Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce
Published 1/23/2023 • Updated 3/4/2023
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This nacho cheese sauce recipe is perfect for dipping, drizzling, or anything in between. It is made with cheddar cheese, Velveeta cheese, evaporated milk, and green chiles.
Melty Nacho Cheese Sauce
What is better than dipping your favorite tortilla chips or vegetables in delicious nacho cheese? NOTHING. This nacho cheese sauce is ready in less than 15 minutes and begging you to eat it with a spoon.
how do I serve nacho cheese?
- You make nacho cheese for a delicious appetizer and serve it with chips or vegetables.
- Make a pan of ground beef nachos and drizzle this nacho cheese over the top of your nachos or a delicious loaded nacho recipe.
- Drizzle this nacho cheese over baked potatoes.
Ingredients You Need for Nacho Cheese
- Sharp Cheddar Cheese: we recommend using freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese.
- Cornstarch: cornstarch helps thicken the sauce.
- Evaporated Milk: this will help lengthen your sauce!
- Velveeta: Velveeta is key to that creamy, yummy nacho cheese sauce! Don’t skip it.
- Green Chiles: green chiles add so much flavor to this sauce. If you’re looking for heat, you can use canned jalapeños.
What cheese do I use for nacho cheese sauce?
We used sharp cheddar cheese and Velveeta, you can swap the cheddar cheese for:
- Monterey jack
- Mild cheddar
- Fontina
How to Make Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Shred cheese: use a cheese grater to freshly shred the cheddar cheese.
- Add cornstarch: sprinkle the cornstarch over the shredded cheese.
- Melt cheeses: add all ingredients into a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium/low. Whisk the entire time until the cheese is melted and smooth.
- Serve: serve immediately!
Top Tips for Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce
Make it Spicy
If you would like your nacho cheese sauce to be spicy add 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes or a tablespoon of chopped jalapeño to the cheese sauce and stir.
Use Freshly Shredded Cheese
We suggest buying a block of good-quality cheddar cheese and shredding it yourself. Pre-shredded cheese tends to come with an anti-melting agent.
Fun Ingredient Add-Ins
You can change up this nacho cheese dip by adding any of the ingredients below.
- Diced sautéed peppers and onions: Add the peppers and onions warm to the nacho cheese.
- Ground beef: Add cooked ground beef to the nacho cheese dip to make it meaty.
- Beans: Add a few cans of drained beans to the nacho cheese dip. Yum!
Don’t burn it
Make sure to cook the sauce low and slow so that you don’t accidentally burn the cheese when it’s over the heat. Trust us!
Classic
Mac and Cheese
Say hello to the BEST mac and cheese on the internet! This classic mac and cheese recipe is cheesy, creamy and made completely on the stovetop. Enjoy!
Storage
Let the nacho cheese dip cool before storing it in an air tight container and placing it in the fridge.
Reheating Instructions
Add the nacho cheese to a small saucepan and add 2-3 tablespoons of water or milk and heat the nacho cheese over low/medium heat until warm.
Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz. sharp cheddar, shredded (~2 cups)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 12 oz. can evaporate milk
- 6 oz. Velveeta cheese, ~¾ cup
- optional: 4-oz. diced green chilies or 2 tablespoons diced jalapeños, highly recommended!
Instructions
- First, shred the cheddar cheese into a large bowl.
- Next, sprinkle the cornstarch onto the cheddar shreds and toss to coat all of the cheese.
- In a small saucepan add the evaporated milk, cheddar, Velveeta, and green chilies. Cook over low/medium heat whisking the whole time until the sauce is smooth. About 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
Tips & Notes
- This recipe was updated on April 30, 2022.
- Freshly shredded cheese is the best option for this sauce.
- Cooking over low heat is the most optimal to ensure that the cheese does not burn and clump up.
- You could add 4-oz. Of a mild salsa if chilies have too much heat.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Could I keep this warm in a crockpot for an hour or so without it getting weird?
This came out as a basic cheese sauce. In no way shape or form does it actually taste like a nacho cheese sauce. I even put it in the smoker for a few hours to try and get a little more flavor out of it, and all I got was cheese sauce not nacho cheese. Extremely disappointed do not recommend.
So sorry to hear this, James! Can you share if you made any modifications either to ingredients or cooking method? Hoping we can resolve this issue for you because we <3 this nacho cheese sauce.
We made this for the Super Bowl and it was amazing!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed this sauce 😀