This restaurant-quality queso blanco recipe is sure to impress! Whether it is a side dip for guests or a side for your weeknight dinner, this queso blanco is boldly cheesy and flavorful with a bit of a kick.

THE INGREDIENTS: 

Onion: Why is there an onion in here? Flavor! Onion and garlic help to build the backbone of our queso blanco. Their nice flavor helps to balance out the warm peppers we are adding. If you do not have ½ of an onion on hand, we recommend using 2 tablespoons of dried minced onion or 1.5 teaspoons of onion powder. For the dried minced onion, ensure to cook it in butter until fragrant. For the onion powder, just add it at the same time you would add the salt. 

Garlic: Where there is onion, there is often garlic. No exceptions today! When we say 3 garlic cloves, we mean 3 large ones. However, adjust the amount of garlic to your heart’s content. If you do not have fresh garlic on hand, feel free to replace this with about ¾ teaspoon of garlic powder. 

Poblano: If you often get your queso blanco at a restaurant or fast food joint, you’ll probably find that there are pieces of diced poblano in it! To give us that copycat-level goodness, we make sure to include plenty in this recipe. Although poblano peppers are mild in terms of their heat level, feel free to deseed this pepper for less of a kick. Our queso is hearty with bites of vegetables throughout to reduce any monotonous feel. With that being said, some people like only a few vegetable bites throughout their queso. So, feel free to reduce the amount of poblano to ½ of a poblano pepper. Don’t have a poblano pepper on hand? Other good substitutes include jalapenos, (you know your spice tolerance best, this might get hot if you are low-tolerance), an anaheim pepper, or even a small green bell pepper. 

Jalapeno: Here is where we bring a little heat! This jalapeno pepper provides enough heat to easily cut through all that cheese. Feel free to deseed the jalapeno pepper or reduce it to ½ a jalapeno pepper. This is best if you or any eater has a low spice tolerance, as we have found 1 whole jalapeno can be a little too much for those that can’t handle heat well. 

Roma Tomatoes: Cheese is decadent, there is no hiding it. To give you some relief as you eat, we include fresh, juicy roma tomatoes. Although we say 3 roma tomatoes in our recipe, please reduce it to 2 if your tomatoes are large. Although we are a recipe blog, we also advocate for eyeballing what you think is right as you cook! You know best how much tomato to add as you know your own preferences best. You can also replace this with any kind of tomato you have on hand. Use your own judgement (3 cherry tomatoes does not equal 3 romas)!

Salt: Since we already have our produce providing a lot of the flavor in this recipe, we didn’t feel the need to reach for much in our spice cabinet. Salt, with that being said, is a must. Without the salt, something will feel “off” and your queso blanco dip will taste lackluster and flat. As always, adjust the salt to your preference! 

Butter: We use butter in this recipe for 3 reasons. The first is to cook down our produce so it has just the recipe texture. The second is, since butter is fat, to help bring out the flavor of our onions, garlic, and peppers so they can stand up to the dairy we add later. The third, finally, is to use it as a part of a roux so that our cheese sauce can thicken just how we want. 

Flour: We just mentioned a roux, which is an equal combination of butter and flour. Without flour in this recipe, your cheese sauce would be nearly as thin as a glass of milk! Make sure to add it. If you add less, your cheese sauce will be thinner or you will need to cook it on the heat longer to get to your desired consistency. The more flour you add, the thicker the sauce will get with less cooking time. We don’t recommend going over this or you will probably have to add extra milk to thin out your sauce later. 

Milk: Well, cheese sauce can’t only be made of cheese! Milk is our medium that the cheese melts into, giving us a gooey texture that will leave you (or your party guests) coming back for more. The more milk you add, the more diluted your flavor is, so we would be careful with this! If you add more milk, your cheese sauce will be thinner. Less milk and your cheese sauce will be thicker. You can use just about any fat percentage, bearing in mind that the more fat, the thicker the sauce. 

Mexican Four Cheese: That’s right, we use 2 different kinds of cheese! (or 4-5 if you buy every single kind of cheese individually, but what would be a little much…). Mexican Four Cheese, Mexican Cheese, or whatever your brand goes by is often a blend of common Mexican cheeses. It provides far more flavor than cheddar ever could, so it is definitely a must for this recipe. In addition to that, it is usually a blend of white and yellow cheeses, keeping our queso blanco, well, blanco instead of amarillo (yellow). 

Sharp White Cheddar: One thing we are always looking for in a good queso dip is sharpness. Without that sharp hit, even with all the flavor we add, the dip just doesn’t feel quite right. Personally, our Mexican Four Cheese brand includes sharp white cheddar. With that being said, it just isn’t enough to give us what we want when we add 2 cups of Mexican Four Cheese. ½ Mexican Four Cheese and ½ Sharp White Cheddar gives us that sweet spot that left tasters saying it tasted just like a common fast food chain! If you’re fine with a color change to yellow and slight flavor change, sharp cheddar cheese may be used as a substitute. It will still be good! 

KEY INFORMATION: 

What Goes with Queso Blanco? If you’re looking to serve it as an appetizer or side dip, we recommend a platter of tortilla chips, mini bell peppers, and broccoli. Want other side/appetizer ideas? Have this as a dip for homemade soft pretzels or make a “french fry bar” where this is one of the toppings!

If you’re looking to incorporate this into a meal, we have ideas! The first is to make taquitos and use this queso blanco as a topping. You could even make taco rice bowls that have rice, a protein, this queso blanco sauce, and a vegetable component (guacamole, frozen corn dip, or roasted bell peppers are great options). This sauce is great as the cheese for your nacho meal. For breakfast, feel free to add this to eggs and for lunch feel free to use this cheese as a burger topping. Otherwise, queso blanco pairs deliciously as a side to tacos, enchiladas, taco salads, burritos, and quesadillas. 

What is a Roux? A roux is an equal mixture of butter and flour. It is used in order to thicken sauces, with the butter providing a rich flavor. 

What Cheese is Best for Making Queso Blanco? In our honest opinion, a mixture of ½ Sharp White Cheddar and ½ Mexican Four Cheese! Mexican Four Cheese brings that classic flavor, where Sharp White Cheddar adds boldness to every bite. 

Can You Make Queso Blanco Without Velveeta? You sure can! Ditch that fake stuff and use shredded or block cheese (that you shred yourself) for a more flavorful, still creamy queso blanco. 

How Do I Get a Creamy Texture For Queso Blanco? Many other blogs recommend shredding your own cheese. That is a successful strategy that you can go for, but we have found we can completely avoid that grainy texture even with pre-shredded cheese. The secret is our roux and our milk! By already having warm milk thickened with flour/butter, the cheese melts and combines with our milk mixture instead of separating and becoming grainy. However, make sure to not boil the milk after the cheese has gone in! 

How Can I Make My Queso Blanco Less Spicy? You can deseed the poblano and jalapeno, even omitting the jalapeno entirely. If desired, a less spicy replacement for a poblano is a green bell pepper. 

How Can I Add More Flavor to Queso Blanco? Good question! If you’re looking for a new flavor, consider the following swap-outs or additional add-ins: red onions, pickled jalapenos, corn, cilantro, lime, cooked ground beef, cumin, smoked paprika, or chili powder. 

How Long Does Queso Blanco Last? Queso Blanco would last 3-5 days in the fridge, but use your best judgement. To reheat, combine the queso with some extra milk and cook until the texture is thinned out, yet still creamy.