Chile Con Queso
Popular Tex-Mex restaurant appetizer that will wow your guests
Suggested Equipment
Ingredients
Base / Roux
- 4 tablespoon Butter
- ½ large Texas Sweet Onion Use your favorite onion
- 2 tablespoon Minced Garlic
- 3 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour
- 4 cups Whole Milk Have more milk on standby. You may need to fix the thickness
- ½ Jalapeno Ad as much as you enjoy
Cheeses
- 1 cup Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese Grated
- 8 oz Cream Cheese Room temperature is best
- 16 oz Mexican Blend of Cheese / 1 bag
Spices & Herbs & Peppers
- 5 tablespoon Canned Green Chiles
- 4 tablespoon Canned Pimentos
- 1 tablespoon Smokey Chili Powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 2 teaspoon Granulated Garlic
- 1 T Kocher Salt Add more if desired
Main Special Ingredient
- 4 teaspoon Adobo Sauce Canned chipotles - use the adobo sauce and add the smoked chipotles for extra heat/spiciness
Instructions
Making The Base / Roux
- Set the Instant Pot to "Saute" on the high-temperature setting.Using a hand grater, grate half of one large onion right over the top of the Instant Pot. Add in 4 tablespoons of butter.While the butter is still melting, add in the 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and cook off the raw.Next, add the minced jalapeno. You can use the hand grater. Add around ½ of the jalapeno pepper.Then sprinkle 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour into the Instant Pot or stovetop pot. Cook off the flour while stirring.
Making the Queso
- Next, add in the 8 oz of room temperature cream cheese and completely melt.Have the milk measured out and be ready to start pouring once it begins to thicken up.I suggest measuring out the first 2 cups along with the second edition of 2 cups for a total of 4 cups.Add in the first 2 cups of milk slowly and keep stirring the entire time. Room temperature milk combines better and a smoother texture.Next, comes the cheeses. Add the bag of mixed Mexican cheese first then follow with the sharp cheddar. Add as much of the extra sharp cheddar as you like. You can thin out the queso with more milk if too thick.
- The Chiles and HerbsNext, add 1 tablespoon of chili powder, 1 ½ teaspoons of cumin, 1 teaspoon of oregano, and 1 tablespoon of salt.Tastes, season and adjust. Does it need more salt?If you're not sure, you can take a small amount into a side bowl and add salt, and taste test.
- FinishingAdd the green chiles, pimentos & adobo sauce last.Add more of each ingredient to your liking. Adding more adobo sauce will make the queso a darker color and will have a more overall smokey flavor. Very nice addition.When shopping for the green chiles, they come in different heat levels. I used mild.For an extra kick of spice, add in ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
Garnish
- For presentation chile con queso usually has a garnish placed on top in the middle of the serving dish Options:- Pico de Gallo Salsa (tomato, onion, cilantro, lime juice, a pinch of cumin, and salt.- Plate with a small amount of the adobo sauce in the middle- Add some cooked ground beef seasoned with taco seasonings right in the middle of the bowl, then top with pico de Gallo salsa
Video
Notes
Tips Short List
- Commercial cheese at the store only has to be 51% real cheese to be sold as "Cheese".
- What is a roux?
- The milk is your insurance to control the thickness. Have extra milk ready to pour if needed. Around 4 cups will do the job.
- As the Texas Queso sits around, it will thicken. The fix is to make the queso a little bit thinner in the first place to give it room to tighten up.