#1,762: Slow-Cooker Bacon Cheeseburger Dip

Here is a recipe I pinned 3 years ago on one of my pinterest boards.  And since I had book club coming up, I knew it would be a good group to try it out on.  As I started to type up this recipe I realized (as you can see from the red text below) that I made a lot of change or substitutions to this recipe.  Some are no big deal (i.e. ground turkey instead of ground beef) and some were to make it easier on me (i.e. the bacon) or to use up what I already had on hand.  Regardless, this was delicious!  Like SO good.  It was so simple too.  I served it with pretzel thins, but bagel chips, potato chips, bread cubes, etc. would all be good too.  Too bad I waited so long to make this! 

8 slices bacon (I used a container of real bacon pieces)

½ lb lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, cubed

1 package (8 oz) shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend (2 cups) (I used velveeta since I had it leftover and needed it to get out of my freezer)

1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 medium red bell peppers, cut into bite-size strips (I omitted, who needs that in their dip?!)

1 package (5.25 oz) mini bagel chips (I used pretzel thins)

In 12-inch skillet, cook bacon over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until crisp; drain on paper towels. Crumble bacon; reserve 2 tablespoons bacon for garnish.

In same skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream cheese, shredded cheese, tomatoes and crumbled bacon until well mixed and cheese starts to melt.

Pour mixture into 1- to 1 1/2-quart slow cooker. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 2 to 3 hours or until hot and bubbly.

Stir parsley into dip. Sprinkle with reserved bacon for garnish. Keep on Low heat setting to serve. Serve with bell pepper strips and bagel chips.