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    Home » Recipes » Smoked Recipes

    Smoked Queso

    By: Jessica · Posted: Feb 15, 2022 · Updated: Oct 2, 2022 · This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

    Jump to Recipe
    Total Time: 1 hour 18 minutes
    Servings: 6 servings
    smoked queso in pan with text on image

    Smoked Queso: With ground sausage, Velveeta cheese, Colby jack cheese, and rotel this might just be the best smoked queso recipe of all time! The ultimate party dip and a definite crowd pleaser!

    Quick Overview: Combine all of your ingredients in a BBQ safe dish, place it on the grill for an hour (stirring every 15 mins), serve, and enjoy as a delicious smoked appetizer!

    A close up of someone dipping a bell pepper into the smoked quest dip.
    Smoked Queso

    Why you’ll love this recipe

    I think everyone needs to have a good queso recipe in their recipe box. It’s a delicious dip (full of cheesy goodness) and a great option for taking to parties or serving when you have guests over!

    This version of your favorite cheese dip is full of delicious smoky flavor because it’s cooked by indirect heat on a charcoal grill (although you can do it on a gas grill, too).

    Good thing this cheesy dip is hitting the blog in time for grilling season because you’re going to want to make a big batch for your next party, for sure!

    Jump to:
    • Why you’ll love this recipe
    • ingredients for smoked queso recipe
    • Instructions for smoked queso dip recipe
    • What if I don’t have a charcoal grill? 
    • Substitutions
    • Variations
    • Storage
    • Expert tips and FAQs
    • Related Recipes
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments

    ingredients for smoked queso recipe

    You can find everything you need to make this yummy smoked cheese dip at your local grocery store, even the disposable foil pan (most grocery stores have this in the baking section somewhere near the cupcake liners).

    You’ll need:

    • 1 pound ground sausage
    • 1 pound velveeta cheese 
    • 3 cups Colby Jack cheese, shredded (If you can shred the block! It’s much creamier!)
    • 1- 10 oz can Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilis (drained)
    • 1 cup beer
    • ½ cup red onion chopped, divided
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon ground pepper
    • ½ teaspoon salt

    Optional (for those looking to level-up their queso game)

    • chopped jalapeños
    • ⅓ cup bacon bits
    The ingredients you need to make smoked queso.
    Ingredients

    Instructions for smoked queso dip recipe

    1. Open a beer and let it sit out until it’s flat and room temperature. Set aside.
    2. If your sausage isn’t cooked yet you’ll need to do that now. Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of your chopped onion. Warm up for 2 minutes then cook the ground sausage until there is no more pink.
    3. Prepare your BBQ for indirect heat and let it warm up to 225 degrees f. If you’re using a charcoal grill, put some hickory wood in the coals to give the dip a nice smoke flavor.
    A hand on the handle of a charcoal grill.
    Warm up the grill.
    1. Dice your Velveeta cheese, set aside. 
    2. Shred the Colby Jack cheese, set aside. 
    3. Chop the red onion, set aside. 
    4. Add cooked sausage, Velveeta, shredded Colby Jack, Rotel. tomatoes, onion, and spices to a 9×13 BBQ safe dish (I use a disposable aluminum pan). Set aside. 
    All of the smoked queso ingredients (minus the beer) in an aluminum 9x13 pan.
    Add ingredients to 9×13 pan.
    1. Once your BBQ has reached the desired temperature, place your 9×13 dish in the center and pour 1/2 cup of beer into it. 
    Someone pouring a cup of beer into the 9x13 pan on the BBQ with the rest of the smoked queso ingredients.
    Pour beer into the pan.
    1. Close the lid and cook for 30 minutes, mixing at 15 minutes. *NOTE* When mixing, make sure to scrape the sides and bottom and give it a good stir so all the flavours are incorporated.
    The 9x13 pan of smoked queso ingredients sitting on the grill of a charcoal BBQ.
    Let cook on the grill.
    A spatula stirring the queso while it cooks on the charcoal grill.
    Stir well every 15 mins.
    1. After 30 minutes, add the remaining 1/2 cup of beer and continue cooking for another 30 minutes (stirring every 15 minutes again). 
    2. After 1 hour on the BBQ, the cheese will be melted and you’ll have a nice, thick, smoked queso dip. 
    3. Serve and enjoy!
    The cooked smoked queso sitting on the charcoal grill.
    Nice, thick queso dip!

    What if I don’t have a charcoal grill? 

    If you don’t have a charcoal grill, don’t worry! It is still possible to get that extra layer of flavor without one. Here are a few different ways we would try…

    • The Shortcut – warm your oven to 225°F and cook your queso as directed in this recipe. To get that smoky flavor, pour 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke over your ingredients along with the first 1/2 cup of flat beer. If you don’t have a grill, this is still a great way to create a delicious smoked queso dip! 
    • Regular Grill – if you have a propane or natural gas grill, you can actually purchase a special smoke box designed specifically to allow you to smoke things on your gas grill! Here’s an example. Read the manufacturer instructions that come with the smoker box and follow them to create your smoke queso dip!
    • Pellet Smoker – if you have a pellet grill (like a Traeger grill), you can definitely use it for this recipe! Set the temp to 225°F, add hickory wood pellets, and continue on with the recipe as written!
    • Electric Smoker – basically the same things apply here’s with a pellet smoker. Set your temp, add the wood chips of your choice and follow the recipe as written.

    Substitutions

    If you’re looking to make this delicious queso dip but you need to modify the ingredients, here’s a a few of our suggestions.

    • Sausage – If you don’t have any sausage (pork sausage or beef sausage), you can use ground beef instead.
    • Velveeta – Although it will alter the flavor of the dip, you could use other soft cheeses in place of Velveeta (like cream cheese). Either way, you’ll still get the same creamy texture.
    • Colby Jack – You can use Monterey Jack in place of Colby Jack, or even a sharp cheddar cheese… but I’d still make sure to use the block cheese, and shred it yourself, so it tastes better! (Pre-shredded has a filler that can make the cheese, less creamy.)

    Even if you do have to change up a few things, you’ll find that the delicious flavors in this recipe make this the best smoked queso dip ever!

    Variations

    Looking to change it up a bit? Try this!

    • Spicy – If you like the heat, try swapping the Colby Jack cheese for Pepper Jack cheese. You can also add some chopped spicy jalapeños and/or chipotle peppers to take the spice up a big notch!
    • Taco Queso – Looking to add some extra fun to your taco night? Add some taco seasoning to the sausage or beef, continue with the recipe as written and use it in place of your regular taco meat!
    • Cowboy Queso Recipe – I’m not even against smoking this cowboy queso recipe, or at least adding some of the ingredients from that one, to this one for an extra flavor explosion!

    Any of these variations would create a great dip with tons of flavor!

    Smoked queso in aluminum pan
    Delicious smoked queso

    Storage

    This might be my new favorite recipe, and I HIGHLY doubt you’ll have any leftovers (you’ve been warned!). That being said, if you do have leftover queso you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days.

    Expert tips and FAQs

    Can I make smoked queso in the slow cooker?

    We’ve never tried this, but we assume it would be possible!

    If we were to try this in the slow cooker, we would add the whole cup of beer (and 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke) to the slow cooker with all the other ingredients and cook it on low for 4-6 hours or until everything looked melty and delicious!

    What should I serve with this smoked queso dip?

    Honestly anything would taste delicious dipped in this, but some of our favorite dippers are tortilla chips, corn chips, or green bell peppers!

    A pita chip being dipped in the smoked queso dip.
    Dip chips or veggies in it!

    Related Recipes

    If you’re looking for the best dip to serve, check out a few other party favorites on the blog like this buffalo bacon blue cheese dip or our easy taco layer dip!

    📖 Recipe

    Smoked Queso dip in a serving dish.

    Smoked Queso

    Jessica Burgess
    Smoked Queso: With ground sausage, Velveeta cheese, Colby jack cheese, and green chiles this might just be the best smoked queso recipe of all time! The ultimate party dip and a definite crowd pleaser!
    5 from 7 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 8 mins
    BBQ Time 1 hr
    Total Time 1 hr 18 mins
    Course Appetizer, Snack
    Cuisine American
    Servings 6 servings
    Calories 745 kcal

    Equipment

    • smoker

    Ingredients
     

    • 1 pound ground sausage
    • 1 pound Velveeta cheese
    • 3 cups Block Colby Jack cheese shredded (Pre-shredded has a coating that makes it less creamy, so we prefer block cheese.)
    • 1- 10 ounce can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies drained
    • 1 cup beer
    • ½ cup red onion chopped, divided
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon ground pepper
    • ½ teaspoon salt

    Optional

    • chopped jalapeños
    • ⅓ cup bacon bits

    Queso Ingredients

      Prevent your screen from going dark

      Instructions
       

      • Open a beer and let it sit out until it's flat and room temperature. Set aside.
      • If your sausage isn't cooked yet you'll need to do that now. Put 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of your chopped onion. Warm up for 2 minutes then cook the ground sausage until there is no more pink.
      • Prepare your BBQ for indirect heat and let it warm up to 225 degrees f. If you're using a charcoal grill, put some hickory wood in the coals to give the dip a nice smoke flavor.
      • Dice your Velveeta cheese, set aside.
      • Shred the Colby Jack cheese, set aside.
      • Chop the red onion, set aside.
      • Add cooked sausage, Velveeta, shredded Colby Jack, Rotel. tomatoes, onion, and spices to a 9×13 BBQ safe dish (I use an aluminum disposable one). Set aside.
      • Once your BBQ has reached the desired temperature, place your 9×13 dish in the center and pour 1/2 cup of beer into it.
      • Close the lid and cook for 30 minutes, mixing at 15 minutes.
        *NOTE* When mixing, make sure to scrape the sides and bottom so all the flavours are incorporated.
      • After 30 minutes, add the remaining 1/2 cup of beer and continue cooking for another 30 minutes (stirring every 15 minutes again).
      • After 1 hour on the BBQ, the cheese will be melted and you'll have a nice, thick, smoked queso dip.
      • Serve and enjoy!

      Notes

      STORAGE: This might be my new favorite recipe, and I HIGHLY doubt you’ll have any leftovers (you’ve been warned!). That being said, if you do have leftover queso you can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days. 

      Nutrition

      Serving: 1serving | Calories: 745kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 53g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 149mg | Sodium: 2507mg | Potassium: 590mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1456IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 912mg | Iron: 2mg

      Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.

      Keywords cheese dip, dip, queso, smoked queso
      Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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      1. Katie says

        February 15, 2022 at 9:46 am

        5 stars
        The smoke adds so much flavor to this. Now that we’ve done it, it will be hard to ever go back!

        Reply
        • Jessica says

          February 15, 2022 at 6:49 pm

          Right? It will be hard to ever make a queso dip in the microwave again!

          Reply
      2. mona says

        February 15, 2022 at 10:17 am

        5 stars
        yes! the added bacon, the little hit of heat, this queso is amazing!

        Reply
        • Jessica says

          February 15, 2022 at 6:48 pm

          Haha! YUM!!! I totally agree and love it with those additions!

          Reply
      3. Anna says

        February 15, 2022 at 3:44 pm

        5 stars
        Woah! I am obsessed with this queso! Smoking it is a genius idea!

        Reply
        • Jessica says

          February 15, 2022 at 6:48 pm

          Thank you Anna! I’m so glad that you liked it!

          Reply

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      Jessica Burgess of Fantabulosity

      Hi, I'm Jessica! Are you ready to add simplicity to your busy life? Here you'll find easy recipes, organization hacks, home & entertaining ideas...

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