This homemade Queso Blanco Dip is so easy to make at home with real cheese (no processed cheese here). Wonderfully creamy and so delicious, you’ll want to serve this cheesy dip with tortilla chips, fries, or slathered on burritos, taquitos, and so much more!
Cheese dips are the king of all dips, if you ask me. That’s especially true when they’re served warm and melted! Who doesn’t love the idea of dipping tortilla chips, fries, or pretty much anything you can think of into a bowl of ooey gooey cheesy dip?
This homemade queso blanco recipe is what dip dreams are made of.
There’s no processed cheese here. No white American cheese or velveeta cheese in this recipe. This homemade white cheese dip is made with real cheese.
Add to that delicious flavors from Mexican cuisine and you have the best queso blanco dip you can get without having to leave your house. There is no need to head out to your favorite Mexican restaurant or buy any jarred version from your local grocery stores. You can make a smooth queso blanco dip at home using easy to find ingredients.
Whether you serve this dip with your Game Day snacks (this is on our menu for Super Bowl Sunday!), with other Mexican food favorites for Cinco de Mayo, or for Taco Tuesday, it’s sure to be a hit!
Why we love this Queso Blanco Dip
- It’s made with real cheese, not processed cheese.
- The ingredients in this white queso recipe are pretty easy to find at grocery stores.
- This easy queso blanco recipe takes just minutes to make!
- In addition to cheese, it gets the best flavor from ingredients like corn, green chiles, pickled jalapenos. and seasonings.
- This creamy dip is perfect for dipping tortilla chips in but also makes a great dip or sauce for french fries, tater tots, taquitos, burritos and so much more!
- It’s melted cheese and so what’s not to love about a melted cheese dip?
Ingredients in Queso Blanco Dip
- Butter: used to saute corn. While you can omit the corn, I love adding it to the dip for texture and flavor.
- Corn: fresh, frozen or canned corn can be used.
- Milk: You can use whole milk, 2% or 1%.
- Cornstarch: Used to create a slurry with the milk to thicken the cheese dip.
- White cheese: You can use any type of cheese provided it is white and melty. Options like Monterey Jack (my personal favorite), Gouda, Jarlsberg, and Mozzarella all work in this recipe. In order to have a smooth cheese dip that isn’t grainy, you need to shred your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese is coated in a starch that prevents it from clumping together. It won’t melt as smoothly as cheese that you shred yourself.
- Canned mild green chiles: finely diced.
- Canned pickled jalapenos: You will use both the pickled jalapenos as well as a bit of of the jalapeno juice from the can. If you wish to, you can also use fresh jalapeno peppers. The amount of jalapeno you add to the dip can be adjusted to suit your own heat tolerance.
- Seasoning: Cumin powder and salt to taste.
- Optional garnishes: tomatoes, cilantro.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make Queso Blanco Dip
- Saute the corn. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the corn and saute for a minute. Remove 2 tablespoons of the corn and reserve to sprinkle on top later.
- Thicken the milk. In a bowl, mix the cornstarch with the milk until the cornstarch dissolves and creates a slurry. Add the cornstarch slurry to the saucepan and whisk constantly until it begins to simmer and thicken.
- Slowly melt the cheese. Once thickened, reduce the heat to low and slowly add the shredded white cheese 1/4 a time, whisking continuously until it melts before adding the next 1/4 cup. Do this until all of the cheese is melted into a smooth sauce.
- Add the other ingredients. Add the diced green chiles, diced jalepenos, jalapeno juice, cumin powder, and salt to taste. Depending on your personal preference, you can adjust how much jalapeno you add to reach your desired heat level. You can also add more milk at this point to thin out the dip if you wish to.
- Top and serve. Transfer the queso blanco dip to a serving bowl and sprinkle it with the reserved corn, tomatoes, and cilantro, if desired. Serve warm. As the cheese dip cools, it will continue to thicken. You can microwave it or place it back in the saucepan to warm it up if you wish to.
Optional additions
I love to make this dip as it is but there are definitely some easy swaps or additions that can help you customize this dip or switch things up. Below are some ideas:
- Add meat. Taco meat (using ground beef or even ground turkey). To add taco meat to this dish, begin my cooking it in a skillet separately and then stirring it into the queso dip at the very end.
- Add more veggies. Stir in diced tomatoes, bell peppers, etc to add more veggies to this dip.
- Change up the seasonings. You can add onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper.
Tips for making a smooth queso dip:
Use freshly grated cheese for the best results. While it may be tempting to use a pre-shredded cheese, I don’t recommend it. Pre-shredded cheeses are covered in a coating that alters the texture of the dish and makes it a bit grainy. The smoothest results come from cheese you’ve grated yourself.
Choose a good melty cheese. This should be obvious. If you aren’t sure which white cheeses will melt well, see the Ingredients section above for good options.
Stir in the cheese slowly over low heat. While it may be tempting to dump in all of your cheese and crank up the heat to melt it quickly, your patience here will be rewarded. If you add the cheese slowly (in 1/4 cup increments) and over a low heat while constantly stirring, it will help you get that smooth cheesy dip.
How do I serve Queso Blanco Dip?
My favourite way to enjoy this dip is with a bag of tortilla chips. The way its meant to be enjoyed! But you may want to enjoy this yumminess in other ways too. Because any excuse to make this queso blanco is a good one, really.
Other ways to enjoy this dip:
- drizzled on top of tacos, fajitas, and burritos
- poured over a burger (forget melting sliced cheese and go straight to this melty gem!)
- as a dip for taquitos
- as a dip for veggies or crackers
- drizzled on top of roasted veggies
- as a dip for french fries and tater tots
- drizzled over baked potatoes
Storing leftovers and reheating
If you have leftover queso blanco dip, allow it to cool completely and then place it in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.
To reheat it, you can place it in a saucepan on the stove, adding a splash of milk to help “loosen” it up again. Whisk it over medium low heat until it is warmed through.
Another option to reheat it is in the microwave. Heat it in 30 second intervals until warmed through.
Whether you are making this for your next party, the Super Bowl, Cinco de Mayo, or Taco Tuesday, I am sure it will be a hit! There are so many ways we love to have this queso dip and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
-Cathy
Looking for more Mexican food recipes? You may also like:
Baked Chicken Taquitos
Taco Stuffed Mini Peppers
Beef Empanadas
Chili Lime Shrimp Tacos with Mexican Street Corn Salsa
Healthy Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad
Authentic Taco Seasoning Recipe
Cucumber Margarita
Churros
Queso Blanco Dip
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup corn kernels (fresh, frozen or canned)
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cup white cheese freshly shredded (any melty white cheese such as Gouda, Jarlsberg, Monterey Jack)
- 2 tablespoons canned mild green chiles finely diced
- 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeno finely diced (or fresh jalapenos) (adjust to add more or less to reach desired heat level)
- 1 tablespoon jalapeno juice from the can
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- salt to taste
Optional garnishes
- 1 tablespoon chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon cilantro
Instructions
- In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add the corn and saute for a minute. Remove 2 tablespoons of the corn and reserve to sprinkle on top later.
- In a bowl, mix the cornstarch with the milk until the cornstarch dissolves and creates a slurry. Add the cornstarch slurry to the saucepan and whisk constantly until it begins to simmer and thicken.
- Once thickened, reduce the heat to low and slowly add the shredded white cheese 1/4 a time, whisking continuously until it melts before adding the next 1/4 cup. Do this until all of the cheese is melted into a smooth sauce.
- Add the diced green chiles, diced jalepenos, jalapeno juice, cumin powder, and salt to taste. Depending on your personal preference, you can adjust how much jalapeno you add to reach your desired heat level. You can also add more milk at this point to thin out the dip if you wish to.
- Transfer the queso blanco dip to a serving bowl and sprinkle it with the reserved corn, tomatoes, and cilantro, if desired. Serve warm. As the cheese dip cools, it will continue to thicken. You can microwave it or place it back in the saucepan to warm it up if you wish to.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
