There is no faster way to my heart than serving up a big bowl of queso. This recipe is a twist on the traditional processed cheese queso many of us are familiar with. Yielding enough to be considered a meal, or an appetizer for a crowd, this recipe will not disappoint. 

You will need:

• 2 lb Ground Beef 
• 2 lb processed cheese brick
• 4 oz Plain cream cheese
• 4 oz Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
• ¼-½ cup milk or beer
• 10 oz Can tomatoes with diced green chiles
• 4 oz Can diced green chiles
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 1/4-1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped

First you will want to brown the ground beef in a 12 inch skillet; season with black pepper. As the beef is cooking, cut the processed cheese and cream cheese into cubes about 1 inch in size, and shred the pepperjack cheese. If you don’t have a grater, I strongly encourage purchasing one and then buy your cheese in blocks, it melts and tastes so much better! After you have the cheeses ready to go, dice the tomato and open the tomato cans.

As the beef finishes cooking, drain the excess fat and then pour into an aluminum pan if you are planning to cook on the smoker. If you are planning to cook the dip stovetop, return beef to the skillet. 

Once the beef is in the pan for baking, top with the cheese, milk or beer,tomatoes, chiles, garlic, onion, and about half of the cilantro. You may prefer to save some of the cilantro and red onion to add as garnish just before serving. 

Place queso on a smoker heated to 350. Smoke for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes open the smoker and stir it well. Bring temp down to 275 then smoke for 15 more minutes and stir again. It should be ready at that point but may need a bit more time, stir in 15 minute increments. You can add more liquid if you don’t like the consistency. 

This makes A LOT of queso. It stores well in the refrigerator. When you are ready to reheat,  just warm and add a small amount of liquid until it reaches your desired consistency.

Don’t have a smoker, but still want to enjoy beefy queso? You are in luck! This recipe is rather simple to adapt to the stovetop. After browning up the ground beef, return the beef to the skillet. Set the heat to low or low-medium. Next, Add in the processed cheese, cream cheese, and pepper jack cheese. Stir until it begins to melt down. Be careful not to get the pan too hot. 

After most of the cheese has melted down, add in the liquid (milk or beer), the diced tomatoes with green chiles, green chiles, and cilantro. Let everything simmer together for a few minutes before removing from heat.  After you have prepared the queso, you can add it to a slow cooker to keep it warm while you snack! 

Serve the queso with tortilla chips or veggies; or maybe just a spoon. Kidding, kind of. Whichever way you choose to prepare this recipe, I am confident you will enjoy it!

Happy Dipping!

Emily