If you’re not careful, the Super Bowl can be a major calorie-fest, full of fun and delicious, but unhealthy foods.
One of my favorite party foods is Baked Pizza Dip. My sister always makes it for family events and it’s to die for. I can never stop at just one taste!
Baked Pizza Dip
Recipe from About.com
Ingredients:
- 1 package Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened (NuVal score: 23)
- 1 jar Pastene Arrabbiata Pasta Sauce (NuVal score: 28)
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 ounces sliced pepperoni
Preparation:
Press cream cheese in bottom of 9-inch glass pie plate. Spread pizza sauce over cream cheese and layer remaining ingredients in the order listed. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Serve with corn chips or your favorite crackers.
Serves 8 to 10.
Sounds absolutely delicious, right? 
Recently, I shared my sister’s Baked Pizza Dip recipe with my NuVal coworker, John, who was planning a dinner party at his house. But, he “traded-up” the recipe to make it much more nutritious.
Trade Up Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 package Philadelphia Fat-Free Cream Cheese, softened (NuVal score: 28)
- A few scoops of Rao’s Arrabbiata Fra Diavola Sauce (NuVal score: 65)
- 1 yellow pepper, chopped (NuVal score: 96)
- 1 orange pepper, chopped (NuVal score: 96)
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- Buffalo mozzarella, sliced for the top
- 2 ounces pepperoni, sliced
- Italian seasoning
- Garlic powder
Preparation:
Press cream cheese in bottom of 9-inch glass pie plate. Spread chopped peppers and pepperoni on top of the cream cheese and then add a few scoop of sauce to cover the veggies. Layer a few slices of mozzarella on the very top. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes. Serve with chips or your favorite crackers.
Serves 8 to 10.
As you can see, John chose more nutritious ingredients for his Baked Pizza Dip, including Philadelphia Fat-Free Cream Cheese (NuVal score: 28) instead of the regular version (NuVal score: 23) and Rao’s Arrabbiata Fra Diavola Sauce (NuVal score: 65) instead of Pastene Arrabbiata Pasta Sauce (NuVal score: 28). John further increased the nutritional profile of his Pizza Dip with orange and yellow peppers (NuVal score: 96), which are nutritional superstars on the NuVal scale.
When it comes to Super Bowl party food, it doesn’t necessarily need to be unhealthy. A few small “trade-ups” can easily increase the nutrition of your game day eats.
Go Saints! 
Nuval Buzz
Check out Jen’s wonderful post about her shopping experience with NuVal and PriceChopper. She shares a lot of scores!
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
I always offer healthy options and not so healthy options. It is all about balance. It is ok to splurge once in awhile. I love your new version of this dip!
I love pepperoni pizza dip! I do a version much like John’s and, by popular demand, I am bringing it to a Super Bowl party this weekend. I think I will add the smiley face, just like John did!
Nachos and that pizza dip are definitely on my mind now for Super Bowl.
That looks really good. Btw, I love Arrabbiata sauce
This looks perfect for our superbowl get together this weekend. What do you usually eat the dip with? Why type of chips or crackers work best? Thanks!
@Rachel: I like my Pizza Dip with crackers or pita chips, but you can pretty much use anything! Just make sure you chose something strong and sturdy!
[...] Just make sure to “trade-up” at least two ingredients. To give you an idea, my recent Pizza Dip post is a good example of “trading-up” a few ingredients to make a recipe more [...]
I’ve been looking for an excuse to make this since you posted this and I’m finally make it for a party in June. Yay! Cannot wait to taste it
And I’m, of course, making the Traded-Up version!
Thank you very much for the post and for creating a attractive site. I have been hunting for reliable information on natural health and will put these recommendations to use. I have found it hard to find solid recommendations, as there are so many web sites with useless posts. Definitely keep the good information flowing!
[...] Just make sure to “trade-up” at least two ingredients. To give you an idea, my recent Pizza Dip post is a good example of “trading-up” a few ingredients to make a recipe more nutritious. You [...]