# Qualities of a Queso-Dip vs. Nacho-Dip



## Coastie552 (Apr 16, 2018)

I have been in debate regarding the categorization of a particular dip and was hoping to get some expert insight from those with more cooking experience than I. The ingredients and recipe are below:

8oz cream cheese
8oz sour cream
Dash of hot sauce
(all of this blended together to make a creamy base)
Mixture is then spread evenly along bottom of a dish

1/1.5 lbs seasoned ground beef (spread on top of creamy base mixture in the dish)
Topped with shredded cheese

Bake on 350* until top layer of shredded cheese is melted.


Would you consider this a queso-dip or a nacho-dip and why?


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## maryb (Mar 21, 2008)

Neither?


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## Chef Lowery (Apr 16, 2018)

Coastie552 said:


> I have been in debate regarding the categorization of a particular dip and was hoping to get some expert insight from those with more cooking experience than I. The ingredients and recipe are below:
> 
> 8oz cream cheese
> 8oz sour cream
> ...


I would consider it a nacho dip. Queso dips usually are made with a light roux and use milk to thin out the consistency of the cheese. Just my opinion from recipes ive reviewed over the years.


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## sgmchef (Sep 30, 2006)

Hi coastle552,

Queso, just because it contains cheese.

(FYI-I would not serve that willingly...)


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

I have seen those layered dips before and they are nowhere near anything I would associate with a nacho.
Sorry...you asked.

mimi


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

What category would you put Rotel and molten Velveta in?


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## kronin323 (Apr 11, 2018)

maryb said:


> Neither?


+1


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

brianshaw said:


> What category would you put Rotel and molten Velveta in?


Nasty...altho my DD makes a killer dip with both those ingredients plus taco seasoned ground beef/crumbled sausage and a handful of other things she won't divulge.
I like it cold with those scoop tortillia chips.
Amazing.

mimi


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

Salsa and Valveta (sp) cut into chucks...microwave....yum......

When you order Nachos out you get plain cheese sauce on the chips. They call that Nacho cheese.
I think Queso dip is something made up by food producers.


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## Coastie552 (Apr 16, 2018)

Thank you for your (mostly) snobby answers. Good to see ya'll are Food Network critics. Didn't realize I was asking such an offensive question to such an elite group of Chefs. My bad!

Take care!


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## brianshaw (Dec 18, 2010)

Sigh... sorry if you were offended, especially if I offended you. We were just having a bit of fun. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and since you asked for opinions you seem to have seen a range of them. Please don't go away angry and upset.

But a direct answer from me: EITHER category would be fine to describe your recipe.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

I don't think it really matters what you call it. I could make arguments for calling it either or neither. I don't think anyone is going to be offended either way. There may be some people harshing on this recipe, but honestly this is exactly the kind of thing I love to eat when having friends over to watch the game. But personally, I think the recipe needs a bit of work. For your base, I would drop the sour cream and mix the cream cheese with some of the same shredded cheese you use on top, along with drained green chiles, and some taco seasoning. I would mix some chorizo sausage in with your ground beef-2/3's ground beef and 1/3 chorizo. For the top I would do a blend of cheese-probably mild cheddar and Monterey Jack. After the dish came out of the oven I would top with a bunch of diced tomatoes.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Personally, I don't really understand the question. It's a cheese sauce (sort of), so it's queso, and if you pour it on chips it will more or less match the nacho designation. I don't think either of the categories you've proposed is a particularly stable one.

That's not a criticism in itself, by the way. Some dishes (and cuisines) are highly specific, and some aren't.

Examples of the specific: 

- Tournedos Rossini (French): beef tournedos pan-seared in butter, atop a crouton, topped with seared foie gras, black truffle, and demi-glace
- Ten-zaru soba (Japanese): cold soba served on a bamboo mat with a strong tsuyu dipping sauce, garnishes of sliced seasonal scallion (various negi types), wasabi paste, and toasted sesame seeds, with a small assortment of seasonal tempura

You can't really change these things, or you're not doing it right. You may be serving a better dish, but you can't call it Tournedos Rossini if it isn't what I just said.

This gets up some people's noses: we had a thread some years back about recipes for Caesar salads, and one chef was saying he did it with sun-dried tomatoes and a bunch of other things. Many of us (including myself) felt that his salad sounded rather nice, but we objected to his calling it a Caesar.

Now the things you've asked about -- Queso-dip and Nacho-dip -- do not, so far as I know, have very specific recipes. Another example of that would be "chili con carne": who knows precisely what's in it, apart from meat? So I don't see how it's possible to adjudicate on whether the recipe you've listed is properly speaking one or the other, and the many responses that have already appeared indicate that nobody else knows either.

Perhaps you could give us some context for the question?


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