The One Ingredient That Will Level Up Store-Bought Dip

There's nothing better than a homemade dip. Whether it's a savory beer cheese dip in a crusty bread bowl or a spinach-artichoke dip for tortilla chips, you really can't go wrong with an easy, delicious bowl of dip. You could impress any party with Guy Fieri's take on French Onion Dip (via Food Network) or the Pioneer Woman's Cheeseburger Dip.

There are times, however, when you can't or may not want to make a homemade dip. It's understandable; after all, you may find it easier to simply purchase a jar of salsa or sour cream and onion dip than it is to spend some time trying to get the ingredients just right. A bowl of ranch dip by any other name is just as sweet and so on and so forth.

But let's say that maybe you want to try and give that jar of Tostitos or Hidden Valley Ranch a bit more flavor. You're not comfortable just dropping the stuff in a bowl and serving it up at your next barbeque. You want to give it your own twist to make that store-bought dip taste like you just made it yourself.

According to some, there's an unexpected ingredient that you can add that will make even the dullest of dips come to life.

According to Claire Lower of Lifehacker, what your dip needs, be it store-bought or homemade, is a splash or two of fat, such as a splash of oil. This can be anything such as olive oil, pistachio oil, or even chili oil. The only requirement would be that they should be as high-quality as you can get, though any sort of oil will be perfectly fine.

The idea of using fats and oils in dip isn't too uncommon. In fact, you could even use certain types of grease to make dips. According to chef Gustavo Fernandez, bacon grease can be used to make a dip of its own (via Esquire). It involves frying bacon and then mixing the grease with brown sugar, butter, heavy cream, and cream cheese to make a cross between a sauce and a dip. This "bacon sauce" can be used over eggs, meats, and, of course, used as a dip for your chips.

While you certainly don't need us to tell you that moderation is recommended when adding bacon grease or oils to your dips, there's no harm in experimenting to get more flavor. If you're stuck thinking about what sort of dip you'd like to try this method on, maybe you can take the advice of 35% of people, who call a certain dip their favorite.