Nacho Cheese Sauce

Whenever my friends and I gather together to watch sports on TV, we like to dress up in our favorite team colors and feast on homemade stadium foods. For me, nachos are a must at these events, so I always make sure to prepare plenty a day or two in advance. I like to make an extra big batch so I can send my friends home with a jar and any leftover chips or pretzels. Sometimes I’ll even decorate the jars in tags and labels with our team colors.

I’ve tried several recipes for nacho cheese sauce, but this one is my all-time favorite. It’s made with cheddar, pepperjack, and cream cheese, and it comes together in minutes. But the best part is that you can prepare it a day or two in advance, and store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it up.

Nacho Cheese Sauce
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
• 8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
• 8 oz pepper jack cheese
• 2 ½ cups milk
• Hot sauce, to taste
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 tablespoons diced jalapeno (optional)
• 2 tablespoons diced red bell pepper (optional)

Place cream cheese in a medium sized saucepan over low heat until soft and creamy. Add cheese cubes.

In a separate bowl, combine ½ cup milk and 2 tablespoons water. Stir with a fork to remove lumps, and set aside.

Add the hot sauce, diced bell pepper and jalapeno, and 2 cups milk to the saucepan. Increase heat to medium, stirring frequently, until the cheese cubes are have melted. Add the flour-milk mixture, and continue to stir constantly until just before mixture starts to boil. Remove from heat.

Pour mixture into a serving dish and serve immediately, or pour into jars and store in the refrigerator for up to three days. To reheat, microwave for 1 minute, stirring in 15 minute intervals. Serve with pretzels or tortilla chips

Adapted from Tammysrecipes.com.

To package my jars, I used spice colored tags and labels in the style Aunt Lorraine.

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Lindsay (114 Posts)

Lindsay is a writer/blogger from Oregon who loves crafting, cooking, gardening, and simple living. You can find her writing about all of this and more on her blog A Wooden Nest.