The Best Cheese To Use For The Perfect Copycat Chili's Beef Queso

While "queso" in Spanish simply means "cheese," if you see the word on a menu, it's more likely to refer to a cheesy dip served with tortilla chips. This Tex-Mex dish can be made with cheeses such as asadero, oaxaca, or queso fresco, but if you want the kind of queso served at Chili's, only one kind of cheese (or cheese-adjacent product) will do — Velveeta. While Velveeta may not actually be real cheese as defined by the Code of Federal Regulations, it does make for a smooth dip, and this is why recipe developer Kate Shungu uses it in her copycat Chili's beef queso recipe.

"Compared to regular cheese, Velveeta melts beautifully while still retaining that classic cheesy flavor," Shungu says of this processed product. However, she opts to use ground beef, tomato paste, and spices in place of the beanless canned chili that is often called for in other Chili's queso copycats. If you'd really like to recreate the chain restaurant experience at home, you can pair this dip with our versions of Chili's salsa, Awesome Blossom, Big Mouth Bites, and Southwest egg rolls.

If you don't care for the taste of Velveeta and try to substitute cheddar or pepper jack in this recipe, your dip will still be delicious — but it probably won't look so pretty because when you heat most cheeses, the fat and protein separate for a lumpier melt. Velveeta, on the other hand, contains emulsifiers that hold all of the elements together, with the result being a homogeneous (if somewhat spongy) cheese that melts smoothly.

Originally, Velveeta was made from real cheeses, including cheddar, colby, and Swiss, and may have started as a way for the Kraft company to repurpose its leftovers. However, today's formula begins with milk. It also includes canola oil, whey, preservatives, coloring agents, and the aforementioned emulsifiers. One of these emulsifiers, sodium citrate, can be duplicated by combining baking soda with lemon juice, but it's also available for purchase by home cooks. If you stir two teaspoons into the queso along with the milk, you could use real cheese in this recipe and achieve similarly creamy results.

Out of the box, though, your best bet for a non-lumpy Velveeta substitute would be the highly processed American cheese, which may also not be real cheese by definition. (Kraft singles are labeled "pasteurized processed cheese product.") This cheese, which also contains emulsifiers, is made with so much liquid that it doesn't take much heat to reduce it to a melty puddle.