Queso Dip Recipe

This is one of the only recipes I've ever used to make queso blanco dip that actually works! This recipe will give you thick and creamy queso dip with very little effort. It takes under ten minutes and you melt everything together using the microwave! :D

This version of queso blanco dip has green chiles, jalapenos, a little bit of cumin and whatever spice you want - I used chipotle peppers as usual!

Queso dip is perfect for get togethers - just make this up and put it in a crock pot on low to keep it nice and fluid. And don't worry about how much this makes! You can easily reheat it so you'll be able to eat on it for days. :)

We use this queso blanco dip on nachos, in burritos and as a dip! Yum.

Step 1: Ingredients + Tools

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 pound white american cheese, cut into small pieces
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/4 cup canned green chiles, diced finely
• 1/4 cup canned jalapenos, diced finely
• 2 tablespoons canned jalapeno liquid (about a shot!)
• pinch of cumin
• pinch of whatever hot dried pepper you like - I'm using chipotle powder

You MUST use full fat white american cheese for this. The low fat stuff ain't gonna cut it. (The original recipe stated that Land 'o Lakes is the best choice, but I can never find that stuff so I use whatever store brand I can find. :)

I've tried many other cheeses but none have melted and re-melted as well as white american cheese. However, american cheese can be tricky, too! Depending on the brand you get, you queso will be thicker or thinner just due to the thickening agents in the cheese.

Tools:

• a microwave
• a large microwave safe mixing bowl
• a rubber spatula
• a metal whisk

A metal whisk is key here. I've tried to make this dip without one, but the queso never got smooth enough - it was always a little chunky!

Step 2: Melt the Cheese, Water and Milk Together

Very important: ONLY add in the cheese, water and milk at this point. If you add anything acidic to this, the cheese will not melt properly.

Combine the cheese, milk and water in a large bowl. Mix it together with the spatula.

Now we'll start microwaving!

We're going to do five 1-minute intervals, stirring between each trip to the microwave.

For the first four 1-minute cooking times, we'll stir with the spatula after. After that, the cheese should be melted enough you can use the whisk. At first the cheese will look watery but it will thicken if you heat and whisk enough! You REALLY need to whisk this like you mean it to get a nice smooth queso dip.

If after the first 5 1-minute intervals of cooking the cheese is still a little grainy, start microwaving it for thirty seconds at a time and whisking like mad after.

If your queso dip is too thick:

Wait until AFTER it's all melted, and then add more milk and mix it in. Just make sure the cheese is melted before adding more milk! You may need to heat it again after.

Probably a good idea to do this n 1/4 cup intervals so you don't over-do it. ;D

Step 3: Add in the Flavorings

Once your queso dip is looking nice and smooth, you can add in everything else!

Dump everything into the bowl and whisk like crazy to get it incorporated. Taste and add more of whatever you like! Once the cheese is melted, you can really do whatever you like to this dip. :)

Step 4: Serving, Storing and Reheating

The reason I love this queso dip so much is how easy it is to make and warm back up!

Serving:

To keep this queso dip nice and hot, you can keep it in a small slow cooker or crock pot on low or warm - the temperature will entirely depend on the model you have so you'll have to play around with it.

Storing:

This dip will stay good in the fridge for about a week thanks to all the highly processed ingredients. ;)

Reheating:

To reheat this queso dip, pop it in the microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring after every 30 seconds. Keep this up until it's back to being runny! You can also add more milk if you need to after it's all melted - I normally have to! :)

Comments

[bl0rq]

Instead of American cheese, you can use ANY cheese you want (Jack, colby, cheddar, etc) with just a bit of science! Just a few grams of Sodium Citrate, and ANY cheese will smooth melt! (Modernist Cuisine has a great and simple recipe)

[mooster]

Thanks for the pointer! Will a little lemon juice work instead of the sodium citrate? That's what we use in fondue. I will have to give it a try.

[bl0rq]

Definitely not. Sodium Citrate is very easy to acquire these days though :)

[mooster]

Where we live (Dallas area) all the stores have white Mexican cheese, but I assume that's not the case in more northern states. For some reason it didn't occur to me to use that for queso dip. Even the Tex-Mex restaurants (chains!) sometimes seem to be using Velveeta in their dip, but your recipe has inspired me to try what would surely be more authentic. Have to go to the store first. :- /

[Piesoupisgood]

Making Mexican food with American cheese.

[bytehead]

The best cheese that I've heard to use is low/extra melt Land-o-Lakes. Don't bother trying to find it at your store. It's a food service only item. I found it on samsclub.com once, they wouldn't ship it, and it wasn't available at any nearby club for me. And you had to buy it 25 pounds at a time. The person that wrote about it said that she got her's from her local Mexican restaurant that would sell her five pounds at a time...

My recipe is one pound American cheese (never tried the low fat versions...) and either one can of Rotel or one or two cans of diced chiles. In fact, the food service Land-o-Lakes and chiles is exactly what Moe's uses for their queso.

I also have another recipe from my mother's collection that uses cooked down onions, chiles and jalapenos and other spices along with American cheese. I should dig that up again. Although quite frankly, the Rotel version is just as tasty, and a heck of a lot easier to make!

I don't eat jalapenos any more (the trouble is not with the eating...), so I tend to skip those. Hotter peppers, I get along fine with. Go figure.

[kalyhan]

Depending on where you live in the country, Land-O-Lakes (white and orange) can be found at many stores (at the deli), but not all. Walmart carries it (but not every Walmart), Sams, BJs Wholesale, I believe Ingles also carries it. To my knowledge, all Land-O-Lakes is low melt cheese...but I'm certainly n expert). I have lived on LOL cheese for most of my life...its the only american cheese I buy. Previously from MA, now in NC.

[bytehead]

Yep. I've seen Land-O-Lakes American cheese at a deli. The extra melt (R) version (what I'm now finding in Google) or lo(w) melt version (what I originally read) is food service only.

http://www.landolakesfoodservice.com/product/extra...

So, it's only made in 5 lb blocks.

[RobTurrentine]

Thanks, Jessy. You do great ibles. My favorite con queso is one I developed over the years. It's delicious. You have to use a double-boiler. Put a can of Rotel in the pan, 1.5 lbs. Mexican Velveeta and 0.5 lb. grated regular grocery store Swiss cheese, and 1 Habanero chopped up finely. In the mean time chop up a big sweet onion, a red bell pepper, and 2 or 3 big jalapeños. Keep an eye on the cheese and stir it up when it gets all melty. Add the veggies at the last minute so they're nice and crunchy. Dang, I think I'll go make some. You can put it small containers and freeze them.

[Lindainleander]

I put in about 2-3 tablespoons of butter. Gives it a much richer taste! Also to make this quicker, I buy a tub of already chopped pico de gallo (cilantro, onions, peppers) in the vegetable section of my grocers.

[JGDean]

Since I live on the Texas/Mexico border, I'm used to spicier stuff. I'd add at least twice the Jalapeños, a small, chopped-up Serrano pepper, and about half of a Habañero pepper. This is not recommended, however, for people who think Taco Bell is spicy (local TB's run out of their Fire sauce).

[SherryWong]

bless you

[atlascharter]

Fascinating