Name: Hot Honey Pizza Dip
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 32 min
Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese (softened); 3/4 cup sour cream (or plain whole milk Greek yogurt); 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning; 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese; 1 1/2 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese (divided); 1 cup pizza sauce; 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil; 1/4 cup mini pepperoni slices; Hot honey (for drizzling (optional)); Fresh basil (for garnish (optional)); Toasted baguette slices (Garlic bread, breadsticks, pretzel thins, or bagel chips)

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Have this Hot Honey Pizza Dip ready in 32 minutes, with everything you love about pizza baked into one scoopable dish. It starts with a cream cheese and mozzarella base. Then comes pizza sauce with fresh basil, more mozzarella, and mini pepperoni, and a drizzle of hot honey to finish. One bowl, one baking dish, and it serves 8 as an appetizer!

Hot honey pizza dip in a square baking dish topped with mini pepperoni and fresh basil.

Table of Contents

Why you’ll love this!

a girl wearing a black leather jacket holding a drink

I love this dip because it’s one of those that can really be made anytime. Pizza is beloved, and offering it in dip form is never a bad idea! It’s creamy, cheesy, a little sweet and spicy from the honey, and packed with pizza flavor. It’s perfect for game day or game night — who doesn’t love pizza??

The hot honey is optional (but don’t skip it!). You can totally make a regular pizza dip without it, but I think it makes it gourmet and addicting. Trust me!

Jordan

A Few Ingredient Notes…

A flat lay of pizza dip ingredients labeled on a countertop.

Mozzarella: It gives a really good cheesy pull when it melts, so 1 cup goes right into the cream cheese base for that texture throughout.
Sour cream or Greek yogurt: Either works. Plain whole milk Greek yogurt lightens it up a bit, and it’s still sturdy.
Pizza sauce: Marinara and pizza sauce are similar, but pizza sauce is typically seasoned a little differently, and we want all that pizza flavor to bake right in.
Fresh basil: It goes on with the sauce, under the cheese, to pack in flavor.
Mini pepperoni: I just like them! Regular slices would work, but minis are cute, fun, and kid-friendly too. Sometimes a regular slice won’t cut when you scoop, so the whole thing lifts and it’s more than a mouthful.
Hot honey: Mike’s Hot Honey is my pick because it’s the perfect blend of sweet and spicy.

How To Make Pizza Dip

Mixing the cream cheese, parmesan, and seasonings to make the based of the pizza dip.

Mix the base. Stir 1 cup of the mozzarella right into the cream cheese, sour cream, Parmesan, and seasonings until smooth.

The pizza dip base spread into an 8x8 square pan.

Spread it in the dish. I use an 8×8-inch square baking dish, but an 8-inch baking dish or oven-safe skillet works too.

Sauce and basil added to the top of the cream cheese base.

Add the sauce and basil. Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the base, then scatter the chopped basil on top.

Cheese and mini pepperonis added to the top of the sauce and basil to form the last layer of the pizza dip recipe.

Top with cheese and mini pepperoni. Sprinkle on the rest of the mozzarella, then the mini pepperoni.

Baked, finished pizza dip with fresh basil on top.

Bake, then broil. Give it a minute or two under the broiler at the end for a golden top and crispy pepperoni, and keep an eye on it. Pull it once the cheese has golden-brown spots and the pepperoni edges curl up and get a little crispy.

Let It Rest Before You Scoop

Wait 5 minutes, then scoop. Look at that cheese pull! I learned the resting step the hard way. Straight out of the oven, my dip was too soupy to scoop and hold together. Letting it rest allowed whatever I was scooping it onto to hold it really well.

Not resting is a big one people get wrong, so please do NOT skip it. Then drizzle with hot honey, add a few fresh basil leaves, and dig in.

A square pan filled with pizza dip and two crostinis resting inside.

Recipe Tips

You can also assemble the dip a day ahead and bake it when you’re ready (the timing for baking it straight from the fridge is in the recipe card notes).
Serving it at a party? The dip firms up as it cools, so if it’s been sitting out a while, slide it back into a 300°F oven for about 15 minutes until it’s warm and scoopable again.
Fair warning: there likely won’t be any leftovers! But check out the recipe card for storage details.

What to Serve With It

If you want a homemade dipper, air fryer garlic knots made with crescent dough are ready in about 20 minutes. Making a full spread? My hot honey baked feta is another hot honey recipe with just five ingredients. For more party dips, browse all my easy dip recipes.

Scooping pizza dip out of a dish with a crostini.

More Party Dips!

If you tried this hot honey pizza dip or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and tell me how it went in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!