This authentic restaurant-style Monterey Jack Queso is the ultimate party appetizer! It’s made with milky Monterey Jack cheese, flavorful green chiles, and the perfect amount of spice. The final result is unbelievably smooth, creamy, and decadent. All you need is 8 simple ingredients, 20 minutes, and a big appetite!
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🧀 What Is Queso?
The word queso is Spanish for “cheese,” which can refer to almost any type of cheese. In the US, “queso” is often synonymous with queso dip or chile con queso (chili with cheese).
Monterey Jack Queso is a type of queso dip made with mix-ins like chiles, garlic, and shallots. If you’re new to Monterey Jack cheese, you should know this queso blanco (white cheese) is mild in flavor yet milky and seriously creamy. Once heated, it transforms into the perfect dip consistency and stays smooth even as it cools.
Pairing queso with green chiles and garlic adds a touch of heat, a slightly chunky texture, and a punchy flavor. Plus, making dip from home is way better than buying jarred queso that contains additives and preservatives that no one can pronounce!
Queso Monterey Jack is perfect for game night, tailgating, potlucks, and parties. Serve it as part of a spread with Honey Garlic Chicken Wings, Crab Spinach Artichoke Dip, or Air Fryer Chicken Meatballs. Or pair it with corn tortilla chips, vegetables, bread, crackers, or anything else you can think of!
Why You'll Love It
- Quick and easy: Making homemade white queso dip is such a breeze because it requires just 8 easy-to-find ingredients and 20 minutes total. It's perfect to whip up anytime!
- Versatile: Use this big batch of Monterey Jack queso as an easy dip with chips, a burger topping, burrito sauce, or a dip with pizza. There are so many uses for it!
- Travels well: Prepare this dip well in advance for sporting events, gatherings, and more! It stays smooth and creamy for so long, plus it’s quick to reheat!
🧂 Ingredients
- Monterey Jack cheese: Monterey Jack is a semi-hard young cheese, so it’s fairly mild in flavor and quite creamy. It's popularly used in Mexican cuisine like enchiladas, taquitos, and quesadillas. Always use block cheese and shred it yourself. Pre-grated cheese contains anti-clumping preservatives that prevents it from melting properly.
- Corn starch: Helps stabilize the cheese sauce to keep it silky and glossy, even as it cools.
- Butter: To sauté the shallots and garlic, providing a rich flavor. Use unsalted butter to prevent an overly salty Monterey Jack queso dip.
- Shallot: Adds mild savoriness and texture.
- Garlic: Provides a zesty, pungent flavor, which the Monterey Jack cheese sauce needs!
- Cumin: Brings a warm, earthy element to the dip.
- Canned green chiles: Add a bit of a kick and chunky texture. It's usually made with fire-roasted jalapeno or serrano peppers. Since Monterey Jack cheese is quite mild, I prefer to use two cans of diced chiles. I don't find it spicy, especially with all the cheese - but feel free to start with one can if you're sensitive.
- Evaporated milk: Simply regular milk that's been steamed, resulting in a more concentrated milk with less water and moisture. This keeps the queso dip unbelievably smooth, silky, and creamy.
- Optional garnishes: cilantro, green onion, and red chili flakes.
Substitutions & Variations
- You can try different types of meltable cheese in place of Monterey Jack like Havarti, Munster, American, Gouda, or Cheddar. For a queso blanco (white queso), stick to white cheeses like white American, pepper jack, white cheddar, or Fontina cheese.
- Shallots can be replaced with yellow or green onion.
- Increase the spice in the sauce by adding in diced jalapeños, serranos, hot sauce, canned adobo sauce, or cayenne. In addition, you can also swap out plain Monterey Jack cheese for pepper jack cheese.
- Keep it fun with different toppings like breadcrumbs, pickled jalapeños or red onion, fresh tomatoes, or salsa.
- Add your favorite herbs and spices directly into the Monterey Jack queso dip. Some options include smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, and ancho chili powder.
- For a less chunky Monterey Jack queso dip, skip the vegetables. Add flavor back in with hot sauce and spices.
- For a set-it-and-forget-it approach, prepare your Monterey Jack queso in a slow cooker. Just add all of the ingredients to a slow cooker, then cook on Low for 2-3 hours. Stir to combine and serve!
👩🏻🍳 How To Make Monterey Jack Queso Dip
STEP ONE: First, prepare all your fresh ingredients by dicing the shallots, mincing the garlic, and shredding the cheese. Pre-measure everything out and get your mise en place ready since this recipe moves quick!
STEP TWO: In a large bowl, toss shredded Monterey Jack cheese and corn starch together. This will prevent the starch from clumping up in the dip. Set aside.
STEP THREE: Heat a large pot over medium heat and melt butter. Cook shallots with a pinch of salt for 1 minute, until lightly translucent.
STEP FOUR: Add the garlic and cumin. Stir for 30 seconds to bloom the spices.
STEP FOUR: Next, add the evaporated milk, canned green chiles, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine and let heat up for 2-3 minutes until milk is lightly steaming. Don't be tempted to turn up the heat - we just want the milk to be warm enough to melt the cheese, but not evaporate or scald.
STEP FIVE: Turn the heat down to low. Add a handful of cheese and whisk until completely melted. Repeat, gradually adding in cheese and letting melt between each handful. The sauce will appear stringy at this time.
STEP SIX: Gradually pour in remaining evaporated milk. I like to add half, then whisk it in to thin out the sauce, then repeat. Continue stirring over low heat until the Monterey Jack Queso is smooth and dip-consistency, about 4 minutes later. Season to taste and serve immediately.
💭 Top Tips
- Use block cheese: Make sure your Monterey Jack is in block form and shred it yourself with a box grater. This will result in restaurant-style queso that's the perfect creamy texture.
- Add cheese gradually: To prevent cheese from breaking and separating, remember to add the shreds slowly and keep the heat on the lowest setting. High heat will cause the fat in the cheese to separate, resulting in an oily queso.
- Don’t boil: Do not let your cheese mixture boil. The cheese will separate into oil and solids, plus the milk will scald. Never go higher than medium heat.
- Add the milk slowly: To achieve the right consistency, add the evaporated milk slowly. If you add too much at once, it’s difficult to create a thick cheese dip consistency.
- Portion out a small serving for parties: As queso cools, it can seize and start to lose its flowy consistency. If serving Monterey Jack Queso at a party, I recommend serving a small bowl for guests. Keep the remainder warm on the stovetop at low heat or in the slow cooker, and refill the bowl as needed.
What To Serve With Monterey Jack Queso
- Dip: Keep it simple and serve this queso as a dip. It's delicious hot, warm, or even cold! Serve it with traditional dipping accompaniments like tortilla chips, Wonton Chips, vegetables, sliced bread, pretzel bites, or crackers.
- Nachos: Drizzle the cheese sauce over tortilla chips, french fries, or tater tots and top with your favorite meat and veggies.
- Mac and cheese: Mix in cooked pasta, cubed meat, and frozen vegetables for a creative way to repurpose leftovers.
- Sauce: Pour Monterey Jack cheese sauce onto burgers, quesadillas, grilled cheese, tacos, pizza, hot dogs, or roasted vegetables for an easy boost of flavor.
🥡 Storing & Freezing
Storing: Let your Monterey Jack Queso completely cool, then store it in the fridge for up to 4-5 days in an airtight container.
Freezing: You can technically freeze Mexican cheese dip, but I don’t suggest it. Once thawed, the oil tends to separate and the cheese can turn grainy.
Reheating: Reheat Monterey Jack cheese sauce on the stovetop over low heat until it starts to loosen up and become creamy again Don’t forget to stir it often so it doesn’t burn!
If you decide to microwave it, only do so in 15-second intervals while stirring it in between. If you microwave it for too long, the cheese will break.
Make Ahead: For maximum freshness, I recommend making Monterey Jack Queso dip only 1-2 days in advance and reheating as instructed above.
📖 Recipe FAQs
Yes, Monterey Jack cheese melts wonderfully. It is a semi-soft cheese with a high fat and moisture content, so it is one of the best types of cheese for queso dip.
Yes, you can use pre-shredded Monterey Jack cheese for Mexican queso dip. Just be aware that there are ingredients added to pre-shredded cheese to prevent it from clumping. The final texture may be affected because of this.
The best way to keep this restaurant style queso sauce warm is to use use a slow cooker. All you have to do is add the queso to a slow cooker and set it on the “warm” setting. Alternatively, transfer it to a heat-safe container and place it on low heat on the stovetop. Just don’t forget to stir it occasionally.
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📋 Recipe
Monterey Jack Queso
Ingredients
- 1 lb (16 oz) Monterey Jack cheese shredded (see notes)
- ½ tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 shallot finely diced; about 2-3 tbsp
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 2 (4 oz) cans fire roasted diced green chiles
- 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk divided
- Cilantro and green onion optional garnishes
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Combine shredded cheese and corn starch in a bowl. Toss until starch is evenly distributed, then set aside.
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Then add shallot with a small pinch of salt. Let cook for 1 minute until lightly translucent. Add garlic and cumin, stirring for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- Pour in 1 cup (8oz, 240ml) of evaporated milk, green chiles, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Let heat up for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until lightly steaming.
- Turn heat down to low. Add a handful of cheese and stir constantly until melted. Repeat until all the cheese has been added, making sure to only add a handful at a time while constantly stirring. Be patient!
- Gradually pour in the remaining evaporated milk while stirring. Whisk until silky, smooth, and dip consistency is reached, about 3-5 minutes. Season to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
- Monterey Jack cheese: Always use block cheese and shred it yourself. Pre-grated cheese contains anti-clumping preservatives that prevents it from melting properly.
- Slow cooker: Just add all of the ingredients to a slow cooker, then cook on Low for 2-3 hours. Stir to combine and serve.
- Portion out a small serving for parties: As queso cools, it can seize and start to lose its flowy consistency. If serving Monterey Jack Queso at a party, I recommend serving a small bowl for guests. Keep the remainder warm on the stovetop at low heat or in the slow cooker, and refill the bowl as needed.
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