Make Your Queso Dip Totally Unique With One Creamy Canned Ingredient
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Beyond the gooey, crave-able cheese, whipping up a batch of knockout homemade queso is all about the canned ingredients ... and, this time, we aren't talking about canned fire-roasted tomatoes or green chilies. To instantly level up your queso game, canned pumpkin puree is the pantry staple you've been missing. With a scoop of pumpkin puree, predictable queso becomes a cheesy, meaty, pumpkin-y extravaganza, all about sweet-savory interplay. Texturally, the addition of luscious, velvety canned pumpkin also gives queso dip a rich thickness, enhancing that cheesy pull on every tortilla chip dunk.
Libby's is a widely-available canned pumpkin classic that totally gets the job done. But, if you happen to live near a Target, the store's generic Good & Gather brand makes our favorite canned pumpkin puree. To incorporate, simply make your regular stovetop queso recipe as normal, then stir in a scoop of pumpkin puree after the cheese has been added and thoroughly melted. Once the dip has mixed and melded together, it's ready to serve.
As always, feel free to adjust to taste as desired, but 1 cup of pumpkin puree per 24 ounces of cheese is a solid jumping-off point. For leisurely grazing, you could transfer that pumpkin queso to a slow cooker over low heat to keep it warm. Beyond tortilla chips, this pumpkin queso would be delicious spooned over steamed broccoli and cauliflower, served on oven-roasted potatoes, or as a topping for scrambled eggs.
Canned pumpkin puree brings sweet-savory dimensionality to your tried and true queso
In general, we recommend using white American cheese to make smoky homemade queso dip. But, for this pumpkin upgrade, nutty Gruyere or sharp white cheddar could complement the tasting notes of the pumpkin and add a touch of gourmet flair. Dry white wine or chicken broth would also make gourmet-style moisture components here.
If you're short on prep time, this tip works for upgrading store-bought queso as well. Simply warm your jarred queso in a saucepan on the stove, then stir in the pumpkin puree and any additional seasonings or ingredients as desired. Desert Pepper Trading Company's medium queso blanco dip is our favorite brand of store-bought queso, for the record.
A dash of chipotle or cayenne pepper seasoning could bring major depth to pumpkin queso, as would warming spices like garam masala or cumin. To bulk it up, ground chorizo or shredded smoked turkey would keep the sweet-savory profile rolling. You could even add a heaping spoonful of pumpkin puree to our chorizo Velveeta queso blanco recipe, a savory-leaning dip with Roma tomatoes and pepper jack cheese. Try adding a few shakes of nutritional yeast for a kick of protein and extra cheesy flavor.
To serve, top your pumpkin queso with crumbled cotija, toasted pepitas, fresh cilantro, and jalapeños slices. If you're using pickled jalapeños, you could even stir in a splash of that jarred brine for some grassy, vegetal heat.