The Best Beer Cheese Queso
The best beer cheese queso takes inspiration from traditional queso recipes and beer cheese to make an irristable dip or topping. Ready in minutes, it is the perfect addition to Taco Tuesday or the next time you want something warm to dip into with tortilla chips, pretzels, or your favorites.
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Is there anything better than queso or beer cheese?
The answer is heck yes!
Obviously, beer cheese queso!
We first used a variation of this beer cheese queso on Philly Cheesesteak sliders several years back.
Since then, we’ve used variations of this recipe to make beer cheese mac n cheese, as a beer cheese dip for pretzels, and – of all things – on eggs.
And of course it is a natural choice when making homemade tortilla chips!
Ingredients and Kitchen Supplies
To make beer cheese queso, you’ll need:
- Olive oil – You could use butter instead if you prefer.
- Red onion – You can use another type of onion if you prefer.
- Garlic – We use fresh cloves of garlic for the 3 cheese queso.
- Jalapeno – This adds some heat to the dip, but you can omit for a milder flavor.
- Spices -We flavor the cheese dip with chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.
- Cheese – We used shredded cheddar, but you also shredded pepper jack and Monterey Jack. You can add other cheeses or use your preferred melting cheese to play with the flavor a bit.
- Beer – Use your favorite or put that beer your friend left behind that you can’t stomach. You know the one.
- Cilantro and fresh salsa – These can add extra flavor and garnish.
Kitchen gadgets aren’t super important for this recipe. Still, you may find these tools helpful:
- Garlic press
- Food processor – Really only need this if you want to pulverize the veggies to make it smoother.
How to make beer cheese queso
1. Prep the veggies
Dice the garlic, pepper, and onions as finely as you like. The smaller the chunks, the smoother the queso. You can also use a food processor to make the dip really smooth.
2. Saute the veggies
Heat olive oil or butter in a small to medium cast iron skillet over medium heat.
When oil is warm, add the chopped onion, jalapeno, garlic, and seasonings.
Cook, stirring frequently, until veggies soften or about 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the beer and cheeses
Add the beer and then stir in the cheese.
Continue to stir until cheese melts and bubbles, which takes about about 5 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro and fresh salsa if desired. Serve hot with chips.
Storing beer cheese queso
This delicious beer cheese queso is best when you serve it fresh.
If you plan to make it ahead, you can, but I would still recommend making shortly before you need it.
If you need to store, pour the cheese dip into an airtight container and place in the fridge. It should store for about 2 to 3 days.
To reheat, you can use a small slow cooker, reheat in a skillet, or microwave.
Tips and tricks
When you make beer cheese queso, you can follow these tips and tricks to get the results you want:
- Finely dicing or food processing the veggies makes for a smoother queso texture.
- Ditch the jalapeno if you don’t want heat or add a different hot pepper that you like.
- Feel free to mix and match other cheeses into the queso. Beer cheese queso is really only just getting started with one kind of cheese. Feel free to add easy to melt cheese you like!
FAQs
Some fun FAQs about beer cheese queso and making cheese dips with beer.
Why do people put beer in queso?
Beer does a couple of things in queso. It provides a bit of extra flavor, and it helps to thin out the cheese to give it a better consistency. In many recipes, you can substitute in other liquids, like evaporated milk or cream, but you will lose some of the flavor of that the beer adds.
What is beer cheese dip made of?
Beer cheese typically starts with reducing beer down and adding seasonings, such as garlic, to the pot. Other ingredients and flavors depends on what kind of dip you are looking for.
In our beer cheese queso recipe, we add chili and cumin. For heat, we add in jalapenos and cayenne pepper.
More traditional beer cheese dips may use mustard seeds or powder, Worchester sauce, and garlic.
Does the alcohol cook out of beer cheese dip?
Interestingly, despite popular belief, the alcohol used in beer cheese – and other recipes – does not fully cook out, but it does reduce the longer you cook it for. In about 15 minutes of boiling roughly 45% still remains. If you only bring it to a boil and then remove from heat, it still maintains about 85%.
Despite this, you likely won’t notice any issues when consuming beer cheese queso, but you may want to skip the beer if you are pregnant or in recovery.
What beer goes best in beer cheese dip?
There are a lot of recommendations about what beer to use in beer cheese dips. Some recommend using fruity wheat beers since they pair well with cheese. Others may recommmend more dark colored beers.
We are not big beer drinkers in our house, so we find that most beers leave an extra beer flavor when reduced. In our beer cheese queso recipe, we use Corona, which is a colored beer. But if we don’t have that on hand, we use just about any beer and find it tastes the same.
Can kids eat beer cheese dip?
The answer really depends on you and your sensibilities. Yes, a percentage of alcohol still remains in beer cheese dips, but it is generally reduced.
That said, we would not have any issues serving beer cheese queso or beer cheese dip to our children, but they typically do not love cheese dips anyway.
Other recipes you may love
Looking for other really cheesy dip recipes? Try these:
- Caramelized Onion Cheese Dip
- Cheesy Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Cheesy Baked Crab Dip
- Chipotle Pumpkin Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- .5 of a red onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 whole jalapeno diced
- 1 tablespoon chili
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 4 cups of shredded cheddar or cheddar jack cheese
- 12 ounces of beer
- 1 tablespoon Cilantro and fresh salsa to garnish if desired
Instructions
- Finely dice the veggies – onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Alternatively, you can use a food processor and pulse it until you get your desired consistency and texture.
- Heat olive oil in a small to medium cast iron skillet or other skillet over medium heat. When oil is warm, add chopped onion, jalapeno, garlic, and seasonings.
- Cook the veggies, stirring frequently, until softened or about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Add the beer and then stir in the cheese.
- Continue to stir until cheese melts and bubbles about 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and fresh salsa if desired. Serve hot with chips.
i love beer cheese dip! This looks amazing! And i love the corona choice! yum!
Thanks Kristen!
Yum!! I can’t wait to make this!!
xoxo,
Angelle
http://www.dashingdarlin.com