Chorizo Queso Dip from Scratch
Chorizo Queso Dip with spicy chorizo sausage stirred into a creamy cheese dip makes for one of the best queso recipes out there. REAL CHEESE VERSION!
Chorizo Queso Dip from Scratch
Jump to Recipe
I call this my best friend chorizo queso dip because that’s the only person you will want to share this with.
Luckily, the dip is fairly rich so eating a whole batch of it by yourself is a seriously tall order. So, find a best friend (okay, or two) and share this big bowl of wonderful.
If you don’t have a best friend, make this dip and invite anybody over. You can then become best friends while devouring this chorizo queso dip.
After all, I’ve always said cooking brings people together!
Just don’t bring too many people together or you’ll be wishing you hoarded this stuff.
Chorizo Queso
Ingredients
- ¼ pound spicy chorizo sausage
- ¼ cup diced onion
- 3 ½ ounce can green chilis
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup light lager beer
- 8 ounces grated cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese
- Kosher salt
- Fresh cilantro garnish
- Tortilla chips for serving
Instructions
- Place a medium cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add chorizo sausage and cook until browned. Break up the sausage as it cooks. Add onion and a pinch of salt and continue to cook until onions are soft. Scoop out a few tablespoons of the chorizo mixture for a topping.
- Add green chilis to the pan and stir to heat through.
- Stir in flour to the mixture and cook for a minute or two to cook out the flour taste.
- Stir in beer and it should start to thicken. Once beer is incorporated, add grated cheese and stir to melt the cheese. If queso is too thick, add another splash of beer.
- Garnish dip with reserved chorizo and fresh cilantro. Serve immediately with tortilla chips!
Video
Nutrition
Did you make this?
Snap a photo and tag @macheesmo so I can see your work.
How to Make Chorizo Queso Dip from Scratch
There are many queso versions out there that use processed cheese, and those have their time and place. This version though uses real cheese and make a smooth cheesy sauce! It’s worth the work for sure!
Starting this dish with spicy chorizo is really important. Some of the fat renders out of the sausage and makes a base for the roux for the cheese sauce, but also it just adds a really rich depth to the queso.
I think chorizo, a spicy Spanish or Mexican sausage, is the best choice, but you can use spicy Italian sausage in a pinch or even spicy veggie sausage. If you use the veggie stuff, you’ll have to add a drizzle of oil to the pan.
There is no better dish for this queso than a medium-sized cast iron skillet. It heats evenly and you can serve the dip in the same skillet!
The skillet I used for this version was about 8 inches in diameter. If you used a 12 inch pan, you could easily double the recipe.
Start the pan out over medium heat and brown the sausage well as you break it up. Once the sausage is browned, add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until the onions soften, just another few minutes.
If you want to make the dip pretty later, scoop out a few spoonfuls of the chorizo now and top it on the chorizo queso later.
Then stir in the green chilis and flour. There will be a second when this looks like a mistake, but just trust me. It’ll work out.
Making the Queso Sauce
Stir the flour into the mixture and it will get really thick. Keep cooking for a minute to cook out the flour flavor and then stir in the beer.
Now you will have some sort of spicy sausage gravy. To be honest, I think you could pour this on enchiladas and be in pretty good shape.
But, to make queso, you need cheese.
So add cheese now!
I used cheddar and monterey jack for this version because they both melt really well. You can use any cheese that melts well though.
When the cheese is melted, it’s ready to go. I recommend seasoning it with a pinch of salt.
Like I said, you can serve this in the skillet you cooked it in. Top with the reserved chorizo and a handful of fresh cilantro.
I had to take a bite immediately.
This is an amazing game day appetizer and if you happen to still be interested in March Madness this weekend, you could do much worse than a big skillet of this queso.
I guess you should probably invite a friend or two as well, but I won’t tell if you don’t.
This looks so good! There is a little Mexican place near me that has something similar to this on their menu and i ALWAYS order it. Great to have a recipe at home!! They also swirl refried beans in theirs…sooooo yummy!
I knew I was going to like this one as soon as I saw the title. This reminds me of a fundido.
Have you had anyone else mention that the scrolling on your re-design is a bit slow. For me it is acting like when you are typing away but the keystroke buffer is 3-4 words behind. I scroll and the screen movement up or down is delayed and then catches up.
Not a big deal but wanted to pass it on because I know you put a lot into this. Might just be my Firefox browser.
Yes, I’m having the same problem! Ever since you unveiled your re-designed site (which I LOVE the look of, by the way), it’s painfully slow. It’s driving me crazy because I really like your site, and I know how excited you were that it was going to load everything quickly. I asked my techie husband to take a look to see if it was a problem with my computer, and he said (I have to quote because I don’t actually understand any of it), “The background image of the element is a CSS gradient and it makes the page scroll *very* slowly. When my husband set it to solid white (background: white), it scrolled fine.”
Do with that what you will! :-)
This is super helpful Megan. Thanks! We have been looking into this behind the scenes also, but have had trouble reproducing the problem. It seems to only happen in firefox but not every installation of firefox. Anyway, your tech husband’s tip is a big help. Hopefully, we can get it fixed up soon. :)
Hey Chris,
I think we resolved the laggy issues. You might have to refresh your browser a few times to load the new style sheet but it should be much improved. Thanks for the heads up on that!
I wonder if this really is a browser compatibility issue. I use Firefox at home, and can try it when I get back. But at work we use Internet Explorer, and it seems to work perfectly on this (so far).
Hey Matt, yea. you nailed it. It’s just a problem in firefox and weirdly not all installations of firefox. We are still trying to figure out how to solve it without drastically changing the site design. Thanks!
I’m making this as I type. Double batch. Gonna take it on a weekend trip with family. Your fundido recipe has me officially obsessed with skillet cheese.
Nick, this looks delicious!!!
As a guesstimate about how many would this serve as a side?
Hey Fox,
I’d guess 4-6 as a side depending on how hungry your guests are. :)
Any suggestions on a replacement for the beer? We just don’t drink beer around here and it’s hard to justify buying any just to make cheese dip…
Sure Ada! You could use any kind of broth, chicken, veggie or beef. Or to be honest, you could just use water. There’s enough other flavors going on that it isn’t really important. It just needs some liquid. Good luck!
wow this looks wonderful turning this into a gravy is a great idea im trying this tonight
You have a winner, add some jalapeños as a garnish and you will be them most sought after person for the next BBQ.
Does the gravy portion of this cook long enough to cook out the alcohol? I’m expecting so I want to make sure. I think the lager flavor would be great, but I can’t do the alcohol.
Hey Courtney, 1/2 cup of light beer is basically zero alcohol and most of it cooks off. If you’re really concerned about it though you could use chicken stock!
yum. do you think this could be made ahead and then somehow reheated and garnished?
Hey Valerie, to be honest, I don’t find that quesos like this reheat very well… they are best right away! If you had to reheat it, gentle oven heat is best with a little extra liquid added to it. Good luck!
Would this work in a crockpot once cooked?
For sure you could keep it warm in a crockpot on low or warm setting. Good luck Lindy!
How far in advance can this be made? It sounds so great and I want to take it to a shower so would need to make it ahead of time. Thanks so much.