This easy salsa con queso recipe is creamy, flavorful, and absolutely divine! This queso is served warm, super melty, swirled with salsa, and golden in color! Perfect for drizzling on tacos or dipping with tortilla chips.
This isn’t your typical Taco Bell salsa con queso. This homemade salsa con queso with NO Velveeta cheese, NO heavy cream, and NO American cheese! Best of all, you can make this delicious cheese sauce in less than 20 minutes and it has only 6 ingredients!
This salsa con queso recipe is perfect for any occasion! Serve at a gameday event, a potluck, or a holiday party! This queso recipe is perfect for dipping and dunking, making it a sure hit at any occasion (including game day or Super Bowl).
Keep this queso in a crockpot or warming station, set to “warm” for perfectly melty queso for hours. Travels great too!
For another warm, creamy recipe, try this delicious vegetable potato soup recipe!
Salsa Con Queso Ingredients
The best thing about this recipe is that it has only 6 main ingredients! Many of these ingredients you already have in your fridge or pantry! For this delicious queso recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Olive oil-For this recipe, I typically use olive oil, canola oil, or extra virgin olive oil. Feel free also to use avocado oil if you prefer!
- All-purpose flour-While you can absolutely use all-purpose flour for this recipe, I always use gluten-free flour, and it comes out perfect every time!
- Milk-Use your favorite milk for this recipe; it is very forgiving. I have used whole milk, 1 percent milk, soy milk, and oat milk for this recipe. Perfect every time!
- Cream cheese-Feel free to use full-fat, low-fat, or vegan cream cheese for this recipe.
- Cheddar cheese– You can use cheddar cheese, low-fat cheddar cheese, or vegan cheese for this recipe.
- Salsa-Use your absolute favorite salsa, with any level of spice, for this recipe!
See recipe card for additional details and quantities.
Queso Instructions
For the full instructions and measurements for how to make this delicious recipe, please skip down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!
Use the following step-by-step instructions for how to make this delicious salsa con queso recipe:
Add the olive oil and flour to the saucepan. Whisk until a thin paste forms. Continue cooking and whisking over medium-low heat for another 30-60 seconds to cook out the flour.
Then, while continuously whisking, slowly add some of the milk. The sauce will thicken immediately. Continue to whisk and slowly add the milk.
Add the cream cheese and cheddar cheese to the mixture and continue to whisk until the queso thickens.
When your queso has thickened, add your favorite salsa. Whisk until completely combined. Serve and enjoy!
Hint: Be sure to stir while adding the milk continuously! This will ensure the smoothest queso without lumps!
Queso with Salsa Substitutions
This salsa con queso recipe is incredibly simple, making it easy to substitute ingredients for allergy and diet-friendly alternatives!
- Low-Fat – Replace full-fat milk, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese with their low-fat counterparts to achieve the perfect low-fat cheese dip.
- Vegan – use vegan milk, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese for a vegan creamy queso recipe!
- Protein – this recipe is perfect for adding ground beef, ground sausage, or shredded chicken for a delicious dip.
- Gluten-free – substitute the all-purpose flour with gluten-free flour for a delicious gluten-free snack!
Queso Variations
This recipe is easily customizable with multiple variations of toppings and flavor suggestions:
- Spicy – add chili pepper flakes, Tabasco sauce, or extra spicy salsa to make this queso extra spicy.
- Protein – add shredded chicken, ground beef, ground sausage, or ground tofu for an extra protein dip!
- Kid-friendly – Use an extra mild or sweet salsa to make this dish even more kid-friendly.
Looking for a fun appetizer to dip in salsa con queso? Try this Super Bowl appetizer recipe!
Equipment
To make this delicious queso recipe, all you need is a medium saucepan and a whisk! Two pieces of equipment are all that are required to make this recipe!
Once you’ve made your queso, you can add it to a crockpot or warming station to keep it melty and warm for serving.
Salsa Con Queso Storage
Store your queso in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. I recommend reheating your queso in a crock pot or on the stovetop. This gently reheats and remelts your delicious salsa con queso.
You can also freeze the queso for up to 3 months in an airtight container. I recommend the same reheating method as stated above.
Top tips
- Be sure to whisk while adding the milk continuously! This will ensure the smoothest, best salsa con queso without lumps!
- Instead of using full-fat milk, cheddar cheese, and cream cheese for this recipe, consider replacing them with low-fat alternatives for a perfect low-fat queso.
- Add shredded chicken, ground beef, ground sausage, or ground tofu for an extra protein kick!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The key difference between regular queso and salsa con queso lies in their ingredients: regular queso is made with cheese and spices. At the same time, salsa con queso is made with cheese and salsa!
You can serve your salsa con queso with a variety of dishes, including chips, tacos, wings, quesadillas, burritos, steak, rice bowls, nachos, chicken, or taquitos.
The ingredients typically found in salsa con queso are real cheese, salsa, flour, and milk. The most important ingredient is the addition of salsa.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this Salsa Con Queso recipe:
Salsa Con Queso Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Medium saucepan
- 1 Whisk
Ingredients
Salsa Con Queso
- 4 Tbsp Olive oil or your preferred oil
- 4 Tbsp All-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
- 2 Cups Whole Milk or your preferred milk of choice
- 4 Tbsp Cream cheese or vegan cream cheese
- 1/2 Cup Cheddar cheese or vegan cheddar
- 3/4 Cup Salsa
Instructions
Salsa Con Queso
- Preheat a medium-saucepan over medium heat. Measure all ingredients for the recipe.
- Add the olive oil and flour to the saucepan. Whisk until a thin paste forms. Continue cooking and whisking over medium heat for another 30-60 seconds to cook out the flour.
- Then while continuously whisking, slowly add some of the milk. The sauce will thicken immediately. Continue to whisk and slowly add the milk. Be sure to whisk continuously to ensure a smooth cheese sauce consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the cream cheese and cheddar cheese to the mixture and continue to whisk until the queso thickens.
- When your queso has thickened, add your favorite salsa. Whisk until completely combined. Continue whisking and cooking until you have a warm sauce at your preferred consistency and thickness.
- Remove from heat. Serve and enjoy!
This was absolutely great. I love that the steps were so easy to follow.
I love this queso and its great with chips and on nachos!