Real Cheese Queso Dip

I’m going to save you some time. There’s no secret to this recipe.

Fifteen minutes and you’ll have queso. Fifteen minutes.

But you WILL be impressed.

What Makes This Different from Velveeta Queso

This recipe is similar to a classic cheese sauce. Both require a roux in order to make a smooth, melty cheese sauce.

Velveeta, however, doesn’t require a roux because Velveeta is not cheese. It’s cheese food.

It’s plastic. It’s been scientifically altered to melt just right every single time.

There’s nothing authentic or flavorful about it. It’s convenient and I love it.

But it’s nothing like queso dip made with real cheese.

Here’s what happens when you throw sharp cheddar or most types of real cheese in a pot over heat: The proteins seize up and the fat separates. It becomes a greasy, grainy mess.

Real cheeses like sharp cheddar or pepper jack don’t have the emulsifying agents that keep all of the ingredients stable. Velveeta and other types of processed cheese DO.

Sodium citrate and other emulsifying salts are what makes processed cheese like Velveeta melt every single time. All you have to do is cube it and heat it.

However, with queso and cheese sauce, you’ll be adding two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of all-purpose flour to make a roux. Then, add a cup of milk.

You’ll whisk away and realize that this is the best queso you’ve ever made. The cheese is stable and melts into the roux just like Velveeta, minus that plastic-y taste.

Why? Because the cheese needs a structure for the proteins to grab onto, similar to what those emulsifying agents do, and the starch from the flour is perfect for the job.

Nine Ingredients, One of Them Does All the Work

• Butter: If you have unsalted butter on hand, use it so you can control how much salt goes into this recipe. If you’re using salted butter, leave out the additional salt and season to taste at the end.
• All purpose flour: Cornstarch won’t give you the same silky-smooth results.
• Whole milk: The fat in whole milk helps stabilize the queso and adds a nice body. Skim won’t work well because the dip will be a bit more runny and skim doesn’t have enough fat to compensate. If you’re in a bind, 2% might be ok but I haven’t tested it.

Cream will make your queso too rich.

• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (more info below)
• 1 cup pepper jack, shredded (more info below)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (garlic powder will work but fresh garlic has a much better flavor)
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin (this is what makes queso soooo good and takes it past basic cheese sauce territory!)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• a pinch to 1/4 tsp cayenne (more info below)
• 1 (4 oz. can) diced green chiles, drained

How to Make Queso Dip with Real Cheese

Important Note: Queso cooks very fast once you add the cheese. Follow these queso dip directions closely and pay attention to cooking times.

Step 1:

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat and melt the butter, stirring, until it’s foaming. Add minced garlic and stir for about 60 seconds.

You want the garlic to turn translucent. It should NOT brown.

Browned garlic tastes bitter. Remove from heat and stir in flour.

The roux will be pasty and will clump up some. That’s totally normal.

Return to medium heat and stir for about 90 seconds, or until the raw floury smell has cooked out. Remove from heat.

Step 2:

Slowly pour in the milk, in a thin, steady stream, whisking the roux the whole time. This will keep the roux from clumping.

Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 3-4 minutes, until the roux and milk have thickened a bit, so it coats the back of a spoon and may be bubbling around the edges of the pan. Stir in cumin, chili powder, and cayenne* (which gives a bit of spice, although children might not like it), and green chiles, drained, and cook for another 30 seconds.

Reduce the heat to low and mix in the shredded cheese. Stir until the cheeses are melted, adding more cheese if necessary.

It will take 2-3 additions. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat and serve.

Add the cheese and seasonings and stir until melted. Add diced chiles (see tip) and stir to combine.

Serve immediately, while warm. Enjoy!

• Shred your own cheese: For best results, shred your own cheese from the block. Pre-shredded cheese has an additive to keep the shreds separate, and will not melt as well as shredded-from-a-whole-block cheese. It will make your queso grainy.
• Sharp cheddar: Sharp cheddar stands up better to the addition of butter and flour. Mild cheddar is fine to use, but won’t have a lot of flavor.
• Pepper jack: Pepper jack will add a nice, even, mild heat throughout the queso. You could also use all cheddar if your eaters aren’t big on spicy food.
• Cayenne: I like a good amount of heat from cayenne in my queso. Start with a pinch and work up from there. Remember that pepper jack has a lot of heat to begin with.
• Diced green chiles vs. fresh jalapenos: A can of diced green chiles will not overwhelm your queso with heat, but will add a nice flavor. Feel free to use fresh jalapenos instead. Start with about 1/2 and work up from there as needed. Fresh jalapenos will be much hotter than canned chiles.

Why the Roux Matters

Adding cheese to a hot pan is tricky. Cheese is made up of proteins, fat, and water, and if exposed to high heat for too long, all three will separate, resulting in a panful of seized-up clumps of cheese and a layer of cheese grease.

To avoid that, we’re going to use a trick that cooks have known forever. We’re going to cook some flour with the butter and milk to make a roux, which will serve to stabilize the proteins in the cheese.

The starch in the cooked flour provides a structure into which the cheese’s proteins can be incorporated, resulting in a beautifully creamy queso. By adding the cheese to the roux off the heat, we’re keeping the temperature just right; starch-based structures can fall apart if overheated, which is why it’s important to turn down your stove before adding cheese to the queso.

What to Dip, Drizzle, and Pour It On

Serve up the queso alongside tortilla chips, soft pretzels, or vegetables, such as broccoli and bell pepper strips. You can also spoon it into tacos, stir it into mac and cheese, pour it over a pan of oven-baked nachos or a baked potato, or use it as a topper for a burrito bowl.

Use your imagination. Make sure you serve it right away while it’s hot.

Enjoy!

When the queso comes off the heat it should look super glossy and creamy, and To cleanly pull away from the sides of the pan.

To keep queso dip warm, place it in a slow cooker set on warm for a hands-off approach that’s perfect for a crowd.

How to Store It and Reheat It Without Breaking It

Store any leftover real-cheese queso dip in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The queso will be more solid once chilled but will loosen up and return to the same consistency once reheated.

Reheat leftover queso dip in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring the entire time. As it warms up, it may look like it’s separating, but it will come together as it gets warmer.

You can also loosen it back up by adding a little milk, starting with 1 Tbsp at a time, as needed. Avoid using high heat as it will separate.

You can also warm it up in the microwave at 50% power in 30 second increments, stirring in between. It may not be as smooth, though, as reheating it on the stovetop.

I don’t recommend freezing as the texture will change and be hard to bring back.

Queso Dip FAQ

My cheese is grainy. What went wrong?

Graininess is most commonly due to pre-shredded cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in cellulose or potato starch to keep it from clumping in the bag.

Unfortunately, the cellulose/potato starch doesn’t melt well, thus, can contribute to graininess. It takes an extra 2 minutes to shred your own cheese, but it’s SO worth it.

Graininess could be due to high heat when the cheese is added and/or adding the cheese too quickly. Be sure to have your burner on low and add the cheese in stages.

Sometimes, acid can fix graininess. Give it a whisk with 1 tsp of lemon juice and see if that helps.

If that doesn’t work, try a little of a hot sauce, which will also amp up the flavor.

Can I use Velveeta cheese?

You can use a combination of Velveeta and Rotel and skip the roux, as Velveeta is easier to melt. However, we’re going for queso dip made with real cheese, so I’d opt for that instead.

Can I Make This Dip Ahead of Time?

You can make the queso a couple of hours ahead of serving. Just warm it back up on the stove on low, stirring in a splash of milk as needed to loosen it back up.

I’d stop there, though, and make it within a day of serving. You can reheat it, and it’ll taste just fine.

But it won’t have the same silky-smooth texture.

Can you use pre-shredded cheese?

No! Don’t use pre-shredded cheese, which will prevent the queso from coming together nicely.

The sauce will probably split. Use freshly-shredded block cheese.

Can you use other cheeses?

Sure! The melty, mild nature of monterey jack makes it a great addition to this recipe, but feel free to use other cheeses.

Gruyere would lend the queso more of a french onion flavor, and aged/extra sharp cheddars won’t melt as smoothly since they’re much lower in moisture. Use at your own risk.

Can you use different kinds of milk?

You can also use 2%, which will be a bit thinner. Half and half will make it richer and thicker.

You cannot use skim. There needs to be enough fat in the milk to keep the sauce from splitting.

Can you double the recipe?

Yes, just make sure you’re using a pot that’s big enough to allow for plenty of whisking room. Also, don’t count on timing, use thickness/appearance —smooth, all-melty queso means it’s done.

Five Ways to Change This Up

• Add some zing. Brown 0.25 pound Mexican chorizo in a skillet, crumble it, and stir into queso. Crowd favorite.
• Get a little smokey and a little spicy. Roast a poblano pepper, peel, seed, and chop it, and stir it in.
• Brewskies. Sub beer for 1/4 cup of the milk, adding it right after you’ve cooked the roux. Light lagers and pale ales will give the queso some complexity. Hoppy beer does not complement queso very well at all.
• Make it kid-friendly. Skip the pepper jack, go all-in on cheddar, and leave out the cayenne, but DO leave in the cumin or your queso will lose its Tex-Mex-ness.
• Make it white. Use all pepper jack or all Monterey Jack and stir in a 7-oz. can of diced green chiles for New Mexico style queso blanco.

What to Do With Whatever’s Left

Pour it over pasta. Drain cooked pasta, toss it with some warmed-up queso, and you’ve got macaroni and cheese.

I always have leftover queso after serving queso with tortilla chips so I’ve been thinking of lots of ways to use it. You can spread queso on a tortilla then place on the griddle and allow to melt, which will give you a quick and easy quesadilla.

You can also stir a spoonful into soft scrambled eggs. Spoon over a baked potato with sour cream and scallions.

Stir into tomato or chicken soup for a creamy, cheesy base. I also make a copycat Chili’s queso that I love.

Give that recipe a try too.

Other Dips Worth Making

• Copycat Chili’s Skillet Queso
• Jalapeño Popper Dip
• Baked Crab Rangoon Dip
• Crock Pot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
• Seven Layer Dip