A silky smooth Nachos cheese dip that doesn’t harden or congeal as it cools!! It is just as good served warm, at room temperature or cold. When warm, it can be used as a cheese sauce to pour over nachos, chips or whatever else takes your fancy. It takes just over 5 minutes to make and is great to make ahead as it reheats well.
Use this to make a Ripper Beef Nachos!
“This Nachos Cheese Dip was an invention out of necessity. Because I love cheesy dips, and I wanted one that did not harden or congeal as it cooled.”
I am yet to meet a cheese I don’t love. Plus I have a weakness for all things snacky. If there’s something to nibble on within reach, it’s like my arm is on auto pilot.
Therefore, this Nachos Cheese Dip is pretty much all my weaknesses bundled into one bowl. Place this with a pile of corn chips in front of me and I stand no chance.
I know there are loads of cheese dip recipes “out there”. And I tried quite a few of them (the ones without processed cheese), but the thing that I found inconvenient was that as the dip cooled, the cheese in the dip would harden. And when the dip was reheated, the dip would split (the oil would separate).
Being a Cheese Loving Snack Monster, I went on a mission to create a warm cheese dip/ sauce that would not harden as it cooled and was not made out of processed cheese. I was actually quite amazed that every recipe I looked at had a fairly similar base to the ones I had already tried, so I knew they would not achieve what I was after. Mind you, this was about 5 or so years ago. So maybe the internet is flooded with non-congealing warm cheese dips now!
“The secret ingredient in this is evaporated milk. That’s how this stays creamy – warm or cold.”
This dip is made with evaporated milk which makes all the difference. I was making an Alfredo Sauce using evaporated milk when the thought occurred to me that it might work for a dip too. Bit of corn starch / corn flour to thicken it, plenty of cheese (it is a Cheese dip!) and some additional flavourings to make it a nachos cheese dip.
So cutting to the chase, here are 7 reasons why I am obsessed with this Nachos Cheese Dip / Sauce:
1. It is ridiculously easy (5 ingredients, < 10 minutes);
2. Perfectly smooth;
3. Easily adjustable to your own taste. Increase, decrease or remove the spice factor, add your own flavourings;
4. Doesn’t use processed “plastic” cheese;
5. Can be made ahead. It keeps perfectly in the fridge for at least a week (it has never lasted longer in my house);
6. Reheats without splitting; and
7. Is a 2 in 1 recipe – a dip and a sauce. When warm, it is quite loose, like a thick sauce. It is pourable over nachos, chips or whatever else takes your fancy. (UPDATE: I just got a great tip from a reader to use this over tots! Never thought of that – that’s a step up from fries!!) When it is cool, it thickens up to a thick dip consistency. And when it is refrigerated, it is a spreadable consistency, like peanut butter. It can also be thinned out simply by adding a bit of milk (ordinary or evaporated).
Now please excuse me, I need to go and blow my my calorie budget for the entire week. Happy snacking! – Nagi x
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Nachos Cheese Dip & Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups / 225g / 8oz shredded cheese (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, etc), shred your own (Important - read Note 1)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (corn flour)
- 1 can evaporated milk (375g / 12oz)
- 2 tbsp finely chopped jalapeño peppers (fresh or canned)
- 1 tbsp hot sauce (or adjust to your taste)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (optional - adds extra flavour)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder (optional - adds extra flavour)
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Toss the cheese and cornstarch together in a saucepan.
- Add all other ingredients, cook over medium heat, whisking often until the cheese is melted and smooth.
- Adjust to your taste if required - with extra hot sauce and salt.
- While hot, it will have a sauce like consistency - perfect for pouring over nachos.
- As it cools, it will thicken and become a dip-like consistency. Whisk occasionally to mix in the skin that forms on the top.
- Stir in additional evaporated (or even normal) milk to achieve the desired consistency if you want to use it as a pourable sauce. Note that when you reheat it, it loosens up.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
PS Watch how easy to this to make in my Nachos Cheese Dip / Sauce VIDEO!
evaporated milk is the same with condensed milk ?
Hi Viorica! Unfortunately not 🙂 Evaporated milk is concentrated milk whereas condensed milk has LOTS of sugar added to it so is not suitable to this recipe!
Hi,
Loved your cheesy dip recipe. Just one question. What is evaporated milk. If I buy normal pasteurized milk, boil and cool it and then use it, will that be ok?
Hi Anindya! It’s a long-life milk that is not required to be kept in the fridge. It’s thicker than normal milk. Sorry to say this doesn’t work with normal milk!
I was hunting for a queso recipe. Tried 3 and they all failed as a dip when cooled down and that was disappointing (not to mention all the wasted ingredients!) I don’t have a crockpot to keep the dip warm. They ended up either too stringy, hard, gritty, or gloppy.
Then I found your recipe! Your opening sentence was what I needed: a dip that stayed being a dip when cooled!
I tried your recipe and it was a winner for me. Who know all I needed was evaporated milk?
Thank you so much. You’ve saved me from a huge headache.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this!!! It’s legendary, isn’t it? It’s how creamy cheesy dips are made in Australia. There are plenty of variations of this around!
Can you use heavy cream in place of the evaporated milk?
Hi Les! No, it doesn’t work, it will either seize up when cools and/or you still struggle to get the cheese incorporated. 🙂 It needs to be evaporated milk!
I made this for the extended family – we all love spicy stuff so I added a fair bit of hot sauce. I also added bacon at the last minute (how could you go wrong). The family hasn’t stopped raving about it and I have had many requests for a copy of the recipe!!
I also thought I was going to have to freeze the leftovers (I love that it can be frozen), but the leftovers were eaten the next day before I could even get the chance =D
I will definitely be making this again 🙂
Oh yay!! I am indecently obsessed with this dip 🙂 I swear, it’s even better the next day, it becomes silkier!
Thanks for coming back to let me know you loved it!!! And yes, I highly approve of spicy spicy spicy…. 🙂
Looks awesome! Making this for a party this weekend. Do you know if I can use half/half instead of evaporated milk? I’ve seen other recipes use it interchangeably (and Costco has a great deal on a ginormous container of organic half/half, lol). But I don’t want to ruin it! Thanks!
Hi Shane! Evaporated milk is they key to making this dip which stays creamy instead of hardening up like other cheese dips / sauces. 🙂 So sorry! Must be evaporated milk. If you use half/half, as soon as this cools down, it congeals and is un-dippable!!
Can I make this in a crock pot?!
did You end up making the cheese sauce in a crock pot? I have an electric fondue pot I wanted to try it in
Hi Katie! I’m sure you can but I don’t know the cook time, sorry!
This cheese dip is fantastic! I will never go back to store bought queso again! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for coming back to share your thoughts!! 🙂
Tried this today. It is delicious. I have been searching for a good nacho cheese recipes. This is the first one that I really like. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Cynthia! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! I know what you mean, I was searching for ages myself. The cheese dips that go hard when they cool were driving me up the wall – I can’t eat it fast enough!
Thank you for coming back to share your feedback. Happy weekend! Nagi x
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Hate it when my queso turns into a blob of rubber so this should be awesome. I’d like to consider adding beer to the recipe so where in the process would you suggest? Thx, Chris
Hi Daddy G! I’m sorry, I’ve never used beer in this recipe before! If I do, I’ll update the recipe 🙂
I had high hopes for this but it ended up gritty and not smooth…. I followed the instructions exactly so Im not sure what happened….any ideas?
Hi Tiffanie, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ve made it about 20+ times and the only time I had the gritty problem was when I used provolone cheese. It just doesn’t melt well with cornstarch. What cheese did you use? Also, was your cornstarch past the expiry date? That will cause problems too.
I can’t eat cornstarch. Do you think ground flax seed would work?
I just tried ground flaxseed in this recipe and it turned out very tasty.
WOW! Thank you for sharing that tip, fantastic! So glad you enjoyed it Elaine! N x
I’m sorry Renee, I don’t know! I’ve never tried this with anything other than cornstarch.
Thank you for such an amazing nacho cheese recipe. Me and my husband would say it is *Figer lickin good. Seriously, best we have found.
We did have to add half a cup of water once we took it off the stove and it sat, while we made the other toppings for nachos. But aside from that, on POINT!
OH GOODIE! So glad you enjoyed this! I am obsessed with it – in fact, I think I might some this afternoon as I have friends coming over. 🙂 Yes, water or milk to adjust it to the thickness you want / need. And it does thicken up alot when it cools..
Thanks for coming back to share that you enjoyed it!
Hi! I’m doing a nacho bar for my daughter’s birthday party this weekend and came across this recipe. I like a lot of spice so the jalapeños sound great to me, i’m just worried my guests won’t like it that spicy. What do you think about substituting with pepper jack cheese? If you think that would work, would add to the already 2 1/2 cups or do something like 2 cups of the cheddar and 1/2 cup pepper jack?
Hi Christina! This is PERFECTLY delicious if you just omit the spicy stuff altogether. Honestly, it’s the cheese that does it! It has always worked fab with any melting cheese so feel free to sub with any other cheeses you want!! 🙂 (Not mozzarella though, too stringy!)
Hi there. I am doing a nacho bar for 35ish ppl this Thursday and I’m going to try this recipe and keep it warm in a chafing pan. Would you triple the recipe? Or quadruple? Thanks … just looking for some guidance on how much one recipe makes
Hi Jackie! One batch makes around 2 cups of dip which I think serves around 6 to 8 people. So for 35 people, I would quadruple it. You can make it in the same pot – I have made a triple batch in one pot before. 🙂 Hope you enjoy it!
I am hoping to try this, but in a white cheese sauce form. Like a spicy queso! White American cheese melts terrifically along with pepper jack, or habanero jack. Some extra jalapenos and a little cilantro!! Yumm. thanks for the idea of the evaporated milk!!
Hi Tiffany – this works great with white American Cheese! Just leave out the hot sauce which is what makes it slightly pinky/orange that you see in the photo. Then you have a queso! 🙂
Yum! Thanks so much for this recipe, it was great as a sauce on homemade pretzel hot dog buns! It still needs just a bit tweaking to get it to taste just like the nacho cheese sauce taste, that we get at the ball park.
Hi Kimmie! I agree it doesn’t taste exactly like the stuff that comes out of a tap, but it’s definitely the closest I have been able to get to – especially texture wise. But I’m glad you enjoyed it! It’s sinfully delicious, isn’t it?? 🙂
This cheese is phenomenal! It’s very important that you toss the cheese and cornstarch before you melt it. Another mistake I made was adding much more cornstarch than needed. It wasn’t thickening fast enough for me, but rest assured that your thin sauce WILL thicken as it cools! Otherwise it’s great and tastes exactly like name-brand cheese dip (but minus the chopped peppers you typically see.)
Ha ha Sarah, I made that mistake the first time I made it! I was too impatient so I added more corn starch and I ended up with cheese slurry instead of cheese dip! Glad you enjoyed it and that you think it tastes as good as store bought!! 🙂
Would I be able to add a can of Rotel chillies & browned Italian sausage to the cheese dip?
ABSOLUTELY! Basically you’ll be kicking my little version into another stratosphere! 🙂
can this be served in a crock pot for parties on low?
It sure can!
Okay..this is what i have been searching for – cheese sauce that will not harden when cooled!definitely i will try this & hope it will work!;)
Hope you do! Honestly, it is crazy fast to make, less than 10 minutes!
I have just found your blog and this is so gonna be the first thing I make. I would make an excellent sauce for mac n’ cheese.
You know what vicky? I have never used this for Mac ‘N Cheese but this would work really well for it! You can thin it out with milk to make it the consistency you want and leave out the Jalapeños and hot sauce, if you want. I think I might have to give that a go! Thanks for the idea Vicky!
hello,what hot sauce do you use?any example hot sauce?what can i use for substitute jalepeno?
Hi Zack! I usually use sriracha because it is a personal preference because I like the slight vinegary flavour that it adds to the sauce. But I also use hot sauces like tabasco. Just be sure to start with a smaller amount and adjust to your taste because different hot sauces differ in hotness! Regarding a jalapeño substitute, if you don’t have it, I suggest leaving it out. I often do!