Smoked Queso Dip
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Queso is a must in your recipe arsenal. It’s basically its own food group. Add some smoke, and now we are taking it to the next level.
Queso goes great with almost anything on any occasion. Seriously, who doesn’t love hot bubbly cheese loaded up with chilis, tomatoes and spices all on top of a tortilla chip or a chili dog?
This recipe is so good it’s worth burning the roof of your mouth for! Ok don’t do that, but I think you get the point here! Let’s make it.
What is queso?
Queso is a Mexican-inspired appetizer that is popular in Tex-Mex cuisine. The word “queso” translates to “cheese” in Spanish. Along with melted cheese, the dish often includes sausage, chorizo or ground beef, tomatoes, and chili.
Queso has been adapted and remixed in so many ways (Kimchi Queso anyone?), it’s one of those dishes that is endlessly customizable.
What you will need to make smoked queso
There are only a few things you need for this recipe. First things first – queso is messy. A foil pan will ensure no cheesy mess caked on your dishes. Simply throw away the foil pan when you are all done.
I used my
You can make queso in any grill or smoker with a lid, or even in the oven. I highly recommend using a smoker as the added smoke flavor will take this dip to the next level.
You will also need a cheese grater as I highly recommend you shred the cheese yourself instead of buying it already shredded for you. I will explain more on why later.
Finally, use a stainless steel or cast iron pan to brown the pork sausage ahead of time. Some queso recipes also use ground beef, but I like the flavor the sausage gives. You could also use some chorizo which would give it a nice pop of spice and a different type of flavor.
How to make smoked queso
1. Brown your sausage
The first thing you will want to do is cook your pork sausage. Toss it in a pan on medium-high heat and cook it through until everything is browned.
Go ahead and drain the oil as you don’t want that in with the queso mixture.
2. Grate your cheese
Second, grate your pepper jack and cheddar cheese. I highly recommend buying blocked cheese and taking the extra time to grate it yourself.
When you buy packaged shredded cheese, there is a wax coating they put on the cheese so it doesn’t stick to the bag. While that may sound convenient, the pre-shredded cheese will not melt as well as if you shredded your own from a block of cheese. Feel free to sub out any other cheese you’d like if you have a different preference.
Take your blocks of cheese and grate it with a cheese grater. If you don’t have one, you can cube them up into little pieces with a knife or food processor for faster melting. Also, take your Velveeta cheese and cut it up into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes.
3. Assemble queso in foil pan
The rest of the queso is basically just dumped into your foil pan. So in go the shredded cheese, ground sausage, Rotel tomatoes, hatch green chiles, and cream of bacon soup.
You can use cream of mushroom as well. Either soup gives the queso a nice velvety texture and consistency without compromising the flavor. It is well worth it to add.
Dump everything together into the foil pan, sprinkle on your bbq rub and then place onto your smoker at 250 degrees.
4. Place queso on smoker until all ingredients are melted
As the cheese starts melting, mix everything together. After about 30 minutes or so when the cheese is melted and everything is nice and hot, you are good to go!
Serve with chips, pretzels, or ladle some on top of hotdogs. Shoot, dip your left hand into it, and just eat the queso right off your fingers! I’ve never heard anyone turn down queso and it will be gone in no time.
Try these smoked appetizers next
- Smoked Candied Bacon
- Grilled Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Smoked Chili Cheese Dip
- Smoked Pig Shots: The Ultimate Tailgate Snack
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
- The Ultimate Jalapeño Popper Dip
Ingredients
- 1 block Velveeta cheese blanco
- 1 lb ground pork sausage cooked
- 1 tbsp bbq rub
- 1 12oz can rotel tomatoes
- 1 6oz can hatch green chiles
- 1 12oz can cream of bacon soup
- 1 cup pepper jack cheese shredded
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Brown your ground sausage in a pan on medium high heat, remove and drain the excess oil.
- Grate your cheddar cheese and pepperjack cheese and cube up your velveeta cheese.
- In a foil pan, add the sausage, cheese, cream of bacon soup, rotel tomatoes, hatch green chiles and then season with your favorite bbq rub.
- Place the queso mixture into your smoker at 250 degrees for 30 minutes until everything is all melted together. Make sure you stir occasionally.
- Serve with tortilla chips or whatever you’d like and enjoy!
Notes
- Rotel is a brand that sells diced tomatoes with green chilies. You can substitute for a can of diced tomatoes and add green chilis, or leave out for less heat.
- If you can’t find Velveeta cheese you can substitute for American, Cheddar, Swiss, or Gouda.
Nutrition
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