A wonderful cheesy queso chock full of fresh chorizo. Chorizo queso fundido is a great way to use up leftover chorizo.
There are a LOT of Tex Mex restaurants in Austin, TX. How do you know when you are in a really good Tex Mex restaurant? Well, if the salsa is fresh and lively and not out of a can and the queso is hot and made with real cheese, chances are the rest of the meal will be pretty darn good.
This is my adaptation of a killer queso fundido that I had at a great Tex Mex restaurant in Austin, TX. It's absolutely delicious! When you are buying the ingredients to make queso fundido, spend a little more and buy good tortilla chips, it makes a difference. Let me know what you think.
Prepare the Chorizo
If your market is anything like mine, there are a lot of choices for chorizo. I have seen links, chubs and butcher-prepared shrink wrap packages. Oh, and there is hot, medium and mild. For this dish, it doesn't matter what you buy. Just remember to remove the casing if you buy chorizo links.
Start by browning the chorizo. Heat the peeled chorizo in 1 tablespoon of canola oil until browned. It can be hard to tell when chorizo is cooked because it doesn't change color like ground beef does. Remove the chorizo from the pan and set aside.
If you feel adventurous, try making chorizo from scratch, it's really not that hard. My recipe for homemade Texas red chorizo is below:
Sauté the Vegetables
Good queso start with with onion, garlic and a bit of jalapeno pepper. A serrano pepper would also make good queso and would have a little less heat.
Good queso sNow add the olive oil and onion to pan used to brown the chorizo and cook for 3 minutes until the onion softens. Then add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Be careful and do not let the garlic burn. Then, add ½ cup of water and scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
Make it Queso Fundido Cheesy
Queso fundido needs real cheese and a lot of it. Look for white American cheese and the deli counter in your local market. Buy a pound and have them slice it nice and thick.
Add ¼ cup of the heavy cream and simmer for one minute. Then add the cheese and stir every 30 seconds. Once the cheese has melted, add the remaining cream and stir until combined.
Add the Chorizo
Finally, stir in the chorizo and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lime juice and stir.
Place the finished queso fundido in a serving bowl and top with cilantro and serve with chips. Bet you can't eat just one.
Try These Other Tex Mex Treats
- Brisket Queso
- Tex Mex Pork and Beans
- Homemade Chili Powder
- Roasted Corn Enchiladas
- Chorizo Breakfast Tacos
- Carnitas Nachos
Click this link to watch how to make this dish on YouTube
Queso Fundido
Ingredients
- 1 lb chorizo peeled (if in a casing), cooked and chopped
- 1 cup white onion diced
- 1 glove garlic diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper
- ½ cup water
- 1 cup heavy cream divided
- 16 oz white American cheese cubed or grated
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 lime juiced
- 3 cups tortilla chips
Instructions
- Heat the peeled chorizo in 1 tablespoon of canola oil until browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a medium sauce pan, add the olive oil and onion. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Be careful and do not let the garlic burn. Add ½ cup of water and scrape up all the brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
- Add ¼ cup of the heavy cream and simmer for one minute. Add the cheese and stir every 30 seconds.
- Once the cheese has melted, add the remaining cream and stir until combined. Stir in the chorizo and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the lime juice and stir.
- Place in a serving bowl and top with cilantro and serve with chips.
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