A simple and smoky version of everyone’s favorite Mexican party dip! This smoked queso dip is the perfect appetizer to share with your guests and the flavor possibilities are endless! 
**For all meat prep, grill set up, temperature and humidity control, recommended tools, and techniques for The BBQ Brothers recipes, check out The BBQ Brothers Beginner’s Guide To Grilling first, then get to cookin!
There’s a new craze that’s hit the BBQ/smoker world and it’s in the form of queso. Smoked queso. I believe this originated from Meat Church, but hundreds of variations are now surfacing in Weber fan-groups online. Since one of our all-time fan-favorite sides is smoked mac and cheese, this seemed like a recipe we needed to have in our arsenal.
We decided to do a basic version of queso as inspired by Meat Church so we can provide you with the basics and then let you go crazy with the ingredients! So to start, you’re going to add a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat and brown 16 oz of breakfast sausage into crumbles. Drain and dispose of grease.
Grab a 9×13 disposable foil pan (this gets messy so we don’t recommend using your own pan unless it’s ceramic coated). Toss in the cooked breakfast sausage. Add 1 (10.5 oz) can of cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans of Rotel (we used mild and fire-roasted), 4 Tbsp of your favorite pork rub, 4 oz of cubed gouda and a 32 oz box of cubed Velveeta. 
You 100% do not have to keep your ingredients organized like this (Caitlin just did this for better pictures). You can totally toss all of these ingredients into the pan and stir them together (or don’t, it really doesn’t matter).
Prep your grill by setting it up for indirect heat and adding in a handful of chips. We used pecan and apple, but maple would work well, too. Be careful with what kind you choose because the flavor really does end up absorbed into the queso. 
Get your temp up to about 350 degrees F then add the tray of queso over indirect heat. 
Set a timer for 15 minutes, then stir with a wooden spoon. If it looks disgusting at this point, you’re doing it right. 
Set a timer for another 15 minutes and stir again. You’ll continue to stir every 15 minutes for 1 hour, until the cheese is completely melted and you start to see this beautiful, smoky, film form on top. 
After the hour has passed, you can serve the queso as is or stir it up if you’re creeped out by the film. Since you’re basically warming up the dip you can also alter the time to a little less or little more, depending on how smoky you want the flavor to be. 
Top with some extra ingredients such as cilantro and diced tomato and serve with chips and salsa!
We plan to spend all summer making new variations of this queso and look forward to hearing your versions as well! You can swap out Velveeta for cubed cheddar, gouda for white American, Rotel for fresh pico, or breakfast sausage for chorizo. You could also add in some smoked or roasted jalepeño peppers, hot sauce, cream cheese, Mexican beans, taco seasoning/sauces, or even whip up a brand new style such as smoked buffalo chicken dip or this white cheddar onion dip!
The possibilities are truly endless here but let’s recap a few recipe musts:
- Be sure to use cheeses that melt easily.
- Stir consistently during the smoke to blend the cheeses and flavorings and prevent a dense film from forming.
- Include creamy ingredients such as cream cheese or cream of mushroom soup to prevent cheese coagulation after smoking.
- Be sure not to overfill the pan with too many ingredients or it’ll end up spewing onto your hot grill!
Also, if you want to make this a true smoked fiesta, whip up some of our smoked salsa to go with your queso dip! 🙂
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Smoked Queso Dip
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Category: Dip
- Method: Smoked
- Cuisine: Mexican
Description
A simple and smoky version of everyone’s favorite Mexican party dip! This smoked queso dip is the perfect appetizer to share with your guests and the flavor possibilities are endless!
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 16 oz breakfast sausage
- 1 (10.5 oz ) can cream of mushroom soup
- 2 cans of rotel (we used mild and fire-roasted but any flavor would work)
- 4 Tbsp favorite pork BBQ rub
- 4 oz gouda, cubed
- 32 oz Velveeta (large box), cubed
- Cilantro and diced tomato for topping
Seasoning: 4 Tbsp pork rub
Wood Used: Pecan and apple chips
Grill Temperature: 350 F
Smoke time: 1 hour, indirect
Instructions
- Add a medium-sized pan over medium-high heat and brown 16 oz of breakfast sausage into crumbles. Drain and dispose of grease.
- Grab a 9×13 disposable foil pan (this gets messy so we don’t recommend using your own pan unless it’s ceramic coated). Toss in the cooked breakfast sausage. Add 1 (10.5 oz) can of cream of mushroom soup, 2 cans of Rotel (we used mild and fire-roasted), 4 Tbsp of your favorite pork rub, 4 oz of cubed gouda and a 32 oz box of cubed Velveeta. Mix together if you want.
- Prep your grill by setting it up for indirect heat and adding in a handful of chips. We used pecan and apple, but maple would work well, too. Be careful with what kind you choose because the flavor really does end up absorbed into the queso.
- Get your temp up to around 350 degrees F then add the tray of queso over indirect heat.
- Set a timer for 15 minutes, then stir with a wooden spoon. If it looks disgusting at this point, you’re doing it right.
- Set a timer for another 15 minutes and stir again. You’ll continue to stir every 15 minutes for 1 hour, until the cheese is completely melted and you start to see this beautiful, smoky, film form on top.
- After the hour has passed, you can serve the queso as is or stir it up if you’re creeped out by the film. Since you’re basically warming up the dip you can also alter the time to a little less or little more, depending on how smoky you want the flavor to be.
- Top with some extra ingredients such as cilantro and diced tomato and serve with chips and salsa!
Notes
- If you’re going to alter the ingredients, be sure to use cheeses that melt easily.
- Stir consistently during the smoke to blend the cheeses and flavorings and prevent a dense film from forming.
- Include creamy ingredients such as cream cheese or cream of mushroom soup to prevent cheese coagulation after smoking.
- Be sure not to overfill the pan with too many ingredients or it’ll end up spewing onto your hot grill!
Keywords: smoked queso dip, Mexican cheese dip, smoked party appetizer, unique party food, kid-friendly, beginner smoker recipe
So let us know what you think….did this recipe smoke the competition or go up in flames? Leave a comment below! 🙂
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