The Best Fluffy Pancakes recipe you will fall in love with. Full of tips and tricks to help you make the best pancakes.
I brought a pot of stovetop queso to a Super Bowl party a few years back, and by halftime it had gone grainy and sad at the bottom of the bowl. That’s the last time I made queso without a slow cooker. Now it goes in the Crockpot before kickoff, gets set to warm, and it’s still pourable when people are grabbing chips during the fourth quarter.
This one’s about as low-effort as party food gets. Brown the beef, dump everything in, stir occasionally, done. No double boiler, no babysitting a pot on the stove while people are asking you questions in the kitchen.
Why This Works
Velveeta is the reason this stays smooth instead of separating into a greasy mess. It’s a processed cheese product, which sounds like a knock but is actually the whole trick — it melts without breaking because of the emulsifiers in it, unlike a block of cheddar or Monterey Jack, which will seize up and turn oily under sustained low heat. Swap in a “real” cheese here and you’ll end up with a pot of clumped curds floating in orange grease.
Draining the tomatoes matters more than it looks like it would. Skip that step and the dip goes thin and soupy instead of scoopable, because that liquid has nowhere to cook off in a slow cooker the way it would on a stovetop.
Ingredients
- 16 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
- 2 cans (10 ounces each) diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
Instructions
- Spray the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
- Brown the ground beef over medium heat until cooked through, then drain.
- Add the taco seasoning and water according to the package directions. Cook until the liquid has evaporated, then remove from heat.
- Add the meat, cheese, and drained diced tomatoes with green chiles to the slow cooker.
- Stir well and cook on low until the cheese is completely melted, about 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes.
- Switch the slow cooker to warm and serve straight from it with tortilla chips.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes Servings: [PLACEHOLDER: add a serving count, e.g. “8 as an appetizer”]
Tips
- Cube the Velveeta instead of slicing it into big chunks — smaller pieces melt evenly instead of leaving soft spots surrounded by unmelted cheese.
- Stir every 20-30 minutes while it’s melting. Left alone, the cheese near the sides of the crock melts faster than the middle and can start to scorch.
- Don’t rush it on high heat to save time. Velveeta melts fine on high, but the beef and tomatoes heat unevenly and you end up with cold pockets at the bottom.
Variations
Add a can of drained black beans or corn if you want to stretch it further for a bigger crowd — it holds up fine texture-wise. Skip adding raw jalapeños straight into the pot, though; I tried that once and they never fully softened over the cook time, so you get a crunchy bite in an otherwise smooth dip. Fresh jalapeños on top after serving work better if you want the heat.
Make-Ahead & Storage
Make Ahead: Brown and season the beef ahead of time and store it in the fridge in a zip-top bag or directly in the slow cooker insert. About 90 minutes before you need it, add the cheese and tomatoes and start the cook.
Skip the Shreds: If you’re using a cheese other than Velveeta, cube it from a block yourself rather than buying pre-shredded. Shredded cheese is usually coated in cornstarch to keep it from clumping in the bag, and that same coating can make the queso gluey instead of smooth.
Store: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freeze: This freezes for up to 6 months in a freezer-safe container. Thaw completely in the fridge before reheating — don’t try to reheat from frozen or the texture separates.
Reheat: Reheat in the crockpot on low, stirring every 20 minutes. It may thicken up compared to fresh; a splash of milk or half-and-half stirred in brings it back to dippable.
FAQ
Can I make this without meat?
Yes — leave out the beef and taco seasoning packet, and season the tomatoes with about a tablespoon of chili powder and a teaspoon of cumin instead. It’s a solid vegetarian queso, though I still think the beef version is the one worth making for a party.
Why is my queso grainy?
That almost always means the cheese overheated. Velveeta is forgiving compared to real cheese, but even it can break if it sits on high heat too long without stirring. Switch to warm as soon as it’s fully melted, not before, not long after.
Can I use ground turkey instead of beef?
You can, and it works fine — just brown it the same way. I don’t think it adds much of an upgrade for the calories saved, honestly; the taco seasoning does most of the flavor work either way.
How long can queso sit out at a party?
Keep it on the warm setting the whole time it’s out — don’t unplug the slow cooker and leave it on the counter. Cheese dip with meat in it shouldn’t sit at room temperature for more than about 2 hours.
Closing Thoughts
This is one of those dips that disappears fastest next to something crunchy and plain, so I always put out plain tortilla chips instead of flavored ones — the seasoning on flavored chips competes with the queso instead of complementing it. It also holds up fine as a topping for baked potatoes or spooned over a bowl of rice if you’ve got leftovers and don’t feel like reheating chips-and-dip mode again the next day.
Slow Cooker Queso Dip
This Slow Cooker Queso Dip is creamy, cheesy, and loaded with seasoned ground beef and diced tomatoes with green chiles. Made with just a few simple ingredients, it is an easy party dip that stays warm and dippable right in the Crockpot.
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Prepare the Slow Cooker
- Lightly coat the inside of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
Cook the Ground Beef
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart with a spoon, until browned and fully cooked.
- Drain the excess grease from the cooked beef.
- Add the taco seasoning and the amount of water specified on the seasoning packet. Stir well and cook until the liquid has evaporated.
- Remove the seasoned beef from the heat.
Assemble the Queso
- Add the seasoned ground beef, cubed Velveeta, and drained diced tomatoes with green chiles to the prepared slow cooker.
- Stir until the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Slow Cook
- Cover and cook on LOW for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally if needed, until the cheese is completely melted and the dip is hot and creamy.
Serve
- Once completely melted, stir the queso until smooth and well combined.
- Set the slow cooker to WARM while serving to keep the queso creamy and dippable.
- Serve warm with tortilla chips.
Notes
- Yield: The original recipe does not specify the number of servings, so the servings field has been left blank.
- Cooking time: Cook the queso on LOW for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted.
- Make ahead: Brown and season the ground beef ahead of time and refrigerate it for a day or two. About 1 1/2 hours before serving, combine the ingredients in the slow cooker and heat as directed.
- Keep it warm: Once melted, switch the slow cooker to the WARM setting to keep the queso creamy and easy to dip.
- Cheese: Velveeta melts especially smoothly. If substituting another cheese, cube cheese from a block rather than using pre-shredded cheese, which can contain anti-caking ingredients that may make the dip thicker.
- Consistency: If the queso becomes too thick, stir in a small splash of milk or half-and-half until it reaches your preferred consistency.
- Storage: Transfer cooled leftover queso to an airtight container and refrigerate for about 3–4 days.
- Freezing: Freeze cooled queso in a freezer-safe container for up to 6 months. Thaw completely in the refrigerator before reheating. The texture may change slightly after freezing.
- Reheating: Reheat in the slow cooker on LOW, stirring approximately every 20 minutes. Add a splash of milk or half-and-half if needed.
