This Easy Queso Blanco Recipe is a quick way to make white cheese dip using Velveeta and peppers. Serve with chips as a side dish or an appetizer!
Our favorite place to vacation is Wilmington, North Carolina. Over the years it’s become our home-away-from-home. We love visiting our friends who live in the area and, of course, we love spending time on Wrightsville Beach.
One of our favorite local restaurants is called Islands Fresh Mex Grill. Everything we’ve tried at the restaurant is delicious but we all agree that our favorite item on the menu is the chips and queso!
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Not long after returning from one of our vacations, I tried making queso blanco dip and it turned out great! Then, I tried to make it again, when a bunch of friends were at our house and it didn’t work as well.
I realized that the biggest difference in the queso recipe was the cheese I used. The first time I made it, I used Velveeta Queso Blanco and the second time I used white cheddar cheese.
While it tastes great with the white cheddar cheese, it was way too thick. As my friends filled their plates, they let me know that the dip was too thick and wondered what how I could thin it out.
Finally, I added a bunch of salsa to the dip and that thinned it. So, I wanted to go back to the first time I made the white cheese dip using Velveeta to see if it would turn out smooth again… and sure enough, it did!
How To Make Easy Queso Blanco
Step One:
To make the queso blanco recipe, cut a two-pound block of Velveeta queso blanco cheese into cubes.
Step Two:
Puree one 4-ounce can of diced green chilies with two tablespoons of canned, diced jalapenos (add more or less depending on how hot you want the dip).
Step Three:
Put the cheese cubes, pureed peppers, milk, butter, cumin, and pepper into a saucepan.
Step Four:
Over medium heat, melt everything together, stirring often until smooth. Add additional milk if needed.
If you don’t eat it all right away, you can store it in the fridge and reheat the queso blanco in the microwave.
Easy Queso Blanco Recipe Tips and FAQs
1. Can I leave the diced green chilies and diced jalapenos out? Yes, but you may need to add more milk because the liquid in the peppers helps to thin out the queso.
2. Can this easy queso blanco be made in a crockpot? Yes! Just put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook on low for 1 – 2 hours. Stir until smooth. Turn the temperature to warm for serving.
3. Can this recipe be made ahead of time and reheated? Yes, this queso blanco reheated. Add more milk it necessary.
4. I can’t find the Velveeta Queso Blanco. Can I make queso with the regular Velveeta instead? Definitely! It will change the color, of course, and change the flavor but it will still be delicious.
5. Want more ingredients in your queso blanco? Add diced onions, a can of Rotel, a dash of hot sauce, minced garlic
6. How about toppings for the queso blanco? Try topping it with diced tomatoes, cilantro, or jalapenos.
7. To make this queso more hearty, include some meat. Try adding one pound of cooked hot Italian sausage or seasoned, cooked, ground beef taco meat.
This Easy Queso Blanco Recipe is a quick way to make white cheese dip using Velveeta and peppers. Serve with chips as a taco side dish or a party appetizer!
- 2 lb Velveeta queso blanco
- 4 oz can diced green chilies
- 2 tablespoons canned diced jalapenos more or less, if desired
- 1 cup milk add up to 1/2 cup additional milk if needed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/8 teaspoon cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cut a two-pound block of Velveeta queso blanco cheese into cubes.
- Puree one 4-ounce can of diced green chilies with two tablespoons of canned, diced jalapenos (add more or less depending on how hot you want the dip).
- Put the cheese cubes, pureed peppers, milk, butter, cumin, and pepper into a saucepan.
- Melt over medium heat stirring often. Add additional milk to thin the cheese sauce, if desired.
- Serve immediately.
- If serving at a party, keep warm in a slow cooker set on the lowest setting, stir occasionally.
- Store leftovers in the fridge. Reheat in microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring in-between.
Updated from the original recipe shared in October 2014
Kendra says
May 9, 2019 at 8:44 pmI made this for a nacho bar for teacher appreciation week and when I went to pick my crock pot up, everyone wanted to know who made it because it was so good! Thanks, it was a hit! They said it was restaurant quality! (There’s a great little Mexican restaurant down the street that serves a small bowl of Queso to everyone. This recipe sounded similar and I omitted the cumin and black pepper because I know they don’t use it in theirs. It tastes almost identical!)
Tonia says
May 10, 2019 at 9:02 amThat’s fabulous Kendra! We are making this queso and putting it in a crockpot for my daughter’s open house!
Wanda says
May 13, 2019 at 8:50 pmWhat is the difference in queso fresco & queso blanco cheese
Tonia says
May 14, 2019 at 1:03 pmHi Wanda,
Queso fresco is a soft, moist curd-like cheese. Queso blanco is a creamy, semi-soft cheese.
Enjoy!
~Tonia
Clarice says
February 2, 2019 at 1:58 pmLove this! Tastes great. Thanks for the recipe.
Jane says
January 25, 2019 at 8:52 pmFound this site and recipe by chance! Making this tomorrow. This made me a little homesick. We just moved from Topsail Island (of course did all of our “in town” stuff in Wilmington!) we lost our home in hurricane Florence and just miss Wilmington and our island so so much!
If you’re ever up in Hampstead by Wilmington try Burrito Shak if you haven’t yet! It was our favorite place to eat! Puts Chipotle and Moe’s to shame! Not even close haha!
Tonia says
January 25, 2019 at 11:27 pmThat’s terrible! We were so saddened by all of the damage! We love all of the beaches in the area. We’ve rented a beach house in Topsail and in Carolina Beach. We hope to make a trip there late this spring or during the summer. I can wait to try the Burrito Shak. Thanks for the suggestion!
Latei says
December 29, 2018 at 8:11 amCan this also be made in a pressure cooker?
Fre says
June 17, 2018 at 10:47 amYou could have saved yourself a lot of trouble and money and just bought the Nice N cheesy queso Blanco from Kroger. Tastes exactly like all the white queso dips in Mexican restaurants (who used process American cheese instead of Mexican cheese). And it has jalapenos in it. I thin it with milk to make it whatever consistency I want. I am just sick that Kroger us closing all its stores in central NC. I have to find if this is made under another name or pay to buy it online somehow. I also spend a lot of time in Wilmington. Live 2 hours away, had lots of business there and my daughter went to college at UNCW.
Janis says
November 8, 2017 at 1:13 pmCan heavy cream or evaporated milk be used as a substitute for the milk? I’m also going to try adding ground pork sausage. Looks amazing!
Tonia says
November 8, 2017 at 3:36 pmHi Janis,
I’ve never tried making it with either one. If you decide to give it a go, both heavy cream and evaporated milk are thicker than milk so you might need to you more.
Best of luck,
Tonia
Janis says
November 8, 2017 at 5:48 pmOkay, thanks, I’ll stay with the original recipe. Thank you!
Amber says
June 26, 2017 at 9:21 pmI’ve been looking for a good white queso recipe. I made this recipe exactly like it is tonight and it was delicious! Thank you, this one is going in the recipe book!
Tonia says
June 27, 2017 at 9:12 amWonderful! I love hearing that! <3
Tara says
November 5, 2017 at 11:13 amI made this recipe last night and it is fantastic! So glad to have found this!
kambria says
May 29, 2017 at 4:51 pmHi!! Im a Wilmington local and I absolutely love islands I found this website by chance and I just couldn’t not comment.
Tonia says
June 1, 2017 at 9:32 amHi!!! So glad you stopped by. We are planning to visit Wilmington this summer and I CAN’T WAIT! ~Tonia
Katherine says
May 5, 2017 at 8:13 amI love queso blanco. Excited to try this!
Rhonda says
May 3, 2017 at 7:33 amYum! I will “third” that Island’s queso is awesome!! Great recipe. Had no problem printing it.
Jocelyn Wang says
April 20, 2017 at 1:03 amHow much does this recipe make?
Tonia says
May 26, 2018 at 11:15 amIt makes 4 cups.
Micah says
April 6, 2017 at 8:15 amI’m from Wilmington myself, and I can attest that Islands’ queso is the bomb!
Tonia says
April 6, 2017 at 8:31 amWilmington is our home-away-from-home! I’m always counting the days until we can return again.
Steve says
March 19, 2017 at 4:57 pmHi Tonia.
My local restaurants generally don’t mix ANYTHING with their white cheese dip, so that’s become my preference as well. Just wondering what changes should be made to leave out the peppers and jalapenos. I’d think it would be that easy, but when I mentioned doing it to someone else, they said the liquid in the peppers would help thin the dip, so I’m a bit confused. Thanks!
Tonia says
March 20, 2017 at 9:11 pmHi Steve! You can leave the peppers and jalapenos out. If you need to thin it more, add more milk. Enjoy! ~Tonia
MegT says
August 22, 2016 at 10:03 amLast evening we did a Taco Night with our small group from church. I was searching for a white queso and came across your recipe through Pinterest. I’m so glad I made it and by the way, such a hit at the get together! My husband also loved it and he said that it reminded him of the white cheese dip at our local Mexican restaurant- score! I will definitely be making this again. I made mine fully in the crockpot. 1 hour on high to get things going, 1 hour on low and then switched to warm since it was all melted together.
Dale says
February 4, 2017 at 6:21 pmYou can use white American cheese slices from Walmart. Add some frozen spinach. You can use equal parts 1/2 and 1/2 and whipping cream.
Connie says
August 2, 2016 at 5:05 pmOMG! I just tried to print recipe and it ate up 17 pages! Make a printable version, for crying out loud! Too many trees died for this recipe!
Tonia says
August 3, 2016 at 3:16 pmHello Connie,
There is a printable version available. When looking at the recipe, click on the PRINT box on the right side underneath the photo displayed within the box.
~Tonia
Monica says
September 3, 2016 at 11:24 amMaybe you should have noticed it before you hit the print button! No need to be rude!!
gigi says
January 14, 2017 at 4:37 pmOr just print “current page” or whichever page the recipe comes up on. Simple as that!
Shelley DiCarlo says
April 6, 2016 at 3:50 pmMade this with orange Velveeta instead of the white because our store didn’t carry the white. Otherwise I followed the directions exactly. Came out delicious. Oh I used fresh jalapeño and green peppers instead of canned. Delicious!
Charline says
January 1, 2016 at 12:37 pmI’m going to store now ! Will make this today!! Will comment latter !
Heidi says
October 11, 2015 at 7:42 pmjust made this!! it is amazing! thank you!
Tonia says
October 14, 2015 at 8:18 amYay!! Thanks so much for stopping back to let me know! ~Tonia
raven says
August 9, 2015 at 9:10 pmCan I switch out the velveeta with a different cheese?
Tonia says
August 10, 2015 at 2:05 pmYou would have to follow a different recipe to get it to be smooth. Here is a cheese fondue recipe I shared: https://www.thegunnysack.com/2013/10/progressive-dinner-cheese-fondue-recipe-corelle-giveaway.html
Diane Harder says
April 18, 2015 at 6:23 ami didn’t know Velveeta made a white cheese for dips. On a mission now!
Cynthia says
March 22, 2015 at 7:42 pmHow much does this white queso recipe make?
Joyce says
March 18, 2015 at 8:25 pmI like Velveeta for EVERYTHING, and I use it in my macaroni and cheese, my dips, my queso con salsa–EVERYTHING! I don’t care at all what others say, I like it!!
Michelle R. says
February 1, 2015 at 8:17 pmHi, loved the queso dip but mine got thick pretty quickly. Then whenever I reheated it – it was still thick.
Any suggestions? Did that happen to anyone else? Thanks!
Laura says
February 8, 2015 at 11:06 amAdd more milk. It will keep it from getting thick so quickly once removed from heat. Also use more milk when reheating.
Lizz says
November 24, 2014 at 1:51 pmI will so be making this! It looks so good!
Brent says
November 20, 2014 at 10:41 amAfter mixed can this be put in a slow cooker/crockpot?
Tonia says
November 20, 2014 at 10:48 amYes, I would suggest keeping it on the warm setting (or low if your crockpot doesn’t have a warm setting) and stirring it occasionally to prevent the edges from burning. Enjoy!
Meg @ The Housewife in Training Files says
October 23, 2014 at 7:57 amOh velveeta takes me back to the days when I was little and we would be having Taco night and I would gladly volunteer to make the cheese dip…so I could cut up and eat the velveeta! Shocked any actually made it into the dip 🙂
Love the white spin on it…it is always my fav when ordering out!
Liz says
October 22, 2014 at 9:53 pmA lovely recipe. Thanks so much.