Queso

2 minute read

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I made queso blanco dip, which was as an appetizer dish that I discovered Tex-Mex cuisine in Dallas.

What is Queso Dip

It’s essentially nacho cheese sauce dip. The thing that really stood out to me was how simple the dish was but how effective it can be.

It is very similar in composition to mac and cheese sauce, which is a bechamel cheese sauce. This means the techniques and learnings from the SeriousEats Foodlab article are all applicable.

  • Use of evaporated milk, which contains proteins that help in emulsion.
  • American cheese, which inherently has sodium citrate and gives the cheese its smooth and creamy melting texture.

How to Eat

Queso is eaten with tortilla chips. Because tortilla chips are salted and the cheese (which makes up a significant portion of the ingredients), there’s very little salt required.

The sauce is very rich, creamy, and heavy. It would be best paired with some salsa or pico de gallo. Or onion, cilantro, and lime juice. It’s a very refreshing contrast.

Queso should be served warm. The sauce will thicken as it cools and it will not dip well. Serve in a thick, warm ceramic pot.

Review of Recipe

I found the flavour to be really good. I used fresh roasted jalapeños and the flavour was great. I want to try canned chilies and see if they’re as good.

The sauce is on the thicker side. I want to add 30 ml of chicken stock to thin out the sauce. Or use fresh tomatoes, with juice, or vinegar.

Queso Blanco Dip:

This is based on the queso dip on foodwishes. I opted to skip the tomatoes and also used fresh jalapeños instead of canned chilies.

Recipe

  • 225 g cheese
  • 1 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 10 g oil
  • 1 bunch green onion
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 180 ml evaporated milk (1/2 can)

Technique

  1. Grate cheese and dust lightly with corn starch.
  2. Lightly saute green onion (white parts), garlic.
  3. Add spices and allow to bloom.
  4. Add evaporated milk and bring to a boil.
  5. Whisk in cheese, 1/4 at a time.
  6. Remove from heat as soon as the cheese is added and sauce is brought up to serving temperature.

Tips

  • The cheese only needs to be incorporated, it should not be boiled. This can break emulsion.
  • If not using cornstarch, can start with a roux.
  • Chili spices will cause the finished queso to be yellow, skip if your goal is to get a white colour.
  • No salt is mentioned in the recipe because I found the salt from cheese and tortilla chips are more than enough. Additional salt causes the dip to be on a salty end. But as always, season to taste.
  • This will likely be too thick, especially as it cools. Thin it it out with water or stock, probably 30-50 ml.