This no velveeta queso is a healthy-ish throwback to everyone’s favorite ball park nacho cheese.
When my family moved to the US we were promptly introduced to the wonders of Costco. An entire warehouse filled with giant sized food AND free samples?! It didn’t take long for Costco to become my favorite way to play hooky from school. I would occasionally stay home on rainy days and accompany my mom during her weekly Costco run. Aside from the obvious perk of free food and no school, going to Costco with mom meant I could charm her into buying junk food that she’d normally stay away from.
One fateful day I sweet talked mom into buying a monstrous six pound can of Queso dip. I mean one huge [un-resealable] can of queso that you’d break into with a can opener leaving you with six pounds of cheese product to either consumer right away or store in all the tupperware you own. My siblings and I had a blast microwaving snack sized portions of queso after school for the next few weeks. To this day, I’m reminded of that cheesy, fun memory every time I think of queso.
This grown up, homemade version is my healthy take on childhood queso. Made with a simple roux and flavored with ground spices, this queso uses two types of cheese to perfectly balance flavor and texture. As an added health bonus, I cut the cheese sauce with low sodium chicken broth to reduce the overall calories in the dish.
This no velveeta queso makes the perfect dip for corn or tortilla chips. Made from scratch, it’s a far cry from processed queso dip that miraculously turns to plastic when cooled. Enjoy!
Looking for more game day fare? Try these recipes:
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no velveeta queso
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 3 green onions, the whites (diced) with the greens diced separately and reserved for garnish
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1 cup half and half
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (sharp)
- 4 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded
- ⅓ cup pickled jalapeños, finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat until melted.
- Add the diced white parts of the green onions and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook until softened but not browned, 3-4 minutes stirring often with a wooden spoon.
- Add the garlic powder, coriander, cumin and flour to the pan.
- Cook and stir until fragrant and the flour is coating the onions and butter, 3 minutes.
- While whisking the roux, slowly stream in the half and half, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps.
- Stream in the chicken broth and whisk.
- Continue to stir the sauce and heat until the mixture thickens about 10 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and add the shredded cheeses to the pot. Whisk until the cheeses have melted and remove from the heat.
- Add the pickled jalapeños to the cheese sauce, stir to combine.
- Taste the queso and add salt if desired.
- Top with the reserved green onions.
- Serve with your favorite tortilla or corn chips.
