Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce
Nacho Cheese is easy to make yourself from scratch, and is the perfect melty sauce to pour over tortilla chips. This Nacho Cheese Sauce is made with only five all-natural ingredients, and takes 10 minutes to make.
My very first experience with nacho cheese sauce was of the Velveeta variety. I was about 8 years old and had no concept of what processed food meant.
It was always the default snack at my friend Angelina’s house: a box of Velveeta popped into the microwave, then mixed with a can of rotel. It was good at the time, but now I generally stay away from things called “cheese product.”
It’s perfectly possible to make smooth, creamy nacho cheese with natural ingredients, which is what we work with here. All you need is butter, flour, milk, cheddar, and a little cayenne.
And of course, you can keep it simple, or you can jazz it up however you want. You can add tomatoes, jalapeños, scallions, ground beef, and whatever else strikes your fancy.
Serve it alongside some Chicken Wings, Buffalo Chicken Dip, and Soft Pretzels and you have a full spread perfect for watching sports and having friends over.
This method takes less than 10 minutes, and riffs on how you’d make a roux and a béchamel sauce for mac and cheese.
Because the ingredients are natural and chemical-free, know that the nacho cheese firms slightly as it cools. It has a luscious, smooth and melty texture as long as it’s warm, but if you let it cool, you’ll need to reheat it to get that flowy texture again. It does reheat just fine though and I’ll include instructions for that after the step-by-step.
You can also keep it warm in a crockpot, fondue pot, or other warming dish if you’re serving this at a party.
How to Make Nacho Cheese:
Start by melting some butter in a skillet:
Whisk in an equal amount of flour until combined:
This is called a roux, and it will thicken our sauce.
Next whisk in some milk, and season with salt and cayenne pepper:
I like the heat that the cayenne gives, but you could also add paprika if you prefer.
Once the milk heats through, the mixture should be thick and bubbly.
Now turn off the heat and add freshly grated cheddar cheese:
The freshly grated cheese is important, because pre-shredded cheeses in bags usually have things like powdered cellulose that are there to prevent caking. Those will make your sauce grainy, so make sure you actually buy a block of cheddar and grate it yourself. It only takes a few minutes.
Whisk gently until it melts and smooths out into a creamy, wonderful sauce:
It should have a flowy texture that runs and drips off the spoon in an even ribbon:
If at any point the nacho cheese gets too thick and doesn’t “run” off the spoon, just add more water or milk, and whisk to combine. It will smooth out again beautifully.
Basically what happens is when you cook the mixture on the stovetop, you run the risk of cooking too much moisture off, so you just have to add more. No big deal!
(Since I’ve been asked so many times, this is the mini-cast iron skillet picture above).
Pour over chips and devour.
For more game day food, try these incredible baked Chicken Wings, Buffalo Garlic Knots, Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip, or Garlic Parmesan Wings.
What to Use Nacho Cheese For:
This Nacho Sauce is perfect poured on tortilla chips, fries, or for dipping with pretzels.
How to Reheat Nacho Cheese:
Heat the leftover nacho cheese in a skillet over medium low heat until melted and warm. Add 2 tbsp of water and whisk until the cheese looks smooth and creamy again (adding moisture should restore that creamy smooth texture). If the sauce is still too thick and doesn’t “flow” well, add more liquid and whisk again. Do not reheat nacho cheese in the microwave.
Can you Freeze Nacho Cheese:
Yes, but it will definitely separate, so you’ll need to reheat and whisk again to smooth it out, and probably add moisture. Follow the instructions above.
How to Keep Nacho Cheese Warm:
I recommend a crockpot, a fondue pot, or a saucepan over a warming plate.
Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 8 oz block sharp cheddar cheese* grated
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a medium size skillet over medium heat.
- Once the butter is melted add the flour.
- Whisk until it combines into a smooth blond paste and starts to bubble around the edges.
- Add the milk to the skillet and continue whisking.
- Once the milk is incorporated, raise the heat to high and bring to a boil.
- Once the milk has reached a boil, quickly lower the heat and reduce to a simmer. Allow the sauce to thicken slightly.
- Add the cayenne pepper and salt and whisk to combine.
- Turn off the heat, and remove the skillet from the stove**. Add the cheese and gently stir, allowing the cheese to melt.
- When the cheese is completely melted and the mixture smooth in consistency, the nacho cheese sauce is ready to serve. Enjoy immediately, as the sauce will get firm as it sits.
Notes
Nutrition
Products used in this recipe:
(may include affiliate links)
Can this be reheated in the crockpot? Having a nacho bar at work and won’t have access to a cooktop or will I need to reheat early in morning and keep warm all morning?
Of course it can. Just like anything else in a crockpot but it will take more time and some stirring to get it to a good temp to serve
Made this for a family Nacho Bar. Everyone loved it! The ONLY reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the lack of spices. I don’t like super spicy food, but this was severely lacking (all of my spices are fresh so I know that wasn’t the issue). I used about twice as much cayenne as what it called for, a pinch of cumin, and used garlic salt instead of regular salt. Otherwise, I followed the recipe and it worked beautifully. For sure- serve IMMEDIATELY. It thickens quickly, as fresh sauce should.
Have made this twice. The second time I made it, I used half and half since I didn’t have any milk. Not as good as the first time I made it, with milk. Anyhow, I love this recipe. They used to have a sauce just like this at U. of Tennessee basketball games. Then Sodexho came in and took over concessions. They use another sauce that is nasty.
Meant to leave my rating!
Yummy! I added salsa after it was done and it was perfect!
I don’t have cayenne! Can I use taco seasoning? If not what other spices can I use?
Taco seasoning will probably add too much salt overall. Throw in any chili powder, or even a minced jalapeno depending on how hot you like it. If you’re spice adverse, use a little smoked paprika, cumin and/or onion powder.
Red pepper flakes, hot sauce…pretty much anything with a kick 🙂
This is a really good base recipe! I added some jalapenos, garlic salt, and cumin for a more powerful flavor.
Also: I used unsweetened unflavored almond milk and it worked perfectly!
Okay, I’m rating this a 4/5. In reality it’s more of a 4.5/5. I base this on the fact it’s lacking flavor. I added more salt/pepper and cayenne. I also did a different blend of cheese. Monterey Jack and sharp. Also, I used a bagged cheese and it turned out just fine. #coronaconfinement I think gritty ness and or clumsiness comes from using cold milk. I warmed mine. And also letting your roux not roux enough. And if you let it cool too long you will get the gritty flavor. It I can’t stop dipping my chips in it.
Can gluten free flour be used?
the nacho cheese i made came out really thick that when it cools the chips breaks trying to dip into the cheese. Do you think it was because i use lactose free milk(2%)? Or maybe because i used a 3 cheese blend?
It’s ok. The recipe went smooth. If you like very bland cheese dip this ones for you.
It needs something else for flavor. I suppose if you added rotel or cumin it would liven it up.
Had fantastic results even though I used almond milk. I did, however add more cayenne to taste. But a solid recipe with great instructions.
Absolutely fantastic! Quick & easy! A definite for any nacho. He may have added a little bit more of the cayenne pepper – not a lot more…