Chip and Dip Bowl Alternative: Six Ways to Serve Chips and Salsa

A chip and dip bowl is a neat idea: one piece of serveware with room for chips and a well for salsa. It is also one more thing to store for something you can do perfectly well with what is already in the cupboard, and a single well means a single dip. In a Mexican restaurant, chips and salsa rarely arrive that way. The chips come in a basket, the salsa in its own small bowl, and a second salsa often sits beside it.

This guide covers the chip and dip bowl alternatives that actually do the job: small glass dip bowls on any platter, a lazy susan, taqueria-style baskets, a chilled platter for cold dips, a stone molcajete for salsa and a wide wooden chip bowl. For each one we say how well it works, what it cannot do, and which product from an identifiable maker to buy.

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Why people skip the chip and dip bowl

The reasons are practical, and the right alternative depends on which one is yours.

• One well, one dip. Most chip and dip bowls take a single salsa. A table with salsa roja, salsa verde and guacamole needs three small bowls, not one.
• Storage. A wide two-in-one bowl takes a cupboard shelf for something used a few times a year. Small bowls, a platter or a turntable all do other jobs the rest of the time.
• Refills. When the dip well in a one-piece set runs low, the whole piece goes back to the kitchen. Separate bowls can be topped up one at a time.
• Glaze questions. Many chip and dip sets are glazed ceramic, and our best chip and dip bowl guide explains why we look for a maker’s written lead-free statement on those. Glass, steel, stone, plastic and wood avoid the question.
• The table itself. Outdoors, at a long table or with kids, separate baskets and bowls can go where the people are.

Quick verdict: the best chip and dip bowl alternative

Five chip and dip alternatives side by side

Our five standout alternatives, one for each kind of table, with the specifications each maker or listing states. All six are reviewed in full below.

Product images from Amazon. Sizes and materials are as stated by each maker or listing; check the listing before you buy.

Six ways to serve chips and salsa without a chip and dip bowl

Each of these does the job of a chip and dip bowl in a different way. Two of them are different sizes of products we cover elsewhere, and we say why in each section. None of the exact listings appears on our other pages.

How we chose these six ways to serve

We did not set a table with these. We started from the ways chips and salsa are actually served, in restaurants and at home, and looked for one product from an identifiable maker for each approach. We read each listing for size, material and care, and kept only items that were in stock when we checked. We left out glazed ceramic sets with no written lead-free statement from the maker, and sellers with no track record. Two picks, the Lipper turntable and the IMUSA molcajete, are different sizes of products on our other guides, chosen for the reasons given in their sections. Where a pick rests only on the listing and the maker’s details, we say so.

Chip and dip alternative questions, answered

What can I use instead of a chip and dip bowl?

Any platter or board with small bowls on it works. Put the dips in the bowls and the chips around them. For a round table, a lazy susan does the same job and turns to each guest.

How do you serve chips and salsa at a party?

Separate bowls for each salsa, chips in baskets or a wide bowl, and more than one station if the group is large. Individual baskets with a salsa cup each, the way many restaurants serve them, save reaching across the table.

How do you keep guacamole cold on the table?

Set it over ice. A platter with an ice tray underneath, like the Prodyne, does this, or nest a smaller bowl in a larger bowl of ice.

Can I serve salsa straight from a molcajete?

Yes. Many cooks make it in the stone and bring the molcajete to the table, with chips or tortillas alongside.

Is a wooden bowl safe for salsa?

We would keep salsa in a glass, steel or stone bowl and use the wooden bowl for the chips. Totally Bamboo says not to soak its bowl, and a wet salsa sitting in bamboo for an afternoon is close to that.

Our pick for serving chips and salsa

Start with a set of small glass bowls and a platter you already own; that covers most tables. Add a lazy susan for a round table, baskets for a crowd or an iced platter for a hot afternoon. If you would still like a single piece, our best chip and dip bowl guide covers them, and our best guacamole bowl and best serving platters guides fill in the rest of the table. Or let us set it for you: see the Julia’s menu and call to order.