I know, it seems kind of weird that I’m posting this homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce recipe the day after the super bowl. But, the reason I made this nacho cheese sauce has nothing to do with the super bowl and everything to do with the fact that I have just had a crappy week. :) After a series of unfortunate events and two recipe flops, I had an, “Ugh, I give up. Just give me some chips and nacho cheese.” moment.
Don’t judge. Nacho cheese dip is powerful stuff.
NO Processed Cheese, Please
Rather than going totally off the deep end and buying a gelatinous block of Velveeta, I decided to try to make the nacho cheese sauce myself, with real, simple ingredients. To my surprise (and probably to my detriment), this homemade nacho cheese recipe made with real cheddar cheese is extremely fast and easy to make.
Spice it Up!
The nacho cheese recipe below is the very basic version of nacho cheese, which you can customize or embellish in many different ways. Try substituting half of the cheddar with pepper jack, or stirring in a 4oz. can of diced green chiles. Experiment with the seasonings by adding a pinch of garlic powder, cumin, or even cayenne pepper. Stir in a few sliced green onions, or a can of Rotel tomatoes (drained). You can really have fun with this one.
Tips for Cheese Sauce Success
Here are a few tips to help make sure your homemade nacho cheese recipe is a success:
- Make sure to cook the flour in the butter for one minute. This helps cook out the “floury” flavor.
- Use medium cheddar for smoother results. Sharp cheddar tends to “break” or become grainy easier than medium cheddar.
- Remove the pot from the heat before stirring in the cheese. Overheating the sauce once the cheese has been added can cause the sauce to seize up and become thick and/or grainy. If needed, use only low heat to help the cheese fully melt.
- Use block cheese and hand shred it when possible. Pre-shredded cheeses sometimes contain a lot of anti-caking powders, which can cause a powdery flavor in your cheese sauce.
New to cheese sauce? Try making our no-roux Easy Cheese Sauce that melts together smoothly in minutes and is absolutely fool-proof!
5 Minute Nacho Cheese Sauce
Servings 6 (1/4 cup each)Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.22)
- 2 Tbsp flour ($0.02)
- 1 cup whole milk ($0.30)
- 6 oz. medium cheddar, shredded (about 1.5 cups) ($2.25)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp chili powder ($0.02)
Instructions
- Add the butter and flour to a small sauce pot. Heat and whisk the butter and flour together until they become bubbly and foamy. Continue to cook and whisk the bubbly mixture for about 60 seconds.
- Whisk the milk into the flour and butter mixture. Turn the heat up slightly and allow the milk to come to a simmer while whisking. When it reaches a simmer, the mixture will thicken. Once it’s thick enough to coat a spoon, turn off the heat.
- Stir in the shredded cheddar, one handful at a time, until melted into the sauce. If needed, place the pot over a low flame to help the cheese melt. Do not overheat the cheese sauce.
- Once all the cheese is melted into the sauce, stir in the salt and chili powder. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. If the sauce becomes too thick, simply whisk in an additional splash of milk.
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Nutrition
Video
How to Make Nacho Cheese – Step by Step Photos
Start by placing 2 Tbsp butter and 2 Tbsp flour in a small saucepot.
Heat the flour and butter over medium flame and whisk together until they become bubbly and foamy. Continue whisking for about 60 seconds. This mixture is called a “roux” and is what will thicken your sauce. Letting the roux cook for about 60 seconds slightly toasts the flour and gets rid of that raw floury flavor, but you want it to stay “blonde”, so if it begins to brown, remove it from the heat.
Whisk in one cup of whole milk. Turn the heat up slightly and let it come to a simmer (whisking frequently). Because the small volume, it should come to a simmer very quickly (about a minute).
When it reaches a simmer, the milk will thicken. When it’s thick enough to coat a spoon like in the photo, turn off the heat.
Whisk in 6oz. (or about 1.5 cups) shredded medium cheddar, one hand full at a time, until it is melted into the sauce. If needed, put the pot back over a low flame to help it melt, but the residual heat should do most of the work.
Finally, season the nacho cheese sauce with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp chili powder.
Taste the nacho cheese sauce and adjust the seasonings if needed. And that’s it! Now you have a real ingredient, really delicious, homemade nacho cheese dip.
This post either just ruined your life or made your day. Or maybe both.
How long you can stored it?
A few days in the refrigerator.
This recipe is a keeper. It was fast and delicious. I added some pepper jack cheese and a small can of diced green chiles.
Omg! I just made this.. Sooooo good!! We tasted it as is and it was delicious but to kick it up a bit we added about 1/4 cup salsa and a couple of tsp of Franks Red Hot… My new addiction!!
I made this with less flower and a Little more butter and melted the butter first. Added a Little more cheese added Frank’s hot sauce plus the chilli powder. Mine was creamy and turned out really good. Use less flour and do not cook it for to long
I really wanted to like this recipe. My kids love queso, and I hate buying the chemically rich jar version. So I thought this might be the answer. I also read the feedback, and made sure that I followed the recipe to a tee. Medium cheese, removed the heat, whisked the roux for a full minute, etc. etc. My kids each ate one chip with the queso and that was it. It’s floury, bland, and not as smooth as queso should be. I appreciate the effort put into this recipe, but I will not make it again.
It’s just bechamel sauce with cheese melted in it… if it had a floury taste you need to cook the flour longer to toast it… and actually whisk it while it’s cooking so it doesn’t clump.
Im sure he meant the texture of the sauce. It’s gritty and tastes like crap.
I made this, it tasted good. I added cyan, salsa, and smoked paprika on top when it was done. With practice you should bet right, normally recipes don’t come out right even following the recipe perfectly. I almost never follow the recipe completely because normally there are ways to improvise. Also it is usually best to look at other recipes then come back to the original so that you have some knowledge of how you should treat certain things.
(2-3 stars for original, 4 after I modified it)
Ron, you are correct. It’s just nasty. Texture is gritty, floury… so much so that it overshadows the cheese. As I said, I followed the recipe EXACTLY. If I’m supposed to “toast” it, then the recipe should give that direction. Sorry, Seraphim, not all of us know how to properly make a bechamel sauce to toasty perfection… and yes… I DID actually whisk it. I was trying to be nice before, but Seraphim, don’t blame me for this recipe tasting like crap. Something’s wrong with the recipe…. you notice that everyone who actually likes this made modifications. The recipe sucks.
If you got a grainy texture you probably used pre-shredded cheese which has an anti-caking agent on it, like starch or cellulose. Shred it from a block to avoid that.
Did you read the instructions?
No one’s forcing you to make nacho cheese sauce, Ron!!
Hello, I wanted to check something. I’m planning to take this to a party and wanted to check if the sauce will stay the same consistency or do you need to keep it warm? Thanks in advance :)
It will gel up as it cools, but I reheated mine in the microwave after it had been in the fridge over night and it warmed up well. So, if you’re going to bring it to a party and keep in a slow cooker or something (on low heat) that might work, but if you leave it sitting at room temperature it will thicken.
Perfect! I I also added a few tablespoons of frank’s hot sauce for an extra kick
I made this with gouda matches my swedish tastes excellently especially with cheese nachos thanks for a great recipe
Just now made this. Exactly like it is with nothing added. Delicious. I may add stuff later when I get over how good this is now.
I did not want to run to the store for cheese dip and I also wanted a more home made cheese. I looked up a recipe and found this one, chose this because it did not ask for too many ingredients. It was easy to make and good!
I made a large tube of this for the 4th of July (20+people) and everyone loved it so much. I add fresh tomatoes & green onion on top just because it was a party and I had to make it look nice. They gave it a nice extra taste that was well loved.
Yummy!- For seasoning, I used cayenne, salt, pepper, cumin (a tiny, tiny bit) and a fresh chili (1 very small red chili pepper). What I appreciate was the detailed instructions on how to make this, which didn´t involve using a double boiler like some recipes.
I tried to make this using raw milk and coconut powder. I had to throw away like $10+ in ingredients, came out bad. I don’t ever want to use white flour, which is harmful. I spent over an hour trying to get this to work.
White flour is critical to the chemistry of making this thicken properly, so unfortunately you can’t use coconut powder.
No offense but that’s one of the silliest things I’ve read in a while. There is a science to cooking you know, you can’t just throw things that look broadly similar together and expect them the work the same way ;)
Check out King Arthur All-Purpose flour – I think you’ll be surprised. Maybe their white whole wheat flour would also work.
I was in the mood for nachos, but I didn’t have any cheese sauce. I found this recipe and I just made not only was it simple to make but it also tastes quite good.. I did however melt the butter in the microwave before adding it to the flour and used 1/4 cup of heavy cream to the milk to make one cup. It came out creamy.
I wanted to avoid running to the store so I tried your recipe since I had all the ingredients on hand. I agree with the others who said it had too much flour. The sauce wasn’t smooth and had a grainy texture.