Cheese, which by the way existed long before any written language did, is the core of every extra yummy dish and that is a fact. Just check all these people getting mad over mac-n-cheese! Right?
Turophiles, or if you prefer cheese lovers, believe it can do all sorts of things to you, resulting in making you happier, less anxious or even getting better sleep. However, one thing is for sure – it’s tasty! Cheese is like this personal guardian of yours that’s making sure your brain gets enough serotonin to keep you positive!
The Nacho dish has taken all that advantage and added some tortilla chips in the game. These two go together like peas and carrots. This cheese sauce is very easy to make, looks simple but certainly needed creativity when it was invented by Nacho (the guy after whom the dish was named) [1].
Okay I’ll stop here before getting all geeky about nacho cheese. But seriously, it has an interesting history, feel free to do a quick search.
So, if we’re going to do this right we better get down to business. I give you the crunchiest and smoothest Nacho cheese recipe out there.
The Nacho cheese sauce recipe that I will share with you is made from cheddar cheese. Just bear in mind that you can use other cheese types as well. Here’s all you need to know about it.
Table of Contents
What Kind of Cheese Should I Use?
Your whole Nacho experience depends on your cheese sauce. I most often use cheddar cheese for making a homemade nacho cheese sauce. However, you can choose a completely different option, such as American cheese or even Mozzarella, as long as it melts!
Avoid processed cheese, please. We talked about taking Nacho seriously. Instead of running to the store buying a pack of “pre-made Nacho cheese”, let’s roll up those sleeves (for 5 minutes) and make our own Nacho cheese sauce from scratch.
Just follow the instructions carefully and this homemade Nacho cheese sauce recipe will place the creamiest and smoothes cheese sauce on your table!
First, let’s go over some details.
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Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 9 servings
Description
A straightforward cheese for nachos recipe.
Ingredients
- Butter (3 tbsp)
- Purpose flour (3 tbsp)
- Whole milk (1.5 cup)
- Medium cheddar cheese (9 fl. oz)
- Salt (0.5 tbsp)
- Seasoning, optional (0.5 tbsp)
Equipment
You’ll need a whisk, a grater, and a saucepot.
Instructions
- First you want to add flour and butter in a sauce pot to make a roux. The roux is what will thicken your sauce. Whisk gradually the mixture in the saucepan over medium heat until it becomes foamy. Continue whisking and cooking for some 60 seconds. By cooking it for the right amount of time you will get rid of the “floury flavor”. Do not overcook, once it starts getting brownish, remove it from the heat.
- It is now time to add some milk into the roux (butter and flour mixture). Slightly turn up the heat and continue whisking until the mil reaches a simmer. The mixture should thicken now. If you can coat a spoon with it, turn the heat off.
- Take one handful of cheddar cheese and pour it into the pot. Whisk constantly and continue adding one handful of cheese at a time. If by any chance you feel you need more heat to make the cheese melt, turn it on a low level.
- This step is all you. Add some seasoning by choice. Paprika or chilli powder are usually nice. If you want to leave the cheese sauce as it is – that’s fine. Just try the nacho cheese dip and decide what you want to do with it.
Extra tip: If your nacho cheese sauce turns out thick – don’t panic! Simply pour some more milk in it!
Notes
This recipe requires low cooking skills. You should not have any major difficulties preparing this homemade nacho cheese sauce.
Now that you know the ingredients and instructions, it’s time to put them to use. But right before you start, let’s get over some tips to make sure you are getting the creamiest nacho cheese sauce!
To have success with your cheese sauce, you want to:
- Avoid getting the notorious “floury flavor” by cooking the butter and flour for a rightful amount of time – one minute. Don’t rush it but also don’t lose track of time.
- Get the medium cheddar cheese. The older one tends to break and can get grain texture.
- Always cook on medium or low heat and remember to remove the pot from the stove before you add the cheese and start stirring. This is so you will avoid overheating the cheese sauce and make it all grainy.
- Avoid store-bought shredded cheese – use blocks if possible. Freshly grated cheese will make sure you don’t get clumps since the store shredded one has additives preventing it to melt.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
What Are the Best Side Dishes to Complement Nachos?
Cheese sauce for nachos goes well with everything. However, some dishes go better with it than others.
Here are some dishes you can combine with your Nacho.
Spicy Smoked Sweet Potato Salad
This is a great recipe if you want to set something more on the table besides the cheese sauce and tortilla chips. It will take you about an hour to prepare it, so you better plan this when you have guests over or close relatives.
Beans in Various Forms
Beans go very well with nacho cheese. My personal favourite is Cuban style black beans – a half-an-hour recipe for your perfect nacho cheese experience. You can add some rice in the mix and treat your stomach right! Also goes nice with refried beans.
Charred Corn Salad With Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
Every ingredient in this recipe goes along perfectly with the homemade nacho cheese. You have avocados, jalapenos, onion and other tasty ingredients. The time you will need to prepare is something under one hour. Add the 5 minutes for the cheese sauce recipe and you will have a complete meal in exactly one hour!
Chicken Wings
This is a caloric bomb but a classic American dish. Dipping your wings in cheese sauces is a match made in heaven. While in the fried category, I suggest Mozzarella sticks or soft pretzels to go with the homemade nacho cheese dip.
How To Best Serve Nachos With Cheese Sauce
What comes to mind first when thinking about serving nacho cheese? Taking a deep bowl suitable for a cheese dip, right? Is it suitable though?
The serving is the last but not least paragraph of this recipe. So, here it comes – Nacho cheese is best served on a plate! Sounds weird? Think about it. Have you always been satisfied in a restaurant when they served you a bowl of nacho cheese sauce? Probably not, because you were left with dry tortillas on the bottom and too much cheese over the first couple of pieces!
Sure, if you want to use the nacho cheese sauce as a dip in which you will manually dip tortillas – go for it! But if you want to have a decent meal, spread your chips all over the plate and cover them with your nacho cheese sauce – that’s the recipe you’re looking for!
Toppings
Don’t be afraid to get creative – modify the recipe! If you feel like adding something more to the nacho cheese sauce – do it!
One of my personal favourite toppings are jalapenos, olives or freshly diced tomato. Make sure you use enough of it but not too much. Spread the toppings all over the plate rather than concentrating them on one place.
I hope that I covered all important issues in this cheese sauce recipe for nachos. You should be ready to prepare your own dish now and impress your loved ones. All that is left now is to pick the perfect event and spice it up with some nachos!
FAQ
Can I Reheat My Nacho Cheese Sauce?
Yes, you can reheat your nacho cheese sauce. The best way to do it is to put it in the microwave and stir every half-a-minute. Another way is to put it in a pan and put it on the stove.
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