Loaded Queso Dip

The Method

Step 1

Prepare your vegetables. Small dice the yellow onions and set aside. Thinly slice the tops of the green onions, and set them aside. Mince your garlic and set it aside. Mince the cilantro and set it aside.

Step 2

Prepare the tomatoes. First cut the tomatoes in ½ between the top and bottom of each tomato. Then gently squeeze the tomato halves to remove the seeds and their little pockets of juice. Then remove the top of the tomato, and dice up the tomatoes.

Step 3
Prepare the jalapeno. First cut off the stem part of the pepper. Then cut the pepper in half the long way. (Opposite of how you just cut the tomatoes.) Remove the seeds, and the white that the seeds grow on. Then dice up the remaining pepper. You can set this aside with the tomatoes.


Step 4
Add your cut up bacon to a 4 quart pot on medium heat and cook until the bacon is crisp.


Step 5
Using a metal strainer over a metal bowl, empty the cooked bacon and fat from the pot. Bacon fat will be used in the following steps. No need to clean the pot, just wipe the drips from the side and put it back on the hot stove.

Step 6
Into the pot you just emptied, put back in about 2 Tablespoons of the bacon fat. With the heat at medium still allow the fat to heat to just starting to smoke.

Step 7
Add the ground beef to the hot fat.  Flatten the ground beef to be like a patty the size of the pot. This allows the ground beef to cook more quickly and you are making some yummy bits of texture for your dip.

Step 8
After about 3 minutes break up the ground beef now into small, bite size pieces. Add in the Acme Smoky Maple or the Acme Smoky Maple. Stirring and breaking up the ground beef while it cooks until the pink is all gone.

Step 9
Strain off the liquids from the ground beef. This liquid can be discarded.  Set aside the drained ground beef with the bacon. And return the empty, but flavorful pot back to the stove.

Step 10
With the same warm skillet you prepared the ground beef in, add about 2 Tablespoons of the bacon fat. With the heat on medium-high, put your diced yellow onions in the skillet. Let the onions cook for about 3 or 4 minutes until they begin to brown.

Step 11
Turn the heat down on the onions to medium low. Add ¼ cup of the beer to the onions and allow the liquid to evaporate.  Continue to cook the onions, adding now 2 Tablespoons of water as often as needed for about 12 minutes.

Step 12
While the onions are cooking and there is some water left in with the onions, put in the garlic, and allow to cook for 2 minutes.

Step 13
After the garlic has been in the pot for 2 minutes add the diced jalapenos. And allow them to sweat for about 2 minutes. There should be about 2 Tablespoons of liquid still in the pot after the peppers have been cooking. It is ok to add more water if needed.

Step 14
Into the pot with the onions, garlic, peppers and some cooking liquid add the room temperature cream cheese. Slowly and carefully stir the contents of the pot with the cream cheese. Melt the cream cheese, watching not to burn the cheese, (you can take the stove temperature down to low to help avoid burning).

Step 15
It is time to add the American cheese. Add the cheese in small amounts to allow it to melt and be able to combine with the cream cheese mixture. Continue to add in more American cheese as the previous amount has melted. Taking  off and replacing onto the heat occasionally as needed.  Incorporate all of the American cheese in this process.

Step 16
Remove the cheese from the stove and add in the chopped tomatoes, and give it a quick stir.

Step 17
It is time to add the chopped cilantro and the green onions, one more quick stir.

Step 18
Add the ground beef and bacon to the mixture in the pot and stir to mix it all in. The mixture will be pretty thick. (Don’t worry there is a plan!)

Step 19
Add the lime juice and stir, then the beer and stir to fully incorporate.

Step 20
You are ready to serve the dip! Of course you will need some tortilla chips! Enjoy!