Slow Cooker Spicy Beef Queso Dip
Tonight is the first night of football season, which is the reliable excuse to make and consume as many awesome appetizers as possible between now and the beginning of February. Not that we need an excuse, of course. We're happy to consume anything that’s cheesy and bubbling and served with a side of carbs at any point during the year. Football season just makes it a tad more acceptable to call chips and dip lunch… and we tend to do that on a regular basis during the fall. Which leads us to this dip. It was our lunch on Monday. We're so not sorry about that decision. We've made a number of cheesy dips, and as far as queso goes, the one we made to go along with our soft pretzel nuggets is definitely our favorite 100% from-scratch recipe. However, sometimes there are last minute plans and you need something speedy for a crowd. THIS is for those times.
How To Make Slow Cooker Spicy Beef Queso Dip
To make this, we started by browning ground beef with an onion, then cooking it down with a huge jalapeño and our from-scratch taco seasoning mix (although you could use store-bought packets). We threw that in the slow cooker with Velveeta (we know, but seriously, once in a blue moon/everything in moderation/etc etc) and two cans of Rotel. The cooking time will vary a bit depending on the size of your slow cooker (the smaller the slow cooker, the longer it will take), but everything should be nice and melted down together within two hours. Then, just keep it on warm, give it a good stir, grab your chips and dig in.
We think you could also do a similar version with sausage instead of the ground beef that would also be insanely good. If doing that, we would omit the onion, jalapeño, taco seasoning and water.
A question that always comes up with a recipe like this one is how spicy is it?! We find spiciness so subjective and hard to gauge because everyone tolerates spice somewhat differently. What one person considers mild another might consider spicy. For our personal palate, we would give this a mild to medium on the mild/medium/hot scale. If you’d like to tone down the spice, you can omit the jalapeño and use mild Rotel instead of the original.
However you make it, we guarantee you’ll have people standing over your slow cooker, dipping chip after chip, as was the case at our house on Monday. This is a crowd-pleaser, if there ever was one.
Watch the Slow cooker Queso Recipe Video:
One year ago: Zia Lena’s Date Bar Cookies
Two years ago: Almond-Apple Crisp
Three years ago: Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies
Seven years ago: Chocolate Rum Cheesecake
- Yield: 8 to 10 servings
- Prep: 15 minutes
- Cook: 2 hours
- Total: 2 hours 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ( 453.59 g ) ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 large, or 2 small jalapeños, seeded and finely minced
- ⅔ cup ( 166.67 ml ) water
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix, from-scratch or store-bought
- 32 ounces ( 907.19 g ) Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
- 20 ounces ( 566.99 g ) canned Rotel
Method
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and onion over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain. Add the jalapeños, water and taco seasoning, increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.
- In a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, add the prepared beef mixture, the Velveeta cheese and the cans of Rotel. Stir well and cook on low until the cheese is completely melted, 1 to 2 hours. Keep the slow cooker set to warm to serve during a party, giving the mixture a good stir before serving.
