Smoked Queso Recipe

This queso recipe can be served with your favorite dippers or over tacos and nachos. Smoked queso easily cooks in a foil pan but you can also be cooked in a Dutch oven. We also have made it on a charcoal grill in a cast iron skillet for a creamy and delicious appetizer.

Make sure to also check out this Grilled Queso Recipe or Cast Iron Queso.

Why We Love This Recipe

Smoked Queso Recipe is perfect for game day because of the delicious smoky flavor and always a crowd favorite. The queso ingredients can easily be changed to what you prefer which makes this queso one of my favorite appetizers.

Let the smoker do all the work to create this delicious queso recipe.

Ingredients 

Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe and ingredients in the recipe card.

Variations Ideas

• Meat – You can easily change the meat in this queso dish. Add in breakfast sausage, pork sausage, or chorizo sausage for a delicious variation. Jimmy dean sausage is one of our favorite brands.
• Cheese – Change or add in additional cheese for added flavor. We recommend Mexican blend cheddar cheese, Monterey jack cheese, cream cheese, pepper jack cheese or gouda cheese.
• Toppings – After you queso dip is done cooking top with cilantro, slice jalapenos and drained rotel tomatoes.
• Add-ins – Get creative when making this queso and feel free to add in other ingredients besides the diced tomatoes. You can add in green chilis, black beans, or slice black olives.
• Queso on the Grill – Feel free to make this delicious queso dip on the grill or oven over medium heat. We love to smoke queso. But if we already have the grill fired up, it is easy to cook this recipe on it.
• Cast Iron Skillet – If you prefer you can make this queso dip in a cast iron skillet. Place the skillet in the smoker and allow it to cook with all the delicious ingredients.

How to Make Queso in the Smoker

• Step 1 – Heat Smoker – Preheat a smoker with a water pan to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. 

• Step 2 – Add Ingredients – Add all the ingredients to a 9×13 disposable aluminum pan or a large cast iron skillet. 

• Step 3 – Stir – Combine the ingredients together.

• Step 3 – Add pan to smoker – Place the pan on the grill grates over indirect heat and close the smoker.  Cook for 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. 

• Step 4 – Serve and Enjoy – Once done, serve with chips and enjoy.

Expert Tips

• Adding Wood Chips – Make sure to add chips to the smoker every 15 minutes. Add wood chips if your smoker does not have an automatic feature.  
• Dip desired Consistency – If your dip is too thick, gradually stir in milk. Continue adding until the queso is the consistency that you prefer.  
• Adding Meat – This recipe calls for ground beef. Make sure that it is cooked and chopped before adding to the pan. If it is not cooked prior to adding to the pan, it could result in a greasy queso dip.
• Cooking Dip – We cooked the dip for about 2 hours because we love the smoky flavor. But if you prefer less of a smoky flavor, you can reduce the cooking time. Make sure to stir every 15 minutes while cooking in the smoker.
• Cheese – Make sure to shred or dice the cheese before adding to the foil pan. We recommend not using pre-shredded cheese as it has added ingredients and does not melt as well. We like add a ton of cheese for the creamiest dip.
• Serving dip – To keep the dip warm, you can easily serve out of the foil pan. But we like to move it to a slow cooker for serving.

What to Serve with Smoker Queso Dip

• Tortilla Chips – We like to use tortilla chips to eat with this delicious dip. The kids really like the scoops because they can hold even more dip and they make it easier to eat. Feel free to choose a tortilla chip that fits within your diet.
• Corn Chips – You can also use corn chips or whatever you like. This is the best dip recipe and so creamy and delicious.
• Vegetables – For a low carb option, we like to serve this cheese dip with raw vegetables. We recommend carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery.
• Crackers – Have a platter with different types of crackers for a delicious side.
• Bread – Grab some bread from the bakery and serve with this queso dip.

How to Store Leftovers

Refrigerate any leftover smoked cheese dip in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. When you are ready to serve leftovers, reheat in the microwave in 30 second intervals.