Both queso and queso fundido are culinary heavyweights in their own right. Some might argue that American queso, also called chile con queso or cheese dip, is a watered-down version of the original, queso fundido, but that is akin to erasure. Queso is a simple, flavorful, ultra-creamy delight, and though its roots are in the more sophisticated Mexican queso fundido, queso has bloomed into its own gastronomic feature. Queso fundido, though somewhat less common in the United States, is a delectable cheese-centric dish and is worth getting to know even for the biggest processed cheese purist.
Queso fundido is made with fresh cheeses, melted until stretchy and creamy, and topped with a variety of flavorful accouterments like chorizo, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. It is served with a stack of fresh tortillas. Queso, at its most basic, is made with a block of processed cheese, like Velveeta, but can also be made with a roux base with a variety of cheeses melted in. It is served with tortilla chips, and while often served simply, it can also be topped with any number of nacho-like toppings.
Chile con queso is a dish often shortened to queso. I think most people would consider the dish queso to have chilies but it is going to depend on the person. Some people don’t serve beans with chili.
Back to basics – queso fundido
There are many regional variations of queso fundido, but no exact history. However, Mexican indigenous people did not consume dairy until after Spanish colonizers brought milk-producing livestock with them in 1500s.
Queso fundido requires cheeses that melt easily and combine well, like queso asadero (also called queso quesadilla), queso Chihuahua (also called queso Menonita), and queso Oaxaca (also called quesillo). Mexican queso Manchego can also be used. It is made with cows milk, and is milder and meltier than the Spanish sheeps milk cheese of the same name. In Oaxaca, tangy queso fresco is added to quesillo. Mexican cheeses give that quintessential taste, but Muenster, Monterrey jack, and mozzarella are good substitutes.
Shredded cheese is combined in a cast iron or clay pan, and melted on the stove, oven, or grill. The cheese should be creamy and form a lightly crisp crust, called a costra. Savory chorizo, grilled onions, sauteed mushrooms, and charred strips of poblano peppers called rajas are all popular toppings, but you can also find grilled meats, a variety of vegetables, or huitlacoche, a “prized” fungus that grows on corn, per Texas Monthly.
In some areas, the dish is served flameado, or flaming, where liquor is poured on the melted cheese and lit on fire for a particularly dramatic entrance. The bubbling pan of melted cheese, adorned with richly flavored accompaniments, is spooned by each diner into a corn tortilla, or in Northern Mexico, a flour tortilla and topped with bright salsa for a build-your-own cheese taco.
Where did queso come from?
Whether served in a slow cooker or a small plastic molcajete at an oilcloth-covered Tex-Mex table, American chile con queso is a more than 100-year-old classic thats here to stay. The story of queso is another one where the foods of a certain community changed to accommodate the American palate.
According to The New Yorker, the earliest mentions of queso date back to magazine publications of an 1896 recipe for chiles verdes con queso and a 1914 recipe for Mexican rarebit, which would have been recognizable to todays queso fans and included American cheese. In 1900, the Original Mexican Restaurant, a Tex-Mex restaurant designed to appeal to white folks, was opened by Otis Fanworth in San Antonio, Texas. This is likely where Chile con queso was popularized. A womens organization in San Antonio also published a cookbook in the early 1920s with a recipe for chile con queso.
Processed American cheese, designed to be shelf-stable, was very popular around this time. One James Lewis Kraft patented a version in 1916. Velveeta was created in the 1920s and later sold to the Kraft company. Canned Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilies, created by Carl Roettele in 1943, and Velveeta became a perfect advertising match. Melting a block of processed cheese with a can of lightly spicy tomatoes made queso accessible to the masses, since even in Texas, fresh chilies were expensive and hard to come by at the time.
The BEST 10 Minute CHILE CON QUESO DIP
FAQ
What is the difference between queso and cheese dip?
Is it queso or con queso?
What does con queso mean?
What do Mexican people call queso?
What is chili con queso?
Chili con queso, simply translates to chili with cheese. You may know it better as simply “queso”. It can be served as a side dish, appetizer, or even as a simple dip. It mainly consists of chili peppers and melted cheese, and makes the perfect dip for tortilla chips. It’s creamy, rich, with subtle notes of heat.
What is chile con queso Tex-Mex?
Chile con queso is a popular Tex-Mex appetizer/dip made with melty cheese and chopped chilis. The name means “chili with cheese” in Spanish. The dip is served warm and has a combination of cheeses like cheddar, Monterey Jack, chihuahua, etc. They’re melted down with a bit of milk until nice and smooth.
What is chile con queso made of?
Made with real cheese this Chile con Queso is incredibly creamy and packed with poblanos, green chilis and onions. It’s a smokey and spicy one-pot dip. Topped with fresh pico de gallo and herby cilantro, for the perfect appetizer! What is Chile Con Queso?
Can I substitute American cheese for Chile con queso?
One ingredient you shouldn’t make substitutions for when it comes to a Tex-Mex-style Chile con Queso recipe is American cheese. American cheese melts down smooth, creamy, and never breaks. This particular cheese gets a lot of flack for being a processed cheese rather than a natural cheese.