I have always loved food, but recently, I met met someone new and I’m shook.
Queso has always been way at the top of my favorite foods list. If a restaurant has queso, I am ordering it. If there is queso at a party, I’m trying it and I always keep queso ingredients on hand, because emergency queso cravings are not uncommon in this household.
Making traditional queso involves a fair amount of babysitting. It melts best when the cheese you are using is freshly shredded, so I always do that and if the sound of scrubbing queso off of your backsplash doesn’t appeal to you then you should probably keep stirring.
Of course, queso is worth the effort though and I never dreamt something could replace it… then I met queso fundido…
What is the difference between queso and queso fundido?
Well, traditional queso is made by melting cheese with either salsa, chilies or occasionally milk or cream on a stovetop. Its great, but it needs babysitting, it doesn’t maintain an ideal consistency for very long and it can be monotone in flavor if you don’t add the right add-ins.
Queso fundido is also a melted cheese dip, but this one begins with seasoned ground meat browned in a skillet and all of the other ingredients are tossed in and everything melts down into a thick, bubbly, caramelized dip in the oven. No babysitting required and this dip maintains its fabulous consistency for much longer than regular queso, but can also be popped back into the oven at any point.
It is easy, full of flavor and has officially dethroned queso. Let’s get started…
To make a skillet of queso fundido perfect for sharing, you’ll need 8 ounces of ground pork, 1/2 cup of diced dill pickles, 7 ounces of diced green chilies, 1/2 cup of your favorite beer, broth or milk, 12 ounces of oaxaca, asadero or white American cheese and 8 ounces of sharp cheddar.
Begin by adding 8 ounces of ground pork into an oven safe skillet. A 10″ cast iron skillet is perfect for this dish, but any oven safe one will work.
Break the ground pork into small pieces and generously season with your favorite taco seasoning.
Cook until the pork is crispy and caramelized all over.
Once your ground pork is nice and crispy, deglaze the skillet with a half cup of your favorite beer., some broth or milk and use a wooden spoon or stiff spatula to work up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. You don’t want to leave any of this flavor behind!
Add 1/2 cup of diced dill pickles, 7 ounces of diced green chilis and all of your cheese.
I highly recommend shredding or cubing fresh cheese for this dish. Pre-shredded cheese is almost always coated in a non-stick ingredient that prevents the shreds from clumping together during storage and this coating will also prevent the cheese from melting down smooth, so it is definitely worth the time and effort to do it yourself.
When it comes to choosing your cheeses, I am using oaxaca and sharp white cheddar today, but if you cannot find oaxaca, you can substitute asadero or white American cheese instead.
Give everything a good mix and bake your queso fundido in a 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until everything is completely melted and all bubbly.
I like to reserve a little extra crispy ground pork to add over the top right after I pull the skillet out of the oven. I also garnished this beauty with more diced pickles, diced tomatoes, onion and some fresh cilantro.
While garnishes are purely cosmetic, I love what they add to a dish, but a skillet of molten hot cheese and caramelized pork is going to get people excited even without the garnishes.
Can you tell how thick this queso fundido is? It is spectacular and when you fill a little street taco tortilla with this melted goodness, you are going to fall in love. Guaranteed. No chance that you’re not going back in for more.
If you are looking for an easy appetizer that takes 10 minutes to bring together, you can toss it in the oven for another 10 and have a delicious skillet that everyone will love then you need to add queso fundido onto your list for your next game day party or game night with friends.
You are going to love this one…
Crispy Pork & Dill Pickle Queso Fundido
Ingredients
- 8 ounces of ground pork
- 1 teaspoon of your favorite taco seasoning
- 1/2 cup of dill pickled, diced
- 7 ounces of green chilies, diced
- 1/2 cup of beer, broth or milk
- 12 ounces of oaxaca, asadero or white American cheese, shredded
- 8 ounces of sharp cheddar, shredded
Garnishes
- dill pickles, diced
- tomatoes, diced
- onion, finely diced
- fresh cilantro, finely chopped
Serving
- tortilla chips
- tortillas
- tostadas
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
- Shred or cube 12 ounces of oaxaca, asadero or white American cheese and 8 ounces of sharp cheddar and set aside for now
- Place an oven proof skillet over medium high heat and add 8 ounces of ground pork
- Season the ground pork generously with your favorite taco seasoning and cook until brown and crispy and then drain the excess fat from the skillet
- Add 1/2 cup of beer, broth or milk, 1/2 cup of diced dill pickles and 7 ounces of diced green chilies and use a wooden spoon or spatula to work up any of the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet
- Mix in the shredded cheeses until everything is evenly distributed
- Transfer the skillet into a preheated 400 degree oven and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted ad bubbly
- While the queso funded is baking, prep your garnishes so everything is ready to serve as soon as the queso fundido is pulled out of the oven
- As soon as the cheese is all melted and bubbly, carefully transfer the skillet onto a heat proof surface, garnish and serve while hot
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