Rotel Queso Dip with Real Cheese

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Are you eating too much processed food in your diet?  I know we certainly are, we try to get away from it but it tends to sneak into our house.   And especially when the family is gathered around the Television for a big event, like Super Bowl, it just screams processed food or frozen this, frozen that or packaged this, packaged that.

Every commercial shows us how to make a fast breakfast, a fast lunch, a fast dinner or an easy microwave snack for that big game.  I know we are busy people but shouldn’t some of the excitement of the day be in preparing for our party or whipping up some healthier snacks?

I remember when the children were little and we both worked full-time jobs with crazy hours, just like all the other Enforcement Officers still do, work crazy hours while raising a family.   We always tried to make the most of the time spent together, you know the “quality time”.  We were not all at home at the same time for dinner every night, especially when the children were in High School, their school, extracurricular events, and social life calendars were full and sometimes I or the hubby were on duty.

Getting dinner on the table every night, making sure everyone had a nutritious breakfast and keeping snacks in the house was a challenge in this crazy household.   I know you don’t have to have a toddler, two teenagers and two adults in law enforcement in your home for things to get out of hand.  You have been there, I know you have or still are.

Anyway some of the memories my, now grown, children share are of special events, special holidays or just a certain dish or snack.  They associate that fun memory with having that meal or that snack.   Ok, I guess our children survived and actually thrived and we did something correctly.

I’m not saying we never threw a frozen pizza in the oven, of course, we did and we still do but sometimes it makes a normal event or a normal game into a very special event or memory to go an extra step and make that dinner or snack from scratch using fresh ingredients.

I have a tendency to always serve some form of Queso for any Football or tailgating party.   I could have and have in the past, just heated up that cheese that hangs out on the shelf in your local grocery store and throw a can of tomatoes and green chiles in it and called it, “good” and it is good, but it’s not “special”.

This cheesy concoction is a cool spin from the norm and as an added benefit it’s made with real cheeses.  It really doesn’t take that long to make and the prep work is minimal. It’s an opportunity to take a step away from prepared foods and prepare your own real cheese queso.  And part of the fun and memories of any gathering should not only be eating the snacks but the time in the kitchen together plating up a great smorgasbord.  This is a Rotel queso dip recipe but we are using real cheese and taking a little bit more time.

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Quarterback Dip

Cheesy Queso Dip made from Real Cheeses

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time10 mins

Total Time20 mins

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: dips, Football Party Food, Football themed party, real cheese queso, Rotel cheese queso

Servings: 8

Calories: 231kcal

Author: Evelyn

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 4 green onions chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 pint half and half
• 1 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
• 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
• 1 10 oz can Rotel
• 4 pickled jalapeños diced
• chili powder for garnish
• diced green onions for garnish, optional
• tortilla chips

Instructions

• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, add green onions and saute for 2 minutes.   Stir in flour and cumin, cook for 1 minute stirring constantly
• Slowly pour in half and half, continuing to stir and bring to a simmer. Remove pan from heat and add cream cheese stirring until melted
• Return pan to low heat and add cheeses, stir until completely melted and blended
• Stir in Rotel and jalapeños and cook until heated thoroughly. (Do not boil)
• Transfer to serving bowl, garnish with chili powder and optional green onions.
• Serve in a heated fondue dish with tortilla chips and/or veggies

Notes

**Note- can be made ahead of time and transferred to a microwavable safe dish, covered with clear wrap and refrigerated. To reheat microwave 3-4 minutes on high heat, stirring once per minute until hot)

Nutrition

Calories: 231kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 190mg | Potassium: 123mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 520IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 276mg | Iron: 0.6mg