Elote Queso! A grill + app favorite all bubbled up in one skillet. Creamy melty queso, charred roasted corn, fresh jalapeño and garlic, and some cilantro and chili powder. YUM.
Elote Queso
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I have now shared this recipe with everyone I know. I made this for dinner tonight and I had to take the bowl off the table before my husband and I ate the entire batch. Absolutely delicious!
Julie Maanum
Here, take a chip, because it’s elote queso o’clock which happens to be my FAVORITE o’clock of the summer.
This queso, man. This queso is a grill favorite (elotes) and an app favorite (queso) all bubbled up together in one skillet:
- a creamy, classic, smooth-melting queso base
- fresh jalapeños and garlic
- roasted corn (here’s how to grill that corn to perfection!)
- cilantro
- chili powder
- queso fresco cheese*
*no such thing as too much cheese.
Grab a handful of lime-drenched chips and YOU ARE IN BUSINESS.
A very important element in any queso is, obviously, the cheese.
You guys have used this quesadilla cheese before, right? I occasionally stock up on the essentials at Costco, so there is a 100% chance that at any given time, you will find the world’s largest bag of this cheese in my refrigerator.
This stuff is just THE BEST. And being that it is actual, real, delicious cheese that melts smoothly and perfect for Mexican recipes? It wins over processed cheese every time. No further discussion necessary.
(You don’t have to shop at Costco to buy it – although purchasing a hugely huge bag of it is very advisable. Use this handy finder to see where you can pick it up.)
So melty cheese, roasted corn, fresh cilantro, jalapeños and garlic, queso fresco and limey chips – here it all is.
Your summer plans (and mine, totally mine) summed up in one glorious photo:
Add a drink and a pair of sunglasses and go ahead living your best elote queso life. Because that’s what it’s all about.
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Elote Queso
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6–8 people could easily share this 1x
Description
Elote Queso! A grill + app favorite all bubbled up in one skillet. Creamy melty queso, charred roasted corn, fresh jalapeño and garlic, and some cilantro and chili powder. YUM.
Ingredients
Scale
Elotes Queso:
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 jalapeño, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk (we recommend evaporated milk – see notes)
- 1 cup shredded V&V Supremo® Chihuahua® Brand Quesadilla Cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2–3 ears of corn, roasted (2 cups)
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup V&V Supremo® Queso Fresco
- chili powder
Extras:
- limes to squeeze over chips
- CHIPS duh
Instructions
- Garlic and Jalapeño: Heat the butter and olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the jalapeños and garlic and sauté for 5-10 minutes, until very soft and fragrant (but don’t burn or brown the garlic).
- Flour, Milk, and Cheese: Add flour and stir until everything is coated – about one minute. Add the milk slowly and whisk until a smooth bubbly mixture comes together. Remove from heat and stir in the Chihuahua® Brand Quesadilla Cheese until smooth and melty. Low and slow!
- Topping and serving: Season with salt and stir in most of the corn. Arrange a little “elotes pile” on top: remaining corn, cilantro, queso fresco, and chili powder. Best served warm with tortilla chips for dipping! YUUUUUM.
Notes
Milk: Evaporated milk, 2% milk, or whole milk work best here.
Making Ahead / Reheating: It will thicken as it stands. Pop it in the oven or put it back on the skillet if you need to sauce-it-up again! Sometimes a little extra milk or liquid helps, too. It works really well to make this ahead of time and just wait to top it with the elote stuff until right before serving.
Corn: Lots of options here. You can pan roast it to get the browned crispy bits. You can grill it. You can also buy frozen pre-charred or pre-roasted corn from several mainstream grocery stores! Easy.
Sour cream: Also a delicious addition! You can stir a little bit into the queso or drizzle some over the top.
Lime: I prefer NOT to put the lime juice directly into the queso. I like to just squeeze the lime over the chips and then you’ll have really puckery chips to go with the smooth, creamy queso.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dip
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: elote queso, queso dip, queso recipe
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our easy Mexican-inspired recipes page. Check it out!
June 26, 2019
Nice to meet you!
I’m Lindsay and I ♡ FOOD. I used to be a teacher, and now making food and writing about it online is my full-time job. I love talking with people about food, and I'm so glad you're here.
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Homemade queso, what! I love the squeezing of lime onto the chips, how have I not thought of that?! Also, the corn in the queso!
The brand cheese is not available in my location. Is there another brand you could recommend please?
I can’t wait to try this! It sounds so yummy! One question though. Is this one you could make ahead and then stick in your slow cooker on warm for potlucks or would that potentially scorch the queso?
Oh yummmmm!! Never tried making queso at home.. This looks so delicious 😍 Can’t wait to try this..
Hey do you think I could make this dairy free? Thanks!
This is a recipe for cheese dip. I wouldn’t recommend trying to make it dairy free. If you use some fake cheese it’s going to be all grainy and gross.
Someone has never had vegan queso, lol
OP: yes, use a quality vegan cheese and it’s delicious.
It’s weird that I know this, but POY posted a vegan queso recipe awhile ago. Maybe start there and add the corn? I’m allergic to nuts and soy (LAME) so I’ve never tried the recipe and tend to steer clear of most things labeled vegan, but maybe it’s worth a shot for you? Good luck!
This is worth a shot. If you like it, you could easily make a version of the elote version using this as your base. Good luck!
https://pinchofyum.com/3-ingredient-vegan-queso
Hi!! I am reading this thinking of using Cadrys cashew quest dip as the base and adding the yummy corn and toppins like shown here. Love the corn and jalapeño idea in a pan for dipping!
With my love for elote AND cheese AND tortilla chips, I can’t stop thinking about this… I can’t wait to make it! I’ll report back but honestly I already know I’ll rate it 5 stars.
Hope you enjoy it, Sue!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I love this delicious food. Thanks.
Hope you enjoy it!
I was having people over today, and so I decided to try this, and it was so good! I followed the recipe as it was written, and it was so easy. I will definitely make this again!
I will say, I didn’t take any of the jalapeño seeds out, so it was on the spicy side, so for people who don’t like spicy foods, just don’t include the seeds. I like spicy foods, and so did everyone else, but just a heads up.
Awesome, Em! Glad you enjoyed it!
I have now shared this recipe with everyone I know. I made this for dinner tonight and I had to take the bowl off the table before my husband and I ate the entire batch. Absolutely delicious!
Glad to hear it, Julie!
This is SO GOOD! Love how easy the queso base is. Definitely will be making this again!
Glad you enjoyed it, Sierra!
I brought this to a small gathering for a Big Little Lies binge watch. I made a double batch and, even after it cooled down, it was still creamy unlike some quesos. When I headed home, most of it was gone despite there only being 3 of us there…
The queso doesn’t have a lot of kick (nor does elote) but I might add more depending on who will be eating it. Although the recipe as written was perfect for my crew. Also, FYI: I used roasted corn from Trader Joe’s (frozen foods section).
Awesome, Sue! So glad you enjoyed it!
This quest looks amazing! I’m going to add extra jalapeño, extra spicy please!
Holy cow! I have made this twice since it’s been posted – so good!!!
Thank you for this amazing recipe!
So glad to hear it, Vicki!
Love the idea, did not work for me! I used 2% milk, which I think caused me problems. The dip was more of a runny sauce in the end. I did add more cheese, which helped but then when I reheated the next day, everything separated and it turned into a runny sauce again. Also I though 1 tsp salt was way too much. Anyways, if you are making this I think the key is to use the evaporate milk, serve immediately and watch the salt! I really want to try again, because it looks so good.
This looks so great for a summer party! I love that it isn’t using something like velveeta, but real cheese!
Looks delicious! I think I’ll be trying this recipe at home. 🙂
I’m glad I no longer eat Taco Bell and resort more to fresh meat food from scratch today especially when it comes to good Mexican food. There’s nothing like authentically made Mexican food created fresh from scratch with that good home taste. 🙂
Has anyone made this with a cheese other than the brand listed? I’m in Canada and that specific brand is not available here.
I made this with a block of Monterey Jack cheese and it was great! I don’t know how much it differs from the brand they used, but we liked it!
Hi! They look so delicious. I bet they’ll go well with cold drinks or hot coffee in bit.ly/2JL8Vm2bit.ly/2JL8Vm2
yummy!
This was delicious! I needed to make it gluten-free for a cookout, so I skipped the flour and added 4 oz of cream cheese instead. It turned out great!
Awesome!
I made this for a little gathering for the Big Little Lies finale and everyone loved it. I made a double batch and 3 of us ate most of it. (Yea, I’ll say it…that’s a lot of queso per person!)
The V&V Supremo Chihuahua cheese was a little pricey & I had to go to a grocery store off my beaten path–but it was soooo good. I am sure you could make it with another cheese but I’ll stick with the V&V if I can. I cheated and used the roasted Mexican corn at Trader Joe’s (frozen food aisle). Also, the dip doesn’t have much kick so I may add more jalapenos or a bit of cayenne in the future. Although the heat level was perfect as written for my crew.
Glad to hear it, Sue!
you listed “Milk: Evaporated milk, 2% milk, or whole milk work best here.”, which one did you use?
Evaporated milk!
Hi there, I would love to make this but in the UK we don’t have this cheese V&V Supremo® Chihuahua® Brand Quesadilla Cheese, would you have any idea what I can use instead please? Thank you
Any smooth melting cheese you can find will work!
Can I make this is a cast iron pan?
Hi, Mary! We haven’t tried making this in a cast iron skillet yet, so we aren’t sure how it’ll turn out. The cheese might end up taking on flavors from the pan and might stick to the bottom. We’d recommend a large non-stick skillet instead.
Hi, I was wondering if I’m able to make this in a crockpot and how would I do it. Thank you.
You could probably keep it warm in the crockpot, but with the short cook time, we’d suggest doing it on the stove. Enjoy!