This white queso, homemade pepper jack queso, is hands down, my favorite queso! I love cheese in every form but this recipe wins first place. It's bursting with flavor, creamy, and has just a little of that pepper jack tang and spice we all love.
The Best Queso Recipe:
If you've searched far and wide for a great queso recipe, look no further. This recipe is a little different than most queso recipes. It has a base of minced onion, garlic, and jalapeno. The layers of flavor are what set it apart!
It seems people are either on or off the cheese train. I blame it on my ancestors. I come from a long line of dairymen, ranchers, and farmers. I'm genetically wired to love dairy products.
This fun and easy queso cheese dip is perfect for any party. It's an easy appetizer and everyone loves it.
Pepperjack cheese isn't super spicy. It's a great amount of heat for anyone who is a little sensitive to spicy food. The great thing about this recipe is you can add some more heat to it or just sprinkle a little hot sauce on top for garnish.
What to serve with Pepperjack Queso:
Bread is always a great choice to serve with homemade queso. You can serve it with breadsticks or just bread cut into bite size chunks. I like to get the artisan bread from the bakery, warm or toast it a bit and serve with this delicious homemade queso.
You can also serve this queso dip with veggies. An easy way to do it is to purchase pre-cut veggie tray at the supermarket and then arrange the veggies on a platter. No one will even know the difference.
Pretzels are always a classic side to this great appetizer. Crackers are great too. Our favorite is celery sticks, carrot sticks, and olives too.
How to make queso:
It's not very complicated to make this queso recipe, it just takes a few steps and I've found a couple of ways to limit your time in the kitchen.
Use your food processor to speed this up. Peel the garlic and cut the onions small enough to fit in the Shute of the food processor and grate the onions and garlic.
Throw in chunks of red pepper and the half jalapeno and mince those up in the food processor too.
Add a few tablespoons of butter in a saucepan and then saute the onion mixture until well-cooked but not brown.
Next, add the evaporated milk, drained green chilis and the cheese sprinkled with the cornstarch.
After that, throw in the spices, salt, and pepper, and then just slowly simmer until all the cheese is melted.
Tips For Making the Best Queso:
Use a brick of cheese. Don't use pre-shredded cheese. It has a non-caking coating on it and your queso cheese won't be as creamy if you use pre-shredded cheese.
White onion works great. It'll keep the lighter coloring you're looking for with a white queso
You can reheat the queso by heating it on the stove and adding a little milk.
If you're serving a crowd, to works great to make the queso and then keep it warm in a slow cooker.
Homemade Pepper Jack Queso
Ingredients
- 16 oz Shredded Pepper Jack Cheese (from a brick, not pre-shredded)
- 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons Butter
- ½ Cup Onion cut into large chunks
- ½ Red Pepper deseeded and cut into chunks
- ½ whole Jalapeno deseeded
- 2 Cloves Garlic peeled
- 4 oz Green Chilies drained
- 1 Can Evaporated Milk
- ½ Cup Cream any kind will do
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder, onion powder, cumin
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Instructions
- Shred cheese. Sprinkle the corn starch on the cheese and mix gently with your fingers to cover all the cheese.
- In a food processor, with the grater attachment on, grate the onion, garlic, jalapeno and red pepper.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the onion mixture. Sautee, stirring occasionally, until the onions are well done but not brown.
- Add the evaporated milk, cream, green chilies, spices, salt and pepper, and the shredded cheese. Simmer on low until the cheese is melted and smooth.
- Keep warm in a slow cooker until ready to eat. If you need to re-heat this recipe, put it in a saucepan with a little milk and stir until smooth again.
- Serve with fresh veggies or tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Nutrition
If you're looking for some of the best appetizers, try these appetizer recipes.
Flaming Hot Cheeto Chicken Tenders
Cream Cheese Caramel Apple Dip
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Kelly
What do you do with the green chilies? Drain the can chop the chilies? When are they added? Same question about the jalapeños.
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Hi Kelly - we've updated the recipe and answered your questions there!
Twil
Can I use half and half and how much?
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Hi there, you can try with half and half if you'd like. You would want to do an equal substitution of half and half for cream.
Rhena
Great recipe, but when do you add 1/2 cup cream and what kind of cream ?
The Carefree Kitchen
I've update the recipe card. Thanks for pointing that out! Add the cream when you add the evaporated milk. Heavy whipping cream or really any cream will do. I hope you love it as much as we do!