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Queso Recipe ⋆ Restaurant Style

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This is the best restaurant style queso recipe ever!

We use recipe for all our Tex-Mex meals and serve it at every gathering.  This is a copycat Mexican restaurant queso dip that is served with the chips and salsa at our favorite Mexican restaurant.  Everyone that tries it can’t get enough and they have been begging me for this recipe for YEARS.

Now I bring to you: My signature Restaurant Style Queso Recipe.

Queso Recipe ~ Restaurant Style

  You may have tried many queso dips (often misspelled as “caso dip”) recipes online, but dare I say that you’ve never tried this one?  Hint: it’s NOT rotel and Velveeta.  If you live in Oklahoma then you’ve probably had some similar.

This makes a great copycat Chilenos queso or copycat Ted’s Cafe Escondido queso.

It’s the “complimentary cheese sauce” that they serve with the chips and salsa that I am referencing.

I think we are pretty spoiled in Oklahoma since most of the Mexican restaurants around here serve the queso with the set up! Does your Mexican restaurant serve it free?  I’ve been known to order just what they call the “set up” because this cheese with the chips is like a meal on it’s own.

Queso Recipe ~ Restaurant Style

My family just calls this “free cheese” and other than Oklahoma, I haven’t seen it in any other states that I’ve visited.  I started working on this recipe around 14 years ago because the restaurants in Texas at that time did not serve this type of queso.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never met a cheese sauce I didn’t like, but none compared to my favorite.

My opinion is that this restaurant style queso recipe is even better than the one’s they serve at the restaurants!

Want to go straight to the recipe and skip the helpful tips?  Just scroll down to the end of the page. 

Queso Recipe ~ Restaurant Style ingredients

The secret is in the green chiles and cumin.  These two ingredients add so much flavor and depth to this Mexican dipping sauce and make it unique to all the others I’ve tried.   It’s great with chips, enchiladas, tacos, burritos and much much more.  We love it with flour or corn tortillas that are brushed with warm butter and dipped into this Mexican queso sauce.  Cue in the Mariachi band and I feel like I’m at my favorite Mexican restaurant.

Restaurant Style Queso Recipe

This queso is also perfect for crowd because you can make a double batch and keep it on warm in the crockpot.  If it thickens up too much just add in more chicken broth and stir.  This recipe it’s so well loved that my family serves it at every family gathering.  It’s also so easy to prepare that we often make it last minute with no problem.

Queso Recipe ~ Restaurant Style

Serving suggestions for the best queso dip ever: 

  • Serve with a main dish like chili or beans.  This queso is the most versatile queso recipe that you’ll ever make.  Of course it’s great with chips, but it’s also great in chili, beans, casseroles and pretty much anything Mexican or Tex-Mex Style.
  • Add in other ingredients one at a time.  If you want to change up this recipe a bit that’s no problem.  Since the dip uses condensed cream of chicken soup as the base, it’s easy to add in ingredients without changing the texture too much.
  • Here are some suggestions to try:

    1. 1/4 tsp. of garlic. This gives a whole new flavor to the Mexican cheese dip and a tasty one at that!
    2. 2 Tbsp. finely chopped jalepenos. This will give it a big spicy kick.
    3. 1 tsp. chipotle powder.  This will make the cheese have a smoky and spicy flavor.
    4. 1/4 cup mild green or red pepper.  Cook the cheese sauce with sweet bell peppers if you want more pepper taste, but don’t want it too spicy.
    5. Add in a hard cheese like 1/2 cup cheddar.  Want your sauce even cheesier?  Add in some cheddar or Monterey Jack cheeses.  They will melt in easily, but watch out for the strings of cheese.  It’s going to be pretty cheesy and it may overtake your shirt!  Okay, that’s a bit dramatic, but it might be a bit messier.

This recipe has been a long time favorite and I am so glad I get to share it with you now.  If you LOVE this Restaurant Style Queso Recipe as much as my family and friends do please give it 5 stars below in the comments.

Print Recipe
4.54 from 13 votes

Queso Recipe · Restaurant Style

This is the best recipe for restaurant style queso ever.  We serve this Mexican Cheese Sauce on just about everything from chips to enchiladas and everything in between.  If you live in the OKC Oklahoma area then you've probably had a very similar version to this recipe since they serve it at most of the Mexican restaurants in that area.  
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
Total Time20 mins
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: queso dip
Servings: 6
Calories: 154kcal
Author: Rachel

Ingredients

  • 12-16 slices American Cheese slices (can use white or yellow) (or to taste. 12 for thinner cheese and 16 for extra creamy)
  • 1 cup chicken broth optional: may want extra broth to thin out
  • 1 can cream of chicken soup Campbell's is our favorite
  • 1 4.5 oz. can chopped green chiles (not jalepenos)
  • 1 Roma or small size tomato chopped
  • 1/4 cup onions chopped
  • 1 to 2 Tsp. cumin (more or less to taste- the fresher the cumin the more potent it is so add one tsp. at a time)

Instructions

  • Stovetop instructions: Place a large pot on the stove and turn the heat on medium.  Add in the chicken soup first and then add the 1 cup of chicken broth.  Stir this mixture around until semi-combined (you don't need to get it smooth just yet and mixture may be clumpy).  
  • Add in the cheese, cumin, onions, and green chiles.  Cheese will take a while to melt down, but keep stirring the mixture  every few minutes so that it doesn't start burning on the bottom of the pot. 
  • Once the cheese has melted, around 10 minutes, the mixture should be pretty smooth.  Turn the heat down to simmer and add in the tomatoes.  Stir to combine. 
  • At this point the queso can be moved into the serving vessel or into a crockpot set to warm.  
  • I like using a crockpot for a party so that I can have the cheese warm and ready through the whole party. 
  • If the queso starts to get a little too thick or if you just want a thinner sauce... use chicken broth to thin it down. Use around 1/4 cup at a time until you get the consistency that you want.  

Video

About Rachel

Rachel
Rachel is the creator of Sprinkle Some Fun, a site dedicated to fun recipes, crafts and other ideas that bring families together. She enjoys undisclosed amounts of coffee, reading scriptures, long talks with her husband and watching her six kids grow up.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marlys

    Sep 1, 2018 at 8:45 pm

    5 stars
    Always liked that cheese but never had a receipe. Now I do. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Rachel

      Sep 1, 2018 at 8:48 pm

      Great! Glad you hear from you, Marlys. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Billy3

    Sep 26, 2018 at 12:06 am

    I’ve been searching the internet for about 8 years, looking for this exact recipe! I have tried many recipes that sounded like “the right one”, but no such luck.. We love the queso from Teds/Chelinos/Alfredos, (who doesn’t!). We are going to try this recipe tomorrow. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Rachel

      Sep 26, 2018 at 12:21 am

      Great! I hope you will love it. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Lindsey

    Oct 24, 2018 at 10:23 am

    5 stars
    Has anyone tried this using cream of cheese soup instead? Cream of chicken soup always has nasty chunks of chicken in it and I was wondering if it made a big difference? The consistency is the same between cream of chicken or cheese so I don’t think it would. Just wondering if anyone has tried that

    Reply
    • Rachel Rockwell

      Oct 24, 2018 at 12:26 pm

      Hi Lindsey,

      I tried it with that, but it wasn’t the same. Still a good sauce, though, so you can try it and see if you like it.

      Reply
    • John Long

      Apr 9, 2019 at 1:17 pm

      Try using a rubber spatula to press the soup through a strainer.

      Reply
  4. Andrea

    Nov 15, 2018 at 6:17 pm

    Originally from Oklahoma and moved to Seattle last year. Long story short, we discovered that you CAN’T GET THIS QUESO ANYWHERE. It’s been hard. Thank you so much, this looks like exactly what I’ve been searching for.

    Reply
    • Rachel

      Nov 15, 2018 at 10:10 pm

      Hopefully this recipe will bring you a little closer to the real thing. Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Kristen Nehl

    Dec 3, 2018 at 7:33 am

    5 stars
    Thank you! This is perfection! I live in South Dakota and miss Teds, and Chellino’s terribly! I have made this twice in the last week! I have tried to figure this one out for years! I will never make the other queso again! Even my 3 picky teenagers gave it 5 stars!!

    Reply
    • Rachel

      Dec 17, 2018 at 6:32 pm

      That’s awesome! Thanks for the review! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Diane

    Dec 17, 2018 at 7:20 am

    Whats a good alternative for vegetarians, perhaps cheddar cheese soup and vegetable broth?

    Reply
    • Rachel

      Dec 17, 2018 at 6:32 pm

      Hi Diane,

      You could try cream of onion soup and vegetable broth. I’ve made it with cream of onion soup and it tastes great. Not sure about the veggie broth, but I am sure it will taste good too.

      Thanks,
      Rachel

      Reply
  7. Meg

    Feb 3, 2019 at 4:20 pm

    5 stars
    LOVE it. Okies ROCK! I’ve been here 23 years and love it!

    Reply
  8. Dee

    May 14, 2019 at 12:31 pm

    1 star
    This had a very strange after taste and left a coating on our tongues. It’s either from the American ‘cheese’ or the soup. Will give it another shot with real cheese, like the Mexican cheeses they use in the restaurants.

    Reply
  9. Jennifer J. Harmon

    Sep 16, 2019 at 5:05 am

    Where can i buy this?

    Reply
  10. Nicole

    Jan 7, 2020 at 3:37 pm

    5 stars
    We were stationed at Fort Sill near Lawton, OK twice and the food I missed the most was the cheese dip they would bring out at Mexican restaurants. This recipe was like that only better, so thank you so much. Definitely can’t find that in the west coast so I googled “Oklahoma cheese dip” and this one is a hit!

    Reply
  11. Christy

    Feb 27, 2020 at 1:04 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much. This is so good and my family loves it. Another great treat.

    Reply
  12. Bert

    Mar 12, 2020 at 4:02 pm

    5 stars
    Where have you been all my life? OMG! I am.so glad i tried surfing a rumor about chicken broth in Teds cheese. I lived in OKC for 20 years, even drove 3 hours one time to eat at Teds. Love the cheese recipe. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  13. Paige

    Apr 6, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    3 stars
    Overall, I think this is good. I followed the recipe but it didnt turn out quite how i expected. I know it isn’t going to turn out like the restaurants. I think next time, I will try it with white cheddar. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
  14. Heather

    Aug 9, 2020 at 6:59 pm

    5 stars
    This is absolutely perfect! We now live on the east coast and miss Ted’s terribly. My entire family loved it. This is it exactly. Thank you!!

    Reply
  15. Gary

    Aug 20, 2020 at 9:45 am

    5 stars
    Love this cheese dip! Very close to Ted’s Cantina.

    Reply
  16. Brett

    Jan 2, 2021 at 10:06 am

    5 stars
    Would anyone happen to have good Ted’s regular salsa copycat recipe?

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. White Chicken Chili Cheese Dip ⋆ Sprinkle Some Fun says:
    Nov 29, 2018 at 3:20 am

    […] are, if you were to come to my house for a party, I would serve up this dip or restaurant style queso dip.  They are my favorite easy dips to make for a crowd and I hope you will love them […]

    Reply

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