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I wasn’t worried that combining fabulous cheeses with crumbled, flavorful chorizo was not going to be good. (Double negative city.) But I truly did not know how good this queso was going to be.
What is Chorizo?
When you see a recipe call for crumbled chorizo, that means you’ll be looking for Mexican chorizo, which is different from Spanish. Mexican chorizo is fresh, uncooked spicy ground meat sausage that is usually sold either loose or in a casing. It has to be cooked before eating, and if it’s in a casing, you’ll want to remove that before cooking.
You can find it with other raw meats or sausages at the grocery store. It is often made from pork, or a combination of pork and other ingredients, but these days you can find turkey chorizo on the market as well. No matter which meat it’s made with, the added seasonings– including chili peppers and vinegar — usually give it a bight brick red color.
It’s often used on tacos and very classically with scrambled eggs for breakfast in Mexico. It can also be found providing a pop of flavor in seafood dishes.
Cheesy Dip Recipe
This was one of the best cheese experiences my family and friends have had in a while. Everyone kept making slightly embarrassing noises and telling me how great this tasted, and I kept modestly saying things like, “Yes I know, I have invented melted cheese.”
Queso Fundido con Chorizo
So, in summary, it’s the cheeses and the chorizo that are the lead players in this pan of molten love, so luckily the cheeses were Roth, and well deserving of the spotlight. I combined creamy mild Fontina with caramelized and nutty Grand Queso and finished with buttery Havarti. Oh la la la la. The cheeses enveloped some very nice sautéed Mexican chorizo.
The second time I made this, I switched mild regular Havarti for Roth Jalapeno version, to bump of the level of heat even more. I don’t really know which I liked better – the second version with the Jalapeno Havarti was spicier, but not too hot. I will have to try both versions again before I make my final decisions, because I am a dedicated professional and I respect you all too much to guess at it.
When the cheese have melted into the beer in the pan, they may look at bit thick – and when you add the chorizo it might not seem like it’s incorporating evenly. Do not worry, Stir the cheese and chorizo together as best you can, and then transfer to the baking dish. In the oven, all will melt together, and bubble and brown and become smooth and beautiful. Just make sure your tortilla chips (or whatever else you are using to scoop up this gold) are ready to go, since you want to eat this dip hot.
I might try this with cured Spanish chorizo next time, diced very small, and quickly sautéed in a pan to bring out the flavor.
Thanks to Roth for sponsoring this blog post, and for allowing me to develop recipes with their amazing cheeses.
Other Hot Dip Recipes:
- Cheese Beer Dip with Hot Pretzels
- Hot Cheesy Clam Dip
- Easy Slow Cooker Hot Pimento Cheese Dip
- Hot Crab and Corn Dip
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Queso Fundido with Chorizo
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fresh Mexican chorizo removed from its casing if necessary
- ½ cup beer of your choice
- ½ pound grated Roth Fontina
- ¼ pound grated Roth Grand Queso
- ½ pound grated Roth Havarti
- 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
- 2 scallions minced (white and green parts)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Tortilla chips to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Line a plate with paper towels. Heat a large pan over medium high heat. Add the chorizo and sauté, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula as it cooks so that it becomes brown and crumbly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the chorizo to the paper towel-lined plate. If the sausage is still in big clumps, when it has cooled use your fingers to crumble it further.
- In a medium saucepan heat the beer just until barely simmering. Add the cheeses a handful at a time, stirring frequently, and adding the next handful as soon as the last batch is melted. Stir in the chorizo, jalapeno, scallions and salt and pepper. Transfer the queso mixture to a 1-quart shallow baking dish.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until bubbling. Serve immediately, with tortilla chips.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Add the cooked and crumbled chorizo to the beer/cheese mixture when stirring in the jalapeno and scallion?? I’ve only discovered chorizo in the last year (when it became readily available in the Far North Country) and this sounds like a super-tasty way to serve it. Thanks!
yes! clarified in recipe. it’s pretty dang good.