SPICY QUESO

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Alright. So when I posted this QUESO on my IG story, I was blown away by how many of you guys messaged me and asked for this recipe. It was my first attempt at making chimichangas and using my new Philips Air Fryer (which by the way is frickin awesome)! My husband loves chimichangas at Mexican restaurants and he always orders them with queso, so I decided to make this recipe as close to his favorite meal as possible.

I basically had work with what I had in the fridge at the time and so I hoped for the best as I added in all my ingredients and tasted a long the way to make sure I was moving in the right direction. I start all of my creamy sauces with a roux (butter and flour) and then add in my liquids, so I did exactly that for this queso since it would be more like a sauce for my chimichangas.

The tricky part about making queso? THE CHEESE. I’ve made queso in the past for holiday parties or football Sundays but I confess that I’ve always used Velveeta. Yes, I know velveeta is not real cheese and its processed and blah blah, but it makes a damn good queso, guys.

Anyway, I didn’t have any velveeta on hand that night but what I did have, was tons of sliced Amul cheese (found at your local Indian grocer). I tore it up into pieces and as I predicted, the Amul cheese melted beautifully and created that velvety smooth texture that makes queso so dreamy and addictive.

Now I know that Amul cheese is probably no better than Velveeta, so I made this queso TWO MORE TIMES. See how much I LOVE you guys? The first time I shredded a block of cheddar and a block of monterey jack but the queso was not nearly as creamy and smooth as the first one. It got grainy and was just weird.

I then proceeded to make the queso for a THIRD time, this time using organic sliced cheese and it was better than the second trial but not as good as the first trial.

So basically, one night of processed cheese is NOT going to kill you. In the end, you can choose whatever cheese you like but Im standing in solidarity with trial number one: Amul sliced cheese.

Happy Eating !!

Spicy Queso

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SERVES: 4 servings

PREP TIME: 15 mins

COOK TIME: 15 mins

TIME: 30 mins

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Butter

2 Tbsp all purpose Flour

2 tsp taco seasoning1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

3 cloves garlic, minced or grated

1/4 cup finely diced onion

1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper

1/4 cup finely diced green bell pepper

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

1 jalapeno finely diced (or more if you like spicy)

6-8 slices of Amul Sliced Cheese (Do not use pre-shredded cheese)

1 tsp siracha

1.5 cups 2% milk, warmed

Directions

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until the veggies are almost translucent. Add the garlic, taco seasoning, chili powder, cumin and cook for another 30 seconds.
Whisk the flour into the pan and cook for about 1 minute, continuously stirring.
Slowly pour the milk into the pan with one hand (in small amounts) while whisking with the other, and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce has thickened, about 3 minutes.
Reduce heat to low and add sliced cheese, torn into pieces and whisk to smooth out sauce after adding each slice. Add more cheese based on how thick and creamy you want it to be.
Once sauce is smooth, add cilantro and Sriracha. (you can also add few dashes of your favorite hot sauce instead)
Serve hot with tortilla chips, or use it on burritos, tacos etc. Top with pico de gallo, a dollop of sour cream and/or freshly sliced jalapenos or even pickled jalapenos!

SPICY QUESO

Spicy Queso