All Natural Chile Con Queso Recipe

by POPSUGAR Food 13

One of our favorite guilty pleasures here in Yum land is Velveeta — after all, I named my new car after it! — and we really, really love it in queso. But in this day and age, when food revolutions, Alice Waters, and CSAs reign supreme, I decided it was high time to try a queso made from real cheese.

This Tex-Mex staple is beloved for a consistently smooth texture that I imagined would be impossible to re-create using unprocessed cheese. That is, until I discovered a version from Lone Star darling Homesick Texan that's just as addictive. The key to the recipe is patience; add more cheese only once the previous batch has fully integrated. Serve the all natural recipe on Cinco de Mayo when you keep on reading.

From Homesick Texan

All Natural Chile Con Queso

Ingredients

1/2 onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 Serrano peppers, diced
3 jalapeno peppers, diced
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup whole milk
6 cups of shredded cheese (I used a mix of mild cheddar and monterey jack)
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish
2 plum tomatoes, peeled and diced (about 1 cup), or canned tomatoes if fresh aren't in season
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt to taste
Tortilla chips, for serving

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan on medium-low heat, and then cook the onions and peppers for about five minutes or until onions are translucent.
2. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
3. Whisk the flour into the butter, vegetable mix and cook for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the milk to the pot, and cook on medium, whisking constantly until sauce is thick, about five minutes. Stir in the cilantro and tomatoes.
5. Turn heat down to low, and a 1/4-cup at a time, slowly add the shredded cheese stirring into the white sauce until completely melted. Repeat.
6. Stir in the sour cream.
7. Add salt to taste; garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.

Serves 4.

print recipe