We have fairly regular family dinners, usually at my house and we all love to play with our food.
One Sunday, we were making our usual slow cooker queso with Velveeta, and Rotel Tomatoes. Our philosophy about queso is that we don’t mess around with perfection – much. This particular Sunday, the tequila was on the counter, margaritas were being mixed, and my son-in-law suggested we add some tequila to the queso. We are all food nerds, and when alcohol is added to tomato products the flavor is enhanced and certain flavors are released, adding more depth to the food. So we added some tequila, a nice reposado. The resulting recipe is below. Since the birth of this recipe, we always have this as a nice appetizer.
Lots of you may wonder why we use the processed cheese. There are plenty of wonderful cheeses available that can be also used for cheese dips. The answer is very simple. It’s because it works every time! It always tastes good. Sometimes it’s better to stay with a solid classic than reinventing a recipe that doesn’t need any assistance.
Tequila Queso
16 ounces Velveeta of equivalent cheese
1 10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes or canned tomatoes with chilies
¼ cup reposado tequila
¼ cup sour cream
Dice the cheese, add to a slow cooker. Melt slowly. Add the tomatoes and stir until well-combined. Stir in the tequila and sour cream until well combined. Cover the cooker and heat thoroughly on low. Serve with chips, cut veggies or as a topping. Store leftovers in microwave friendly containers.