Campfire Cheddar Queso

Earlier this year, our stay at Oastler Lake Provincial Park happened to coincide with Eurovision.

It ended up being pretty handy timing. We were at a park that didn’t have any trails to explore, and I’d JUST blown out my knee anyway. Also: Decent enough internet to be able to stream it.

What better to go with Eurovision, than a pot of hot cheese dip? Cheese - in the colloquial sense - is our favourite thing about Eurovision, after all... may as well get literal about it, when choosing our viewing snacks!

So, I came up with a version of my real cheese homemade queso, specifically for camping.

This will never win awards for being the best queso recipe, mind you - this is utilitarian queso!

Unlike my usual homemade cheddar queso, I don’t start off by sauteeing fresh peppers. There is no Béchamel sauce, I don’t grate blocks of cheese to ensure a smooth queso.

No, I measure corn starch into a bag of cheese, without needing to measure the cheese.

Yes, pre-shredded cheese means that the queso is definitely a bit more “grainy” than it would be with freshly shredded - on account of the anti-caking ingredients - but it’s also super easy for making on a campsite.

Sometimes you just want a hot and tasty pot of cheese sauce bubbling away on your campfire though - without grating cheese, finely chopping peppers, sauteeing ANYTHING, or having a bunch of dishes to wash.

That? THAT is what this cheddar queso recipe is for!

It’s still made with real ingredients, is super satisfying, and tastes way better than a can of Rotel and brick of Velveeta (EW!) ever will, though!

Now that I’ve really sold you on this recipe, let’s look closer at what you’ll need to make it!

Ingredients

This recipe uses only 4 basic ingredients - you won’t have any trouble finding everything you need in pretty much any grocery store.

As always, I have a few ingredient notes for you:

Shredded Cheese

I designed this recipe to use a single bag of pre-shredded cheese, for ease.

Not only does this prevent the need for grating cheese on your campsite, it also saves you on doing dishes. No need to measure the cheese, AND you’ll shake the cornstarch into the cheese, right in that bag!

So, being a cheddar quso... obviously we use cheddar for this recipe - usually an old / extra sharp cheddar cheese.

That said, it works well with Monterey Jack or Pepper Jack cheese - just be sure to avoid Mozzarella cheese, or mixed cheeses that have Mozzarella in them.

It doesn’t melt right!

A Note on Cheese Weight

Here’s the thing, though - the standard size bag of shredded cheese is a bit different between Canada and the USA.

In the USA, it’s 8 oz, but in Canada it’s 320 grams - just over 11 oz. This has an impact on the other ingredients you’ll be using.

Because the American bag is smaller, I wrote the recipe with that as the assumption.

If you’re in Canada, though, use 1 ¼ cups of salsa, ⅔ cup beer, and add an extra ¾ teaspoon cornstarch to the 1 Tablespoon this recipe calls for.

Don’t worry - that info is also in the recipe card!

Salsa

Choose a salsa that’s going to work really well with cheese - tomato, corn, black bean are all great.

I’m not as fond if the fruitier salsas - mango, peach, pineapple, etc - in a queso dip. Your mileage may vary!

That said, where this is a VERY basic queso recipe, any heat you want in your final dip is generally going to be coming from your salsa. Well, unless you use pepper jack cheese, I guess.

If you want to bump your spice level, you can always measure some canned chopped green chilies into your measuring cup, then top it with salsa to the volume you need.

Liquid

In addition to the salsa, you’ll need a bit of additional liquid. You’ve got a fair amount of room to play, here.

Usually, we’ll add a beer - usually a lager or pilsner, something kind of plain. Molson Canadian or Labatt tend to be our go-tos, mostly for cost and availability.

If you don’t want to use beer, chicken stock or milk are your next best bets. Any kind of milk will work, we usually end up using unsweetened almond milk, when we don’t have an appropriate beer on hand.

Your last choice is water. It doesn’t add anything in terms of flavour or texture - it’s not ideal - but it’ll work.

Cornstarch

I don’t have anything to add here. It’s cornstarch.

How to Make Easy Cheddar Queso

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is a pictorial walk through:

Get a medium fire going. You can cook this over a charcoal grill or an open campfire with a grate.

Open your bag of cheese, add the corn starch. Close the bag and shake well to distribute the corn starch, set aside.

Add about half the bag of cheese and corn starch, stir well to combine. Continue to cook - stirring frequently - until the cheese is melted and smooth.

Add the remaining cheese and corn starch, stir well.

Continue to cook until the dip is just starting to bubble and thicken.

Remove from heat, serve hot with corn chips.

Leftover Queso Dip

Once cooled to almost room temperature, leftover cheese dip can be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the fridge for 5 days or so.

Reheat in 30 second bursts - stirring frequently - until the cheese has melted and the dip is smooth again.

More Camping Snack Recipes

Looking for great ideas to cook on a campfire, bring on a road trip, enjoy while RVing? Here's a few simple recipes to start with!

Apple Fritter Bread Pudding
Basic Ground Beef Jerky
Best Marshmallows for Camping
Campfire Walking Tacos
Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
Fire Roasted Spiced Nuts
Homemade Mushroom Jerky
Hot Chocolate Mix [Protein Powder Mix]
Jalapeno Cheddar Bannock
Jalapeno Chicken Jerky
Maple Cinnamon Apple Chips
Maple Snow Taffy
No Bake Cornflake Cookies
No Bake S'Mores Bars
Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
Pepperoni Jerky
Roast Chestnuts on an Open Fire
Rosemary & Blueberry Beef Jerky
S'Mores Board
S'Mores Trail Mix
Tofu Jerky, 2 Ways
Traditional Bannock

Be sure to check out our other Camping Recipes, including Camping Desserts, Camping Snacks, Make-Ahead Camping Mix Recipes, and a ton of delicious Camping Main Dish Recipes.

Also, we had SO much fun designing gourmet jerky recipes for our camping trips, we started a whole new blog for them! Check out Dried & Tasty for all kinds of fun recipes to make in your food dehydrator!