Texas Brisket Queso is the best way to use leftover brisket after a barbecue or a holiday weekend, and today we're going to learn how to make it!
The queso is a real, authentic, tex mex queso made with American cheese, so it's Velveeta free, much like your favorite tex mex restaurant. You won't believe how easy it is to whip up a batch of real queso on your own (and with minimal ingredients)!
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MAKING THE QUESO DIP
For the queso, we begin by dicing up classic queso ingredients. We'll start with half a white onion, small dicing it, and reserving the other half for the pico de gallo, which will go on top of the queso. Reserve the onion for the next step in the chile con queso dip.
I use 2 jalapenos for the queso base. (As seen in the video) We begin by cutting off the jalapeno stems, splitting the pepper down the middle, and then cutting each jalapeno pepper into quarters.
Now, I will line up all the little slices and dice them into small squares about the size of an MnM candy.
In a heavy-bottomed stock pot, over medium heat, melt 2 T. of butter and add the onion and jalapeno. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the minced garlic and stir until fragrant.
After the vegetables have softened, add 1 c. half and half to the queso veggies.
Cut the Boar's Head American Cheese (you can use white or yellow), into squares.
Drop the squares of American cheese into the half and half, and stir well as they melt into the queso base.
Continue to stir, making sure the cheese never burns to the bottom of your pot.
Making the Pico De Gallo For The Queso
Pico de gallo is a mixture of crunchy onion, fresh tomato, and jalapeno marinated in lime juice.
Some people cook the tomatoes in with the queso, or use a canned product called Rotel (cooked green chiles and tomatoes) to their queso recipes. I've grown rather fond of topping my queso with fresh pico de gallo because it's cold and refreshing!
It's the perfect complement to warm queso dip. I'll show you how to do that right now!
For the pico de gallo we start with little cherry tomatoes. I use cherry tomatoes in my queso and guacamole because they have less water and more flavor than big ole' red tomatoes. I cut them down the middle, and then make little nibbles, as shown below.
Add the tomatoes to a bowl with the white onion, small diced jalapeno, fresh cilantro, and lots of lime juice, and toss well. It will begin marinating and soaking up the lime juice, making it tangy and bright. Reserve the pico de gallo for serving.
Preparing The Leftover or Purchased Brisket:
We have lots of leftover brisket at our house, like all da time! If you don't, don't worry about it!
Just purchase sliced or chopped brisket from your favorite barbecue shop. I'm slicing my leftover brisket flat into slices and then (as shown in the video) I will dice and chop until we have tiny morsels of brisket.
Now we sauce that brisket! I always use our homemade Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce Recipe available by clicking here!
Pour the white queso blanco into a warmed cast iron skillet and top with a mound of queso. Followed by fresh pico de gallo. Then another scoop of brisket!
Grab the tortilla chips, and serve!
This queso dip is a serious home run for any cook. Make it for your next potluck, backyard barbecue, or tailgate! (Everyone will be begging for your recipe! 😛 )
Interested in More Leftover Brisket Recipes?
- Brisket Deviled Eggs with Candied Jalapeno
- Texas Brisket Chili Recipe
- Award Winning Texas Brisket Rub (SECRET RECIPE WITH VIDEO)
- Grand Champion Beef Brisket Injection Recipe (WITH VIDEO)
- How To Smoke A Brisket On A Pellet Grill
- Brisket Walking Tacos with Chipotle Bacon Crema
- Ultra Juicy Smoked Beef Chuck Roast Recipe
Have questions? Need help? Have an addition or a suggestion to a recipe? Drop me a comment below!
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Texas Brisket Queso
Ingredients
- Queso:
- 2 T butter
- 1/2 white onion
- 2 jalapenos small dice, seeds reserved for adding in as needed
- 3-4 garlic cloves pressed through a garlic press
- 1 c. half and half
- 1 lb. white or yellow american cheese from the deli counter NOT VELVETTA
- 1 T. fresh lime juice
- Fresh Pico to stir in or top the queso:
- 1 pint red cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 T. cilantro chopped fine
- 1/2 small red onion very small dice
- 1 T. grapeseed oil
- 1 lime juiced
- 1 pound chopped sliced brisket from your favorite barbecue shop or leftover brisket
- Favorite Tortilla Chips
Instructions
- In a medium sauce pan, add the butter over medium heat and melt. Stir in the white onion and diced jalapenos. (Usually I enjoy all of the jalapeno seeds because the pungency is diluted in a pound of cheese, but during the summer months the jalapenos can get quite hot. Use your best judgement.)
- Sweat for 2 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant.
- Pour in half and half and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in all of the cubes of cheese and stir until melted.
- In a separate bowl combine all of the ingredients for the pico de gallo. Salt to taste.
- To finish, in a large serving dish or cast-iron skillet, pour in the queso.
- Top with pico de gallo.
- For the brisket, take the sliced brisket and chop it into bite sized pieces. Combine with barbecue sauce if preferred. (We also enjoy the brisket without barbecue sauce, but this is a personal choice).
- Crown the queso with brisket and serve with tortilla corn chips!
frank says
Such a good use of the smoker! we topped it with leftover brisket.
Diane says
yummy yummy.
I make this with finely chopped mequite brisket, shredded montery jack cheese. shredded montery cheese freshy pico de galli0, and milk or heavy cream. Yummy.
Sarah Penrod says
sounds delish Diane!!
Hatjuggler says
There's a place in Denton, TX called LSA Burger that makes the best to-die-for Brisket Queso. I was given some smoked brisket yesterday and wanted to try to make a queso similar to LSA's, so I came home and did some googling. Found your recipe and gave it a go. Used the Boar's Head cheese you recommended and everything. I did put lots of bbq sauce on top to stir in at the end. You're right, it's a personal choice, and I choose bbq sauce!! OH MY GOODNESS, this is SO GOOD! It's as close as I care to get to LSA's! This ended up being my dinner. My husband and son loved it too. Lots of good flavors going on here. Definitely NOT your Rotel queso!! Thanks for the great recipe!
Sarah Penrod says
I live in Denton. 😉 Glad you enjoyed it!
Denise says
@Sarah Penrod, this is so funny, I googled for a good brisket queso recipe with good reviews and food this one. Came to read comments and first one is about LSA in Denton. I chuckled as I live in Denton as well and also love their queso. Definitely going to give this recipe a go!
Kym says
Do you think this would freeze well? Any tips? I need more leftover briskets recipes! We just got a 20lb brisket for two people...
Brian says
Is this a blog series? If not, it should be. I would love to read the next installment on this subject.
Sarah Penrod says
Thanks Brian, it's also a Youtube video on our channel, The Urban Cowgirl
Keystone says
Yet another post I'm going share with my buddies on Facebook. Thanks!
Sarah Penrod says
Excited to hear that Keystone!
Becky says
Making for a crowd of about 40. How many servings in this recipe?
Sarah Penrod says
Hi Becky,
It fills one standard sized cast iron skillet so I would say 1- 1 1/2 quarts? Serves 4-6 depending on how much other food is available. Good luck! - Sarah
texasgirlfarfromhome says
Love your recipes, but wish you could also post the NUTRITION FACTS, especially for us trying to stay Keto. Keep of the great work
Sarah Penrod says
Hey Texas girl!
We are working on that. For the keto recipes I put all of them into the popular carb manager app. I believe they are public and you can search them with the term "urban cowgirl". I then place the carb counts near the title of the recipe on the recipe card print out. Hopefully soon we will get to change recipe plugins and get automatic calorie counts.
🙂 Sarah
Deborah says
This is absolutely the best queso there ever was! I have been making queso with white American cheese, but couldn’t get it to melt right. So I started making it with just a little velveeta, and Monterey Jack. Thank you so much for telling about Boars Head white American cheese! It melts beautifully, and the taste is amazing. ❤️
Sarah Penrod says
Deborah,
Yep! The boar's head was a game changer! The flavor is excellent and the queso is exactly like restaurant queso when you use American cheese instead of velveeta!