Slow Cooker Southwest Black Bean Dip With Homemade Chips

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This time of year we love to get together and spend more time outside at parties and BBQ’s with friends and family. If we’re heading out, of course it’s customary to bring a dish and so I always do (and often bring several). This way I know that I’ll have something healthy to eat and can also share with my loved ones how delicious healthy eating can be. This fun recipe for Slow Cooker Southwest Bean Dip is going to be put to big use this year for sure! 

As crazy as it has been around here with a new baby, I’m always looking for ways to keep my food simple and even when I’m busy I don’t want to go down the road of buying processed foods full of health-wrecking additives. When I recently checked out the ingredients on bean dips at the store, my mind was reeling. Way back in the day, I used to love Fritos Bean Dip and actually thought it was good for me because it’s low fat and had fiber. Boy was I wrong!

This ingredient sounds clean and innocent, but isn’t what it seems! This is how food manufacturers can get away with putting all kinds of hidden ingredients in your food and just mask it under the name “natural flavors”. Companies use them because it’s cheaper than using real food ingredients and they help make heavily processed food taste good (and addicting). Natural flavors are highly complex chemical concoctions that can contain up to 100 ingredients, including substances like propylene glycol and BHA – and none of these need to be identified on the label. Since I like to know exactly what I’m eating, natural flavors are a no-go for me! 

Tostitos Bean Dip is even way worse with artificial colors (yellow #5 and #6) derived from petroleum, controversial preservatives, and MSG. This is no way to party!! 

Beware that almost all tortilla chips and pita chips are made from GMOs and inflammatory oils like corn and cottonseed oils…

That’s not the only reason to avoid conventional chips like these… as I reported previously, some Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips (non-GMO and non-organic version) were tested and found to have over 800 ppb of glyphosate weedkiller (aka Roundup) in them – and that’s more than what’s permitted in drinking water. Yikes!

If you’re going to use store-bought chips, make sure that you only buy certified organic chips to avoid GMOs and greatly reduce your risk of glyphosate exposure. Instead of buying a bag of chips from the store, I prefer to make chips at home with sprouted grain tortillas or pitas. Nothing beats the flavor of these homemade chips!

This Southwest Black Bean Dip is so super simple to make, you just basically throw the ingredients in your slow cooker and when you come back in a couple hours it’s practically ready to go.

A lot of people just pull out their slow cookers in the winter, but I think they’re perfect for summer cooking so you don’t heat up your house. If you are trying to eat a healthy diet but are limited on time, using a slow cooker makes it virtually effortless to stick to eating unprocessed food on a regular basis. This recipe comes from my Real Food Slow Cooker Guide, which has over 50 slow cooker recipes that are all incredibly delicious and easy. These recipes are so simple and hassle-free that they make a healthy lifestyle a breeze!