Disclosure: My friend Tori created this recipe by using a variation of the this Creamy Mexican Dip recipe. They are both brilliant and have made my world a little brighter today because of this recipe. 🙂
Queso, cheese dip, whatever you may call it, it’s a delicious thing. I have had it multiple times throughout my life and it certainly is a wonderful thing. However, most recipes call for a shelf stable processed cheese called Velveeta. Now, Velveeta is wonderful and rich and creamy, but you gotta wonder exactly what they put in that stuff….it can’t really be good for us, you know? (sidenote: You can make healthy homemade “Velveeta,” but I haven’t tried it yet.) So when my friend Tori posted that she had found this recipe and thus made her own Queso con Carne….I had to try it. And wow. Just wow. It’s like a fiesta in your mouth! Hubby said it tasted like it was from a five star Mexican restaurant and he was right! It is simply delicious. You can make it with or without beef, make some with beef and some without, add different variations of spices and salsa, save some queso in the fridge to serve over broccoli the next day, make mac & cheese…whatever your Mexican food loving heart desires! So…here’s the recipe! It really is a lot easier than it seems. I know it seems overwhelming, but you got this! And you’ll be so pleased after it’s made, I promise!
You can add this queso con carne to just about anything…on top of baked potatoes, with pasta, as part of your Taco Tuesday feast…it will never go to waste because it’s so so good!
Queso con Carne (without Velveeta!)
Ingredients
Ingredients for Beef:
- ½ lb ground beef (more if your heart desires)
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Ingredients for Queso
- 2 egg yolks (I separate the yolks from the whites, rinse them of white and dry the yolk. Then, I tear the membrane and drain the yolk into a glass. This keeps the membrane out of the queso so there is no weird egg textures in there.)
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot powder OR organic cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon cream or milk
- 2 cups of milk
- 8 oz shredded cheese (4 oz sharp cheddar and 4 oz cheddar jack is recommended)
- ½ cup (or more) salsa (as mild or as spicy as you like!)
- 8 oz cream cheese
Instructions
Instructions for Beef:
- Put meat in a pan over medium high heat.
- Season meat with salt, chili powder, cumin seeds, and garlic powder.
- Brown beef.
- After the meat is browned, pour salsa into the meat and cook until the liquid is cooked away for the most part.
- Set meat aside.
(sidenote: This right here is a delicious way to make homemade taco meat. The boys tried it and really loved it. I omitted the chili powder and didn’t add too much salsa and it was the perfect flavor without spiciness for them.)
Directions for Queso:
- Mix egg yolks, arrowroot powder OR cornstarch, and cream OR milk together until the powder is fully incorporated into the yolks and thinned a bit by the milk/cream. Mix until lumps are gone.
- To this mixture, add 2 cups of milk.
- Cook on medium, stirring occasionally, until the mixture begins to thicken. (Tori’s notes: After 7-10ish minutes, it should be thick, like white gravy. You know. REAL white gravy. Not that milky stuff some folks call gravy.)
- After it thickens, ½ cup (or more) of salsa and stir until well mixed.
- Then, add 8oz of your preferred cheese blend, shredded, and stir.
- Add 8 oz of cream cheese and stir all together until everything is melty and delicious. (do not let it come to a full boil or it will curdle and separate.)
- At this point, if it is not thick enough, add another ½-1T arrowroot or cornstarch. Dip out a little queso into a cup and mix it into the queso first before mixing it into the pot. This prevents the locked up, starchy balls that don’t mix well. Add and cook until thick.
- Add in beef mixture.
- Eat and enjoy best real food queso con carne in. the. WORLD!
Posicionamientowebeconomico
Friday 12th of October 2018
Estaba buscando esa informacion hace tiempo, te lo agradezco, estoy de contrato con tu punto de vista y forraje igual. Despues de buscar mucho por Internet encontre lo que buscaba.
Genial!!! muchas gracias
Jessica
Thursday 29th of December 2016
Hi. I am curious how important the egg yolks are?
Tori Stewart
Saturday 21st of January 2017
Hi! I'm the Tori from the recipe. The eggs are essential. They are the emulsifier that binds the cheese and milk. If you melt just milk and cheese together, it becomes a rubbery, oily, milky mess. The eggs are what prevent this from happening. If there aren't enough eggs in the recipe, it will curdle and separate. However, it can usually be saved by mixing another egg yolk with some milk or cream and adding it back to the queso. At that point, I use my immersion blender to bring it all together. You lose the chunky tomatoes, onions and peppers, but the resulting queso is good. Hope that is helpful!
Gena
Tuesday 3rd of January 2017
I believe the egg yolks are what make it so creamy, but you could definitely try it without.
Rochly McGavsky
Friday 15th of April 2016
I'm currently in the process of creating this and already from the looks of the meat salsa combination I can tell that it is going to be a winner. I added chicken and canned chili into the mix as well as some buffalo sauce. What a delight.
Amy Greene
Wednesday 20th of August 2014
Wow thanks for linking to my cream cheese recipe. I am anxious to try this recipe soon. I am thinking it is perfect for football season coming up!
Nicole @ Some Call It Natural
Monday 4th of August 2014
I am so happy to see this! I've attempted non velveeta cheese dip and it never comes out quite right. I'm excited to give this one a try! Pinning so I don't lose it!
Gena
Wednesday 6th of August 2014
I hope you love it like we do!!