This Queso Dip is a copycat of the cheese dip sold in jars and served at your favourite Mexican restaurant. The miracle of this is that it’s silky smooth even when it cools – and reheats perfectly. Imagine the possibilities!
Why this is life changing
This Queso Dip recipe is for everyone out there who has attempted to make a Mexican cheese dip like what you get at Mexican restaurants and found it lacking. If you want the dip to be silky smooth like the stuff you get in jars in aisles (not fridge!) of grocery stores, then the recipes call for fake cheese – Velveeta or other processed cheeses.
Other recipes are made starting with a roux – butter & flour – which is used to make a béchamel sauce into which cheese is added. While this makes a terrific cheese sauce for pouring over vegetables, in lasagna, gratins etc, it doesn’t have that truly silky and rich texture of a cheese dip.
Some recipes call for real cheese and varying combinations of cream / sour cream / mayonnaise – but the problem with these is that when the dip cools down, the cheese congeals. It’s tasty – but you need to keep it warm. And it has a tendency to split when rewarmed.
The solution? Evaporated milk + cornflour/cornstarch + cheese = silky smooth rich cheese dip / sauce. Truly. It works. 🙂
Actually, I shared Nachos Cheese Dip a couple of years ago which is a simpler version of this dip. This Queso Dip is my copycat of the fake cheese dip I tried (Tostitos) and the ultra addictive dips served at Tex Mex restaurants in the States.
I even made my own corn chips using corn tortillas because I couldn’t find white corn chips, like you get in Mexican restaurants. And also because corn chips made using corn tortillas tastes so much more like corn than store bought.
Don’t make this Queso Dip when you’re home alone. I’m supposed to be on my Post Holiday Health Kick (I know, I know, you hear this every time I come back from holidays!!!) and it’s taken astronomical will power to hold back.
I’ve got 3 batches of this Mexican Cheese Dip in my fridge. I’m planning to offload them tomorrow. – Nagi x
PS Except maybe that one little jar. I might keep that for myself…..
PPS I realise that some people may raise their eyebrows at the name “Life Changing Queso Dip”, but for Queso Dip lovers, I deign to say this will be life changing!!!
Queso Dip recipe
Watch how to make it
Queso Dip (Mexican Cheese Dip) recipe video!
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Queso Dip (Mexican Cheese Dip)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (tightly packed) cheddar cheese, freshly shredded (Important – read Note 1)
- 1 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 1/2 tbsp (10g) unsalted butter
- 1 large garlic clove , finely minced
- 1/4 small white onion , very finely chopped (~1/4 cup)
- 375g / 13 oz evaporated milk (1 can) , not low fat
- 1 small tomato , finely diced (3/4 cup) (Note 2)
- 1/4 tsp each onion powder, garlic powder, cumin
- 113g /4 oz can chopped green chile, fire roasted (Subs Note 3)
- 1/4 cup coriander / cilantro , finely chopped
- 2 – 3 tbsp milk , any type (to loosen, as needed)
- Salt , to taste (cheese brands differ in saltiness, may not need)
Instructions
- Toss – Place cheese and cornflour in a bowl, toss to coat.
- Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan or small pot.
- Sauté – Add garlic and onion, cook slowly for 3 minutes or until onion is translucent but not browned. Add tomato (including juices) and cook for 2 minutes until tomato is slightly softened.
- Add evaporated milk and cheese. Stir, then add chiles and Spices.
- Melt – Stir until cheese melts and it becomes a silky sauce.
- Add salt to taste – amount required depends on saltiness of cheese used – and stir through coriander.
- Adjust consistency – Stir in milk or water to adjust consistency (I use 2 tbsp) – the dip thickens when it cools, and milk can be added later to adjust to taste.
- Remove from heat. Serve warm or at room temperature – it will be soft and scoopable even when it cools.
- Store in the refrigerator. When refrigerated, it becomes the consistency of the cheese spread sold in jars that are not in the refrigerator section. Reheat in microwave and adjust consistency as desired with a tiny bit of milk. If you add too much, just put on stove again until it thickens. Freezes 3 months, fridge 5 days.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More dips for fellow snack monsters
Life of Dozer
That’s not a peeved look on his face, even though that’s what you might think. It’s a look of contentment and utter comfort in his very cozy sweatshirt. I’m sure of it. He’s not embarrassed. 😈
just made this dip. kinda slaps ngl
This looks so yummy, however, I cant find condensed milk here in Denmark. Any good subs I could use?
DO NOT use condensed milk. It’s very sweet. The recipe calls for evaporated milk. This is very common in the States not sure about other countries. Best of luck.
The flavor was great. I cant belive ive never though to grill green onions! Ha. Okay so i just started cooking 9 months ago (literally) so at 34 yrs old ive got alot to learn and little to no.time to master. My cheese came out a tad chalky though. Ill make it again, and maybe not add so much corn starch. Genius recipe 😋 thanks
I made this and turned out Great. Thank You for sharing.
I finally made this to add to your nachos recipe. It was so good! Loved by all the family. So tasty. I don’t think I’d be able to make nachos without it now.
Indeed, life changing! You hit it out of the park, AGAIN!
Wahoo, thanks so much Roxanne!! N x
I made this recipe today. It is a keeper for sure. The only change I’m going to make next time is to use a different type of cheese. Maybe white. I used mild cheddar, but I think it was too rich flavor wise for queso. Cilantro isn’t needed also.
um… WOW! I did not expect this to work as well as it did. I was going to use colby jack cheese but they were out of it in the store so I used a smoked cheddar and I highly recommend that. I made it last night, put the leftovers in the fridge and was able to scoop some out easily in the morning. Heated it up to eat with lunch and it was just as good as when it came fresh off the stove! Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Hello Nagi, made this on the weekend as part of a Mexican themed family dinner for my Grandson’s birthday. It was fantastic! The running joke of the day was “Forget the enchiladas, just keep this stuff coming”. Never got hard or gluey and reheated beautifully. Also made more than I thought just reading the recipe. A huge hit! Thank you again. You and Dozer stay safe and well.
We have a variation of the Rotel tomatoes w/peppers and Velveeta fake cheese as an old family favorite, which is very similar to this, minus the cilantro. I plan to sub evaporated milk and grated real cheese for the Velveeta is my particular food snob husband will eat it! The batch I made with your recipe really is soft straight out of the fridge!.
Hi Nagi, can this recipe be cooked ahead of time and reheated? Thanks, Casey
ABSOLUTELY! 100% perfectly 🙂 N x
I cant wait to make this but I don’t think we get evaporated milk here in Denmark – do you know if full-fat/whole milk works? Any other suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Priya, evaporated milk has just had some of the water content removed – you could sub with cream here or even regular milk. If using regular milk, increase the cornflour by another half a tablespoon.
Thank you for the tip! I did end up finding evaporated milk and this was absolutely to die for! I had it for about 4 days as a post-work treat. Can’t wait to make it for my friends.
So easy to make – was very delish! Clearly went down well as the bowl was scrapped clean!
Delicious. Followed recipe apart from canned chilli (didn’t have so used dried flakes) and grated cheese in food processor (also used for chopping onion and tomato). Was like a better version of the Queso at Gusman and Gomez.
I have never cooked with evaporated milk before. It’s the magic. And you can adjust the seasoning in this dip to go with anything! I left out the taco flavors and put in a little mustard and worcestershire and it was the bomb on a philly cheesesteak. And we’ve had it on nachos too. DELISH! Plus the directions are on point. Thanks Nagi!
I’m from Calgary looking for a copycat recipe for the orange jar Tostitos stuff!! Thank you for putting this together, I can’t wait to try it out!!
So funny – I brought back JARS of the stuff when I visited a friend in Calgary, specifically so I could make the copycat!!! Glad you enjoyed it Tania! N x
Made this one the other day.
Awesome!!
Our family has been eating Mexican Food forever and this recipe is amazing.
My Son said it was “restaurant quality”.
I just have to keep telling you how much of an inspiration you are to me. I love your spectrum of recipes, both simple, retro, and up to date. You are amazing. And I LOVE your photography. I am learning so much from you and love making your recipes. All the best to you as you continue your blog and cooking ventures.
🙂 Thanks so much Dianna!! N x
Very interested in making this to pour on top of tacos for taco night as well as dipping out Tostitos chips into!
[ just haven’t been able to get cornstarch for months now. I can’t leave the house and Amazon Fresh is always completely sold out of all brands of cornstarch whenever I try to order. I don’t have access to corn flour either. Will it be okay to use regular All Purpose flour or will it mess it up too much?
Hi Michelle, you can use regular flour, you may need slightly more to thicken it though. N x
About how much does this dip make?
Hi Rebecca- as noted there in the recipe, it makes about 2.5 cups. N x