Smoked Queso
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This Smoked Queso recipe is rich, creamy, and loaded with bold, smoky flavor! Made with melty cheese, spicy sausage, and diced peppers, it’s the ultimate party dip for game day, BBQs, or any time you’re feeding a crowd. This mouth-watering dip is always the hit of the party, and it’s easy to make with only 10 minutes of prep time!
Why you’ll love this queso
As a professional food blogger of over 14 years, I have a schedule for making new content and sharing it on the blog. But I’m also human, and sometimes a good idea turns into the best dip ever and an immediate need to bump a new recipe up on the calendar!
A few days ago I was hosting friends for a dinner party and I tossed pork belly burnt ends on the smoker, along with this smoked queso recipe. Since my rotel dip is one of the most popular recipes on the blog and this smoked mac and cheese recipe is always a hit, I decided to combine the two and make smoked queso.
Obviously I thought the recipe would be good or I never would have made it. But O-M-G, this smoked queso dip is incredible and my friends went absolutely crazy for it! I thought I’d have a lot leftover because it makes a lot of cheese dip. But I actually thought people might start licking the bowl before the night ended.
Needless to say I already have plans to make this dip for the 4th of July and every bbq I host for the foreseeable future. Here’s why I love it, my friends love it, and why I know you’ll love it too.
- The flavor is off-the-charts! The most important part of a recipe for me is that it’s full of bold flavors. And this queso dip recipe most definitely is! The combination of savory sausage, creamy cheese, spicy peppers, seasoned with my homemade chili seasoning, with the delicious smoky flavor from being cooked on a smoker, every bite of this dip is incredibly flavorful!
- It’s so easy to make! It only takes 10 minutes to cook the sausage, onions and peppers together on the stove, then toss all of the ingredients in an aluminum pan, or cast iron dutch oven, and on to the smoker it goes. Open the smoker a couple of times and stir it up, and easy as that, you’ve made the best dip ever!
Ingredients
Here I explain the best ingredients for this smoked queso recipe, what each one does, and substitution options. For the exact ingredient measurements, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Sausage – I recommend using a breakfast-style pork sausage, like Jimmy Dean. You can use regular or hot, if you’d like to spice things up! You can also use chorizo sausage for a more spicy flavor, or use ground beef for less spice, but it will also have less flavor. If you prefer to make smoked queso with no meat, you can simply leave it out. Cook the onions and jalapenos in a tablespoon of oil, instead of cooking them with the sausage.
- Onion
- Jalapenos – I added two jalapenos to this recipe and I would say it had a mild-to-medium spice level. You can leave them out to make your queso mild, or throw in a serrano pepper with the jalapeno to really spice things up!
- Velveeta cheese – nicknamed “liquid gold” this cheese product melts perfectly into the dip. You can find it at almost all major grocery stores. It’s sold at room temperature, so you’ll usually find it on an aisle in the middle of the grocery store. If you want to make queso with no Velveeta, you can replace it with 16 ounces of cream cheese, plus 16 ounces of cheddar cheese.
- Pepper jack cheese
- Rotel – a combination of diced tomatoes and green chilies in a can. You do not want to drain the can. The liquid will add to the flavor and consistency of the dip.
- Chili seasoning – I used my homemade spice blend to season the dip. It’s made with a combination of chili powder, paprika, onion and garlic powder, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper. It adds great flavor to the dip and it’s easy to mix up in 5 minutes. You can store it in the pantry for up to 6 months, so you can make it ahead of time. You can also use a packet of store-bought chili seasoning, or replace it with taco seasoning.
Instructions
I’ve included step by step photos below to make this recipe super easy to follow at home. For the full detailed recipe instructions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Cook the sausage, onion and peppers. Heat up a large pot, or dutch oven, on the stove over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add loose sausage, diced onions and diced jalapenos. Cook until the sausage is no longer pink, around 7-8 minutes, then drain any grease from the pot.
- Assemble the queso. Add cubed Velveeta and cubed pepper jack cheese to a disposable aluminum pan or a cast iron dutch oven. Add the cooked sausage, onions and peppers from the pot, then add the cans of Rotel and chili seasoning.
- Smoke the queso. Place the queso on a preheated smoker set to 225°F. For this recipe, I used the Traeger Pro Series Smoker, but this recipe will work on any brand, make or model of smoker or pellet grill. Smoke for 15 minutes, then open the smoker and stir the queso together. Continue to smoke the queso for another hour, opening and stirring it every 20 minutes. Remove the queso from the smoker and give it a stir. Dip a tortilla chip in there and give it a try! If you’d like it to be a bit thinner, you can add 1/4 cup milk at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. I enjoyed the dip just the way it was when it came off the smoker, so I didn’t add any milk to it.
Either serve the smoked queso immediately with tortilla chips for dipping, or transfer it to a slow cooker set to warm. This is perfect for a party! It will stay warm for up to 6 hours in the slow cooker. I used this 3.5 quart casserole Crock Pot to serve it at my party and it worked great.
Storage and reheating
If you’re lucky enough to have any leftovers, store the queso in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 days. Reheat the dip on the stove, in a Crock Pot, or in the microwave.
If you’re only reheating a small amount, I recommend reheating it in a small bowl in the microwave for 90 seconds. If you’re reheating more, you can add it to a small pot on the stove top over medium heat. Stir consistently until the dip is hot.
If you’re reheating a lot of the dip, transfer it from the fridge to a Crock Pot set to low for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, switch the Crock Pot temperature to warm. This is a great make-ahead method for a party!
I do not recommend storing this smoked queso dip in the freezer, as Velvetta is not meant to be frozen. The quality and consistency of the dip will not be the same after it’s frozen.
More recipes on the smoker
Try these tested and perfected smoker recipes, with some new creations and recipes passed down from my families archives!
Smoked Queso Dip
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sausage, chorizo, or ground beef
- 1 cup diced onion
- 2 jalapenos, minced
- 32 ounces Velveeta, cubed
- 16 ounces pepper jack cheese, cubed
- 20 ounces Rotel, two 10 ounce cans
- 2 tablespoons chili seasoning, click link for the recipe
Instructions
- Preheat a smoker to 225 degrees F.
- Heat a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, onion and jalapenos and cook for 7-8 minutes or until the sausage is no longer pink.
- Drain any grease from the skillet then transfer everything to a 9” x 13” aluminum foil pan, or a cast iron dutch oven.
- Add the cubed Velveeta, pepper jack cheese, Rotel and chili seasoning. Place on the smoker for 15 minutes. Open the smoker and stir the queso.
- Continue to cook for another hour on the smoker, opening and stirring every 20 minutes.
- Remove from the smoker and transfer to a slow cooker set to warm, or serve it immediately. If needed, add 1/4 cup milk at a time to thin out the queso until it reaches your desired consistency.
Notes
- Made as instructed, this queso has a medium spice level.
- To make it with a mild spice level: replace the pepper jack cheese with Monterey jack cheese. Omit the jalapenos, or replace them with ½ cup green bell pepper. Use mild rotel and mild breakfast sausage. Replace the chili seasoning with taco seasoning.
- To make it hot and spicy: add 1-2 diced serrano peppers with the jalapenos. Use hot Rotel that’s made with habaneros instead of green chilies, and use hot pork sausage or chorizo.
- You can make this recipe without meat. Or if you’d like to replace the ground pork with a vegetarian substitute, I recommend using soy chorizo.
- This recipe is naturally gluten free when made with my homemade chili seasoning (or a packet of gluten-free chili seasoning) and served with tortilla chips, corn tortillas, carrots, or bell peppers for dipping.
- I used a Traeger grill for this recipe, but you can also make it on a traditional smoker, electric smoker, or charcoal grill.
- I recommend Traeger Apple Pellets for this recipe. You can also use other mild flavored pellets or wood chips, such as cherry, maple or pecan.
Nutrition Facts
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