Awesome Queso
Note: If you rush the preparation, you will get lumpy queso, scorched queso, or both.
- 2 lbs. Velveeta cheese
- 2 cans Rotel tomatoes and chilies
- 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
- 12-16 oz. Jimmy Dean sausage (other bulk or roll sausage can be substituted, just don’t use links)
Fry the sausage and drain into colander, if the meat is in large chunks when cooked, break into bite sized pieces with wooden spoon. Fry the lean beef in the remaining sausage grease. Drain well. Break large chunks of meat into smaller bite-sized pieces. All the meat pieces must be small enough to scoop up with a chip.
The secret to perfect queso is small pieces of cheese and slow heating. Cut the 2-lb. block of Velveeta into at least 32 pieces. Pieces the size of your thumb or smaller are best. Place in a crockpot or microwave-safe dish. Pour the Rotel tomatoes over the cheese and mix in the drained meat. If using a crockpot, place one can of Rotel in the crockpot, add the cheese, then the meat, and then the second can of Rotel. It helps keep the cheese from burning on the bottom.
Heat on low in the crockpot, stirring every 10 minutes until cheese is completely melted. Turn crockpot to low or warm to keep the cheese from burning.
Awesome Queso in the Microwave
If using the micro-wave, cook for 5 minutes at 50% power. Stir and repeat until cheese is completely melted.
Serve warm with chips! You need about 400-500 chips for this amount of queso.
40-50 servings (10 chips and about 1/4-1/3 cup queso per serving)
See also: Vegetarian TexMex Queso