I was thrilled to stumble across this recipe in Rebecca Rather’s Pastry Queen Parties. It checks all the boxes—easy, incredibly delicious, and best of all, genuinely creamy (no disappointment here).
Like so many great recipes, once you’ve made it a couple of times, you won’t even need to look it up. The original makes a generous 8 cups, so I halved it for a smaller batch—and it was perfect. One night I even sautéed some yellow squash and spooned this queso over the top… absolute yum.
Rebecca calls for Velveeta, but I swapped in Kraft Mexican Creamy Melt—a blend of cheeses with a touch of cream cheese—and it worked beautifully. The spinach adds a fresh pop of green, and if you’re feeling it, a little chopped cilantro would be a great addition too.
If you want to take it up a notch, try adding about a quarter pound of browned Mexican chorizo. It gives the queso a heartier, more robust flavor that’s seriously hard to stop eating!
Queso - Rebecca Rather Style
Equipment
- stockpot or ceramic lined skillet
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 med onion diced
- 1/4 cup jalapeños stemmed, seeded,and chopped (1-2 med)
- 1/2 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 1/4 lb Monterrey jack cheese shredded
- 1 1/4 lb Kraft Mexican Style shredded cheese with cream cheese
- 6 oz baby spinach coarsely chopped
- tortilla chips for dipping
Video