Homemade Queso

I tried making my own queso this week from a recipe I saw online, and it turned out really good. I will put the original recipe below, along with a couple of changes I will make next time.

Homemade Queso

Ingredients: (Makes a lot, so see recipe and notes for details on a smaller batch.)

• Velveeta, Mexican style (16 oz.) cubed
• Pepper Jack Cheese, 8 oz block cubed
• 2 cans evaporated milk (approximately 15 oz each)
• 2-4 cups shredded cheese blend, as needed

Directions:

• Place all of your cubed cheese plus two cans of evaporated milk into a slow cooker and heat until melted. 
• Once all the cheese in the pot is melted into the milk, if things are too runny, add handfuls of shredded cheese until you reach your desired consistency.

Tips: 

Update: For a smaller batch, I did use just one can of evaporated milk with the Velveeta and Pepper Jack, and it turned out perfect. Because both cheeses I used were spicy without any extra milk or cheese blend to mellow things out (like in the double/larger batch recipe), it would be worth using just regular (not Mexican) Velveeta next time if you don't want much spice in your queso. That said, no one thought this version was "too spicy."

The original recipe called for the pepper jack cheese and the Velveeta. It also called for two cans of evaporated milk, which, by the time the cheeses were all melted, was simply WAY TO MUCH MILK. So I grabbed my trusty bag of shredded cheese blend that I always have on hand in the house and just added several handfuls, stirring, until I thought it would be a better consistency once the newly added cheese was fully melted. I put the lid back on and let it keep cooking, coming back in about 15-20 minutes to stir it again and check the consistency. It turned out perfect, but if it had still been runny, I would have added more cheese blend, and if it had seized up too much, I would have added some milk to thin.

For cooking, use low or high depending on how much time you have. If you only have a couple hours (1-2) try high. If you have longer, try low. It usually seems to be a bad idea to let cheese boil, as it can do something funky to the proteins in the cheese and turn grainy or split, so be vigilant if you use high or if you are letting it cook for a long time on low.

The cheese can start to stick and burn to the sides of the crock pot, so some people will use a crock pot liner for ease of cleanup. I wasn't sure how I would get the queso out of the liner without having a big mess on my hands because it is super hot... so I didn't bother and just scrubbed the pot. 

I also think you could use this same recipe and just cook everything on the stove until melted and smooth probably in a lot less time... I just used the crock pot for ease and because it was how it was done in the original recipe I was trying.

Next time, because this did make a HUGE pot of cheese, I think I would try using the same amount of pepper jack (one small brick of cheese that I cubed up) and one box of the Mexican Velveeta (which I also cubed up) with just ONE can of evaporated milk and see how it goes. The hope is, with only one can, then maybe I won't have to add any of the shredded cheese blend later in the cooking process.

Lastly, the original recipe also called for diced jalapeno, but our family isn't huge on hot and spicy things, so with the pepper jack cheese and the Mexican-style Velveeta, it felt spicy and queso-y enough for us.

This has been great for burritos, tacos, chips and crackers. Anything you would put cheese on, you can probably also dip into cheese (burgers, sandwiches, nuggets, etc.) so we have been using this queso in all kinds of ways to eat it up.