This Skillet Sausage and Beer Queso is one of our favorite party appetizers! We serve this queso with tortilla chips, pita chips and vegetables for dipping!
Slight cheese obsession? Oh yeah, us too. Check out this SUPER cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe or this lightened up version of Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip!
What Is Queso?
There’s many, many delicious recipes for cheese queso. Some are vegetarian, meaning just the cheese and maybe a few vegetables and some are loaded with meat like this Skillet Sausage and Beer Queso.
You can add ground beef, pork, spicy sausage or mild sausage to a queso recipe, even shredded chicken would be good! Once you have the basic recipe down you can get creative and add your own ingredients.
Queso literally means cheese in Spanish, so cheese is the main ingredient for any queso recipe. You can use many different combinations of cheese as long as they melt relatively well. Even processes cheese like Velveeta is used in many queso recipes and I ‘aint gonna lie…it’s delicious and I’ll eat it any time.
How Do You Make This Queso Recipe?
Start by browning the sausage in a cast iron skillet, or any oven proof skillet you have. Drain off any excess drippings that are in the pan, but you’ll need the drippings for making the roux later on so don’t get rid of them!
Next add in the onions and jalapeño peppers and cook them with the beef for about 5 minutes until they soften.
If jalapeño peppers are too spicy for you, try swapping out green bell peppers instead. Or you can do a combination of both peppers.
Remove the beef and peppers to a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of the drippings back to the skillet. Stir in flour to make a roux (which is what is going to thicken your queso) and let the roux cook for 1 minute to darken.
Now the fun part, pour in your beer. You can use any beer that you like to drink in this queso recipe. You will taste the beer in this cheese dip so do make sure that it’s something you like drinking!
Whisk the beer into the roux and bring to a boil to thicken. Add the shredded cheese in batches, whisking the cheese into the beer after each addition. Repeat this process until all the cheese is added and the queso is smooth. Let the queso come to a gentle simmer to let it thicken again.
Add the beef, peppers and onions back to the skillet and stir into the cheese sauce. Place the skillet under the broiler for 4-5 minutes until the top of the cheese gets brown and bubbling hot…
You can garnish the top of this Skillet Sausage and Beer Queso with fresh diced tomatoes, our fresh Pico de Gallo recipe, and/or diced avocados. I just love it when you combine hot and cold food together like this…it makes for the best dipping!
What Can I Serve With This Sausage Queso Recipe?
I mean, besides just grabbing spoon which is totally appropriate in my opinion, you’ve got lots of choices here!
- Tortilla Chips
- Pita Chips
- Salty Crackers
- Carrot and Celery Sticks
- Mini Peppers or Pepper Strips
- Pretzel Chips
- Toasted Bread Slices
- Corn Chips (Fritos)
- Doritos
Looking For More Dip Recipes?
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Skillet Sausage and Beer Queso
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeServe this sausage queso piping hot with tortilla chips, pita chips or pretzels for dipping!
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. loose Italian sausage, spicy or sweet or a combination of both
- 1/2 cup diced onions
- 4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 cup beer
- 2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Diced tomatoes for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler.
- Spray a cast iron or oven proof skillet with non-stick cooking spray and set over medium heat.
- Add the sausage and brown until no pink remains, drain the grease reserving 2 tablespoons and return back to the skillet.
- Add the peppers and onions to the skillet with the sausage and stir to combine. Cook for 5 minutes until the vegetables have softened then remove the filling to a bowl.
- Add the 2 tablespoons of reserved fat from the sausage to the skillet along with 2 tablespoons of flour.
- Whisk together for a minute then slowly pour in the beer while whisking.
- Bring the mixture to a boil then turn the heat back down to a simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the cheese to the skillet, while stirring until smooth.
- Add the sausage, peppers and onions back to the skillet. Stir to combine then place the skillet under the broiler for 3-4 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the top is browned. Keep an eye on this so that the cheese doesn’t burn!
- Garnish with diced tomatoes and more fresh peppers if desired.
- Serve immediately.
- Category: appetizer
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: American
