it.

Raw garlic and raw onion contain sulfur compounds that are harsh and volatile when first cut. Over several hours in a fridge, in contact with fat and acid, those compounds mellow and integrate. Salt meanwhile diffuses evenly through the mixture rather than sitting in patches, and dried herbs rehydrate and release their aromatics into the fat.

A dip made an hour before serving tastes of its separate components. The same dip made the day before tastes like one thing. This is why almost every cold dip recipe says “chill at least two hours” and why overnight is better still.

Cold dips

Make the day before. They improve.

Cranberry cream cheese dip

A block of cream cheese with cranberry sauce spooned over it and jalapeño and cilantro folded through. It looks like almost no effort because it is almost no effort, and it is the first thing to disappear at most Thanksgiving gatherings. Uses leftover cranberry sauce, or make it specifically.

Whipped feta

Feta, cream cheese and olive oil blitzed until smooth, spread on a plate, topped with honey, pomegranate and a good deal of black pepper. Sharp, salty and sweet, which is exactly the counterweight a rich table needs.

Caramelized onion dip

Onions cooked properly (forty minutes, not ten) folded into sour cream and cream cheese. The difference between this and the packet version is entirely in those forty minutes.

Herbed cream cheese and everything bagel dip

Five minutes, keeps three days, and it is a reliable second dip when you want variety without more work.

Hot dips

The key is the vessel. A hot dip in a bowl is molten for fifteen minutes and then a solid disc.

In a small slow cooker on Warm it stays exactly right for four hours, and it costs you nothing to do it that way. See crockpot Thanksgiving recipes.

• Spinach and artichoke. The default, deservedly.
• Baked brie with cranberry. A whole small brie warmed until molten with cranberry and toasted pecans over it. Ten minutes, looks like an event. More at baked brie and puff pastry appetizers.
• Hot crab dip. Rich, and a useful break from the sage-and-onion register of everything else.
• Buffalo chicken dip. Not remotely traditional. Vanishes anyway.

Sweet dips

An underused category that works particularly well with children, who treat a dip as a game and will eat fruit they would otherwise ignore.

• Pumpkin dip. Pumpkin purée, cream cheese, powdered sugar and spice, with gingersnaps and apple slices.
• Caramel apple dip. Cream cheese base, caramel over the top, chopped pecans.
• Cheesecake dip with graham crackers and strawberries.

These also serve as a low-effort dessert on a dessert board.

What to serve alongside

The dip is half the dish and people routinely under-think the other half.

• Something sturdy. Thick crackers, pita chips, bagel crisps, toasted baguette. A dip is heavy and a thin cracker snaps in it, which is genuinely annoying and stops people going back.
• Something fresh. Cucumber, pepper, celery, endive. It cuts the richness and it is what the guests avoiding carbs will reach for.
• Something unexpected. Apple or pear slices with a savory dip work far better than they sound. Sweet and salty is the whole appeal.
• Two of everything. Two dips and three dippers looks abundant; one dip and one cracker looks like a shortage.

How much to make

Budget a quarter cup of dip per person, and twice as many dippers as seems necessary.

• ¼ cup of dip per person as a grazing appetizer before a full meal.
• Two dips for up to 12 people; three for 20. One hot, one cold, at minimum.
• Twice as much dipper as you think. Everyone runs out of crackers, nobody runs out of dip.

Making them ahead

Cold dips are better made ahead. Hot dips can be assembled ahead.

• Cold dips: 2 to 3 days, and better for it. Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving. Cold fat is close to flavorless and the same dip at room temperature is noticeably better.
• Hot dips: assemble 2 days ahead, refrigerate unbaked, then heat on the day.
• Sweet dips: 2 days.
• Caramelized onions for the onion dip: a week ahead, or frozen.

See make-ahead Thanksgiving appetizers for how this fits the wider plan.

Frequently asked questions

What dips go with Thanksgiving?

Cranberry cream cheese, whipped feta with honey and pomegranate, caramelized onion, and hot spinach and artichoke. Aim for at least one hot and one cold, and add a sweet dip if there are children.

Can I make Thanksgiving dips ahead of time?

Yes, and cold dips are genuinely better for it. Two to three days ahead lets the garlic and onion mellow and the salt distribute evenly. Hot dips can be assembled two days ahead and baked on the day.

How much dip do I need per person?

About a quarter cup each as a grazing appetizer. Two dips serve up to twelve people; make three for twenty. Buy twice as many crackers as seems necessary. The dippers always run out first.

How do I keep a hot dip from setting solid?

Serve it in a small slow cooker on Warm rather than in a bowl. A hot dip in a bowl is perfect for about fifteen minutes and then congeals; on Warm it holds for hours.

Should dips be served cold or at room temperature?

Room temperature. Take cold dips out of the fridge about thirty minutes before serving. Cold fat carries very little flavor, and the same dip warms into something noticeably better.

The bottom line

Two dips, one hot in a small slow cooker and one cold made the day before. Sturdy crackers and something fresh alongside, twice as much as you think. Cold dips out of the fridge half an hour early. It is ten minutes of work covering the hour when you have none.

Save these — the cold ones are better made the night before, which makes them the easiest thing on the list.