Matt's Queso

This isn’t your basic Velveeta-and-Rotel situation. Matt’s queso builds flavor from the ground up: sauteed peppers, onions, and celery create an aromatic base, browned sausage adds smoky, meaty heft, and American cheese melts into the chicken broth for a smooth, pourable consistency.

The jalapeno brings heat while the red bell pepper adds sweetness. Stirring the cheese in gradually is how you get that silky-smooth texture without clumps. Fresh chopped tomato folded in at the end keeps everything from feeling too heavy.

This queso is versatile. Scoop it with chips as an appetizer, sure, but it also works beautifully poured over baked potatoes, broccoli, or noodles as a full meal.

Kitchen Tips

• Add the cheese a handful at a time and stir until each addition melts before adding more. Dumping it all in at once leads to a greasy, broken sauce.
• American cheese melts smoother than cheddar or pepper jack because of its emulsifiers. It’s the right choice here for texture.
• Cook and drain the sausage separately so excess grease doesn’t make the queso oily.
• Keep the heat at medium or below once you start adding cheese. High heat makes cheese seize up and turn grainy.

Variations

• Use chorizo instead of link sausage for a spicier, more intensely seasoned queso.
• Stir in a can of drained Ro-Tel tomatoes with green chiles for a shortcut version with extra kick.
• Add a splash of beer with the chicken broth for a deeper, maltier background flavor.