How to Make Authentic Jalapeño Cheese Sauce For Nachos

by Garrett Peck June 18, 2020

This is how to make the best jalapeño cheese sauce!

Jalapeno cheese sauce may seem complicated to make, but rest assured it is not! Using these simple steps below, you will be swimming in Queso Dip for days! Add it to tacos, pour it over nachos, why you can even dip pretzels in this jalapeno cheese sauce.

You won't need many ingredients for this cheese sauce; they are all very easy to source!

You will need:

2 Cups Hot Milk (microwaved)
1 Cup Cheddar Jack Cheese
1-2 Jalapenos de-seeded and finely minced
2 Tablespoons Flour
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Tablespoon Chipotle Powder
1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
1 Tablespoon Granulated Garlic
1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1-2 Teaspoons Salt
1-2 Tablespoons Taco Fuego Hot Sauce

Now that you have all of this gathered, let's move on to the recipe!

STEP ONE: Melt Butter & Fry Jalapenos

We will begin by finely dicing our Jalapenos as the two tablespoons of butter melts over medium heat in your sauce pan. Add your diced Jalapenos and fry them lightly in the butter until they are soft.

STEP TWO: Make a Roux

What's a roux? A roux is a combination of gluten and fat to create a thickener for a sauce. Our sauce is going to be milk based. Add your two tablespoons of flour to the melted butter and jalapeno mixture and stir it in. It should look like this.

You will see the roux melt and begin bubbling. You will want to let it get a very light golden color which is known as a blonde roux.

STEP THREE: Start Adding the Milk

After the roux has been made, turn your heat up to medium-high and start adding the hot milk at about 1/4 cup at a time. It will begin thickening immediately so KEEP STIRRING!

At this point, this concoction is known as a bechamel sauce. The cheese is what makes it a Queso Dip.

STEP FOUR: Add The Spices

This is the part where all the flavor comes in. Reduce your heat back down to medium and then we add our 1 tablespoon of Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Chipotle Powder, and Cumin along with 2 teaspoons of salt to our sauce base.

After the spices have been added, you should see something like this.

STEP FIVE: Get Extra Cheesy.

Here comes the fun part. Adding in our cheese! Grab about 1-2 cups of shredded Cheddar Jack cheese and stir it in letting it melt completely. To assist in melting you can turn your burner heat up a little bit more, but DO NOT let it burn. You need to be stirring this the whole time.

After you add the cheese to the sauce, you will be done and it should look like so:

How To Use Jalapeño Cheese Sauce

Now, doesn't it feel good to be able to make your own cheese sauce? It sure does! Add this to EVERYTHING you eat! Pour this over your favorite type of tortilla chip and enjoy some home made nachos. Don't forget, for an extra flavor burst, be sure to add in some Taco Fuego hot sauce!