Smoked Queso (With No Smoker) Recipe

You may be thinking that to enjoy bubbly cheese infused with smoky flavor you might need to put a barbecue smoker on your birthday list. But it turns out you can swap that piece of equipment out for something else that's much simpler but might be a little surprising, because you can easily make delicious queso without a smoker. This easy recipe leans on smoky Lapsang Souchong tea to creatively add that burning wood flavor to the dip, along with a few of our other smoky favorites like a freshly roasted poblano, fire-roasted tomatoes, smoked cheese, and smoked paprika. You're going to love dipping a chip into this smoky, hot, melty queso, or using it as a topper for tacos and burritos.

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this recipe and says, "I like making this in a cast iron skillet, but since we are not putting it into the oven, any skillet or pot will do. You can make this ahead of time and store it in the fridge for several days before you need it, and just warm it up in the oven when ready to serve."

To make this recipe, you'll need some Lapsang Souchong tea, which is known for its smoky flavor. For produce, you'll need a poblano pepper, onion, garlic, cilantro, and jalapeno. From the dairy aisle, pick up milk, butter, cream cheese, and smoked cheese. From the dry goods area, look for fire-roasted tomatoes, diced green chiles, and chipotle peppers. Then check your pantry for corn starch, chili powder, cumin, salt, and smoked paprika.

Preheat the oven to broil.

Place the poblano on the grate and cook it for 10 minutes, rotating it as the sides char.

Warm the milk in a small saucepan or in a microwave.

Add the tea bag and steep for 5 minutes, then discard the tea bag.

Mix the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water together, and add the slurry to the milk.

When the poblano is done and cooled, peel it and discard the skin.

Dice the poblano.

Add the butter to a cast iron skillet and bring the heat to medium.

Add the onion and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the poblano, tomatoes, chipotle pepper, green chiles, cumin, chili powder, salt, and smoked paprika, and cook for 5 minutes on low.

Lower the heat to medium-low and pour in the smoked milk and scoop in the cream cheese. Cook for 5 minutes until smooth.

Add the cubed smoked cheese to the queso and stir until it is smooth and creamy, about 20 minutes.

Garnish the queso with cilantro and jalapeños before serving.

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There are several tips to consider to ensure you end up with the most perfectly smoky and melty smoked queso. First off, when you roast the poblano, let it fully darken and blister under the broiler. You'll want to stay close, so you can rotate it on all sides. The pepper will be very hot when you remove it from the oven, so let it cool properly before peeling. 

When you make the tea-infused milk, let it steep for 5 minutes, then be sure to remove the tea bag. If you leave it in too long, it can become bitter. The chipotle pepper is where the heat comes in. If you want the queso to be hotter, add a full chipotle pepper, or even add 2 of them. As an alternative, you can put out a small bowl of diced chipotle peppers on the serving board for those who want the extra heat. Since you'll be opening a can full of the chipotle peppers, and will have the majority of the can leftover, transfer the remainder to an air-tight jar in the fridge or a freezer-safe container in the freezer for your next use. When you add the smoked cheese, cut it into cubes or grate it to help it melt faster. If you have the time, you can put the pan on simmer and let it slow cook for about an hour to fully melt.

There are several ingredient swaps you can make to this recipe if you have trouble finding certain items or if you want to tweak it to use what you have on hand. For the poblano pepper, an Anaheim pepper is very similar and can be substituted. If you want to dial back the heat, a green bell pepper would also be suitable. If you can't get your hands on Lapsang Souchong tea, you can swap it out for regular black tea and add an extra pinch of smoked paprika. You can also omit the teabag altogether and opt instead for 2 teaspoons of liquid smoke. 

Any smoked cheese will work in this recipe. You can try smoked Gouda, cheddar, provolone, or mozzarella. Or you can choose a few to mix together. In place of the cream cheese, it's fine to substitute it with Boursin or mascarpone cheese. You can use regular diced tomatoes if fire-roasted are not available, and you can use extra jalapeño or poblano pepper if you want to omit the green chiles. To make this recipe vegan, use soy milk, dairy-free cream cheese, and dairy-free smoked cheese. Note that if you use dairy-free cheese, the queso will still taste great, but the texture will not be as creamy as real cheese.

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