Slow Cooker Spicy Beef Queso Dip
Tonight is the first night of football season, which is the perfect excuse to make and consume as many awesome appetizers as possible between now and the beginning of February. Not that I need an excuse, of course. I’m happy to consume anything that’s cheesy and bubbling and served with a side of carbs at any point during the year. Football season just makes it a tad more acceptable to call chips and dip lunch… and I tend to do that on a regular basis during the fall. Which leads me to this dip. It was my lunch on Monday. I’m so not sorry about that decision. I’ve made a number of cheesy dips, and as far as queso goes, the one I made to go along with my soft pretzel nuggets is definitely my favorite 100% from-scratch recipe. However, sometimes there are last minute plans and you need something quick for a crowd. THIS is for those times.
To make this, I started by browning ground beef with an onion, then cooking it down with a huge jalapeño and my homemade taco seasoning mix (although you could use store-bought packets). I threw that in the slow cooker with Velveeta (I know, but seriously, once in a blue moon/everything in moderation/etc etc) and two cans of Rotel. The cooking time will vary a bit depending on the size of your slow cooker (the smaller the slow cooker, the longer it will take), but everything should be nice and melted down together within two hours. Then, just keep it on warm, give it a good stir, grab your chips and dig in.
I think you could also do a similar version with sausage instead of the ground beef that would also be insanely good. If doing that, I would omit the onion, jalapeño, taco seasoning and water.
A question that always comes up with a recipe like this one is how spicy is it?! I find spiciness so subjective and hard to gauge because everyone tolerates spice somewhat differently. What one person considers mild another might consider really spicy. For my personal palate, I would give this a mild to medium on the mild/medium/hot scale. If you’d like to tone down the spice, you can omit the jalapeño and use mild Rotel instead of the original.
However you make it, I guarantee you’ll have people standing over your slow cooker, dipping chip after chip, as was the case at my house on Monday. This is a crowd-pleaser, if there ever was one.
One year ago: Zia Lena’s Date Bar Cookies
Two years ago: Almond-Apple Crisp
Three years ago: Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies
Four years ago: Banana-Nut Oat Bran Muffins
Five years ago: Coffeecake Muffins
Seven years ago: Chocolate Rum Cheesecake
Crock-Pot Spicy Beef Queso Dip
A super cheesy dip made with taco-seasoned ground beef and Rotel.
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 large (or 2 small) jalapeños, seeded and finely minced
- ⅔ cup water
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning mix (homemade or store-bought)
- 32 ounces Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
- 2 (10-ounce) cans Rotel
Directions:
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and onion over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink. Drain. Add the jalapeños, water and taco seasoning, increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.
- In a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker, add the prepared beef mixture, the Velveeta cheese and the cans of Rotel. Stir well and cook on low until the cheese is completely melted, 1 to 2 hours. Keep the slow cooker set to warm to serve during a party, giving the mixture a good stir before serving.
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What is rotel??
They are diced tomatoes and green chilies. You can normally find a store brand is cheaper. I always buy original but they come in mild and something that is hotter. Have never bought any Rotel other than the original. Have used them for years. I see they are made by Con Agra.
Ditto Linda – it’s a brand name, but it’s canned diced tomatoes with chopped green chiles. At my grocery store, the cans are located near the cans of whole tomatoes, diced tomatoes, etc.
@Rhonda, I came quite late to this party, but Rotel is a brand name, like McCormick, or Ghirardelli. @Michelle : This is a great Website, Lady! Thank you for sharing it all. I will probably start with those Mocha Cupcakes & Espresso Buttercream…they sound scrumptious.
I can throw everything in the slow cooker?! That’s awesome, my boyfriend is definitely going to love this!
Yum! A hint for serving your dip for a crowd – have a stack of foil cupcake liners nearby. Guests can use the cups for individual disposable dipping cups!
Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
Chips & dip are ALWAYS lunch-appropriate.
Is it bad that I think I could eat an entire bowl of this on my own? It looks crazy awesome.
I have a recipe that I have made since the 70’s — very similar to this, but I use a pound of sausage (hot if you want the queso extra spicy) and … a can of cream of mushroom soup. Just a creamier version of this when you want a bit of a change.
I am always looking for more slow cooker recipes! This one looks delish!
I cannot get Rotel tomatoes where I live in Canada. I know. What suggestions are there for additions to regular diced tomatoes?
Our family makes a dip similar to this but instead of the chiles and Rotel we use jars of salsa, mild, medium, hot or a combination.
Hi Elizabeth, You can use regular diced tomatoes and then at my grocery store in the Mexican/Hispanic section, they sell separate cans of chopped green chiles.
Pastene (yellow labels) makes a really good diced tomato with chilis. It is available in many parts of Canada although you may have to hunt for it.
Our family makes a version of this with hot breakfast sausage, rotel and cream cheese. It is also very delicious even though it doesn’t sound very good. It is best the next day.
You mentioned eating chips and dip as a meal a lot. well, I’ve got a recipe for you. Cheesy chorizo nachos. it’s a pound of cooked chorizo, some chips, and some shredded cheese.
while the chorizo is cooling, line a large cookie sheet (I use an 11×17 one) with parchment paper and cover it in a layer of tortilla chips. (I prefer Mission brand).
sprinkle a light layer of shredded cheese over the chips (I use Kraft finely shredded 4 cheese Mexican blend, with a little of the 4 cheese Italian blend for the stretchy cheese factor. I end up using 2 packages of the Mexican and 1 of the Italian blends.)
spread half the cooked chorizo over the chips/cheese and cover with a lot of the shredded cheese.
add a second layer of chips and repeat the layering.
cook at 350 until the cheese is melted, 10-15 minutes, and eat warm.
I love queso dip!! This looks amazing!
Michelle,
This looks amazing! But I have a serious aversion to Velveeta. What could I sub for that?
Thank you!!!
Lynn
Hi Lynn, You could use regular cheddar cheese, but I just don’t know how well it would melt down on its own and what the texture would be like.
I’ve used Rico’s Gourmet Nacho sauce in a twist on the queso recipe. It melts really well and is quite good. I usually find it by the box cheeses.
I was just starting to plan what I want to make for our annual Halloween game- this looks PERFECT!
I love chips and dip for lunch too. Hard to resist when you have homemade dip staring at you from the fridge at lunchtime!
Haha, I love the Velveeta comment. I completely agree. And this dip looks awesome!
looks great
and for the spice , for every recipe I make I always add lots more pepper
My family would go nuts for this dip!
I have been making this recipe for probably 15 years or more, but use sausage instead of beef. I’m not a fan of Velveeta either, but it melts smooth. I started using their white cheese a year or so ago instead of the yellow. It looks more like the cheese my kids like at the Mexican restaurant and they like it a lot better. I’m going to a family reunion tonight and am going to try the recipe with beef this time though – your version sounds really good!
Made this tonight and instead of jalapenos I used Thai chili’s ( my favorite)
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is dangerously good and I cannot wait to make a batch for my friends to try, after I eat this batch of course !
Amy how myc Thai chil did uou use? This in seasoning section?
Hi Amy,
Do you drain the Rotel?
Regards,
eric
I made this over the weekend for party that I attended and it turned out amazing. I made one change because my Giant has Velveeta cheese with jalapeños already in it. I purchased that instead of fresh jalapenos. When I got home, I noticed that the cheese is actually white queso cheese instead of the normal yellow cheese and it tasted amazing. Everyone loved it and I will definitely be bringing this to the next party that I am invited to.
Do you cook on high or low?
Hi Heather, Cook on low, that’s listed in step #2 of the directions above.
I made this for Super Bowl 2015, and it was awesome!! Had my guest asking for more!
To this wonderful recipe, I add a pile of fresh spinach and a block of cream cheese!
I made this today for a large group and it was a hit. I needed it quicker than 2 hours so I placed the cubed cheese in the crockpot covered on high while I was cooking the meat. I added 2 tablespoon of McCormicks Mexican seasoning instead of the taco seasoning. I put the hot hot meat on top of the cheese then placed the 2 cans of Rotel in the pan that I cooked the meat in and warmed it to a hot temperature then put in the crockpot and stirred all the ingredients together. I cooked it on high for 30 minutes, stirring frequently.
Any ideas for a vegetarian version of this
Hi Brigid, You could just omit the meat, in which case you would still have a very good spicy cheese dip.
I’ve heard that black beans instead of the meat is really good in it.
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
I made this last night with jalapeños I have left from my garden & my family absolutely loved it!! I added a pkg of cream cheese, about a cup of sharp cheddar cheese, & a tiny bit of milk. Love!! Rotel has a fire roasted kind I want to try next.
I have a fryer/crock pot, what temp should I set it at to keep warm and not burn?
Hi Lori, A crock pot should be set to “warm”. I am not sure how you could put this in a fryer?
It is a deep fryer that has a crock pot. it’s called a chef’s pot. I can’t post a picture, but it’s a like an electric skillet but shaped like a deep fryer. It has a crock pot that you put in the fryer the temperature gauge goes from simmer to 400 degrees.
Hi Lori, I think I would set it to 200 or 250 degrees F to keep warm.
Can this be made the night before? I have a small get together about 2 hours from my house and was thinking I could make it the night before, put it in the refrigerator and take it to my friend’s house and our it on to heat up. I know some things don’t reheat well so just wondering if this will hold up to reheating?
Hi Nichole, Yes, this reheats very well! Enjoy!
How long is it safe to keep this dip. I’d like to make it a few days ahead due to scheduling issues…wasn’t sure with the meat …don’t want to make people sick!
Would it be crazy to replace the beef in the recipe with a mushroom of some sort? Or would it be better to leave it out altogether if you have some guests that are vegetarian?
Hi Kyle, I would just omit the meat and make the dip as a straight queso.
We lived in Houston for 11 years and know TexMex. We now live in the Pacific Northwest and I’ve made this recipe a number of times here the past few years (including this weekend) and people love it so much. I’d say this recipe would be good for at least 20 people. We had 12 adults + 5 kids for dinner this weekend and still had at least 1/3 leftover (which we never mind because we eat it with leftovers). If it’s a snacking event (where people graze for hours), they go through more of it. I always use about half the amount of onion a recipe calls for and did so again here. I’ve had one comment that it’d be better without the onion but I don’t actually care for onions and I don’t even notice them myself. So good! Thank you so much!
What is the point of adding the water to the meat?
Just to help mix the taco seasoning with the meat. Same thing you do when you make regular tacos with the seasoning packets.
Ditto Jamie! Helps to cook the seasoning down and absorb into the meat.
Michelle:
I love the sounds of this recipe — but I Just. Cannot. Do. Velveeta!!! ? I have such an aversion to even the thoughts of it. But so many otherwise-awesome-sounding hot dip recipes call for it.
Can ANYTHING ELSE be substituted!?
#PleaseHelp!!! ? Thank you!
Hi Lynn, You could try a mix of American and cheddar. The American has a similar creamy texture.
I do it with hot italian sausage and yes it is amazing
This looks so good! I was wondering with the leftovers if it would work to cook up some Elbow Macaroni Noodles and mix together? I am wondering what will happen if we refrigerate the leftovers and reheat it? Would it work or will it kinda separate?
Thanks for your blog! Keep up great work!
Just saw it reheats really well. Sorry