Easy Holiday Queso Blanco is an awesome dip that takes minutes to make and only uses a handful of ingredients. With the busy holiday season, it's a perfect appetizer to put together and serve for those impromptu visits from family and friends. It's also a perfect side dish for your holiday feasts.
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Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need
This quick and easy dip uses only four or five of the following ingredients. Add the tortilla chips, and you have a delicious dip that is perfect for special occasions.
- The Queso Blanco: I used Velveeta Queso Blanco. For those who don't like to use Velveeta, this dip won't be for you.
- The Spiciness: For the spiciness, I used a can of drained Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies.
- The Added Color: For the added holiday color, I used finely diced red bell peppers and finely diced jalapeño peppers. With both, I removed the seeds and membranes.
- Not Shown: I thought that the final dip was a bit too thick, so I added some milk to thin it out.
- The Tortilla Chips: For festive colors, I served the Easy Holiday Queso Blanco with red and green tortilla chips.
Easy Steps to Make Holiday Queso Blanco
This amazing dip took less than 5 minutes to prepare as these step-by-step directions illustrate.
- Add the drained Rotel Diced Tomatoes and green chiles to the Velveeta Queso Blanco, cut into ½-inch cubes, to a 4-cup measuring cup. The measuring cup wasn't really important - what was important was that the dish was microwave-safe.
- Microwave the queso blanco and tomatoes on high for 1 ½ minutes. Remove the mixture from the microwave and stir the ingredients together.
- Return the mixture to the microwave for an additional minute on high power. After a minute, remove the mixture and give it another stir.
- If the mixture seems too thick, add some milk to thin it out. Also, add diced red bell peppers and diced jalapeño peppers for added holiday color. Then, microwave the mixture for an additional 30 seconds.
- After giving the Queso Dip one last stir, pour it into the serving dish surrounded by red and green tortilla chips.
That's it! I told you that making the dip was both quick and easy. What's most important, though, is that its cheesy goodness is amazing. Have a happy holiday. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
Actually, I thought that the Velveeta Queso Blanco tasted like the original Velveeta. I didn't do a side-by-side comparison, but suspect that I would have been hard-pressed to identify each one in a blind taste test.
Because this was a Queso Blanco dip, I wanted to minimize the added color. I thought that rather than adding the liquid from the Rotel Tomatoes and chilies, I would add milk to minimize the added color.
You can certainly make the dip ahead of time. I like to refrigerate it in a microwave-safe container, covered. When I'm ready to serve the dip, I take it out of the refrigerator and microwave it for several minutes.
If you want added heat, you could use red chili peppers instead of the red bell pepper. Also, pimentos could be used. However, the pimentos would add a bit more color to the dip.
I purchased the Xochitl red-and-green tortilla chips at Sam's. Publix sells that brand, but I haven't seen the red-and-green tortilla chips at our local store.
If you're unable to find the red and green tortilla chips, you can certainly use regular tortilla chips.
Other Delicious Holiday Appetizers
If you're looking for other holiday appetizers, you've come to the right place. Check out these recipes:
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Recipe
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Quick and Easy Holiday Queso Blanco
Equipment
- Microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16 ounces) Velveeta Queso Blanco, cut into ½ to 1-inch cubes
- 10 ounce can Rotel Original Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, drained (See Tip 1)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper, membrane and seeds removed, divided (See Tip 2)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons finely diced jalapeño pepper, membrane and seeds removed, divided
- 2 Tablespoons milk if needed to thin the dip
- Red and Green Tortilla Chips (See Tip 3)
Instructions
- Heat Queso Blanco and Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies in the microwave on high power for 1 ½ minutes. Remove from microwave and stir ingredients.
- Microwave on high power for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and stir ingredients. If mixture seems too thick add milk. Add 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon of both red bell peppers and jalapeño peppers. Stir mixture.
- Microwave for 30 additional seconds.
- Transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with reserved ½ teaspoon of red bell pepper and ½ teaspoon of jalapeño pepper. Serve with red and green tortilla chips.
- Yield: 8 servings. (See Tip 4)
Video
Tips/Notes
- May use the Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies, undrained, for a thinner dip.
- May substitute red chili pepper for added heat or pimentos for the red bell pepper.
- May substitute regular tortilla chips for the holiday-colored tortilla chips.
- This dip may be prepared in advance, covered, and refrigerated for several days. Reheat in the microwave.
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