I made this themed appetizer for dinner inspired by the recent Total Solar Eclipse.

Four ingredients are melted together to make the ultimate easy, cheesy, and creamy dip that is a little eclipse of heaven!

We drove to the middle of the state to experience the total eclipse April 8th, and it was such an amazing experience to see in person.

We stopped in Clarksville at the city park and got a good spot on the lawn to watch the hour long event.

At 1:50, the sky darkened, it got cooler, and everyone cheered!

We watched the eclipse in its Totality for 3 1/2 min.

It really was an experience of a lifetime, and I am glad I got to see it was my kids and husband!

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Solar Eclipse Party Creamy Beef Queso Dip

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes I used fire roasted
• 8 oz package cream cheese softened and cubed
• 2 cups shredded Mexican mix cheese
• black bean chips for topping and dipping
• orange tortilla or nacho chips for topping and dipping

Instructions

• Add ground beef to a large skillet over medium heat.
• Cook, breaking up, until no longer pink.
• Drain grease and turn heat down to medium low.
• Pour in Rotel and cubed cream cheese.
• Cook, stirring until melted and completely combined.
• Remove from the heat and stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese until creamy and melted.
• Pour into a round pan for the sun shape like a pie dish or cast iron.
• Top with black bean chips on half, slightly crushed then add the orange chips, slightly crushed in a crescent moon shape.
• Fill in any open space with the black bean chips so it resembles an Eclipse!
• Serve queso warm with additional tortilla chips in a bowl on the side.

I love how easy this appetizer is and in my opinion there are a few special ingredients that really “make” this queso over the moon (ha get it?!).

The fire roasted Rotel, which isn’t spicy but more sweet and lightly smokey is my favorite. Then of course, cream cheese, my old go to for making dip rich and creamy. And finally, these Beanitos black bean tortilla chips. I needed black chips for the Eclipse look. These look great but also taste delicious. My daughters compare the taste to Sun Chips!

Add ground beef to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, breaking up, until no longer pink.

Drain grease and turn heat down to medium low.

Pour in Rotel and cubed cream cheese. 

 Cook, stirring until melted.

When completely combined, remove from heat. 

Remove from the heat and stir in 2 cups of shredded cheese until creamy and melted.

Pour into a round pan for the sun shape like a pie dish or cast iron. 

Top with black bean chips on half, slightly crushed then add the orange chips, slightly crushed in a crescent moon shape.

Fill in any open space with the black bean chips so it resembles an Eclipse!

Serve queso warm with additional tortilla chips in a bowl on the side.

The post Solar Eclipse Party Creamy Beef Queso Dip appeared first on For the Love of Food.

I have many fond memories of eating at Chili’s with my family and friends growing up. It was a popular restaurant in ym hometown and after most chorus concerts, school plays, and special dates we would end up there.  I had two favorites as a teen that I loved from Chili’s : chocolate lava cake and skillet queso dip. Years later I don’t get to eat there as often but I am still a queso lover! So I decided to make a tasty copycat version of Chili’s famous Skillet Queso Dip at home. 

There are a lot of versions of this recipe out there but I wanted to make mine a little different than the others. The main change was I used fresh crumbled ground beef instead of canned beef chili. I also did not make my version spicy. I wanted my whole family to enjoy it but you can also kick up the heat with some extra spices like cayenne!

Scroll down for the recipe. I am excited for you to give it a try!

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Skillet Queso Dip

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 16 oz. Velveeta cheese cubed
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Instructions

• Add the ground beef to a skillet over medium heat.
• Cook, crumbling until no longer pink. Drain any grease and set aside.
• In a large cast iron pan, add Velveeta cheese and heat over medium. Stir constantly so it does not burn.
• Once it begins to melt stir in milk.
• Continue to stir until smooth then add in seasonings and ground beef.
• Stir until it comes to a simmer then remove from heat.
• Serve warm in the skillet with tortilla chips for dipping.

Add the ground beef to a skillet over medium heat.
Cook, crumbling until no longer pink. Drain any grease and set aside. 

In a large cast iron pan, add Velveeta cheese and heat over medium. 

Continue to stir. Once it begins to melt stir in milk.

Continue to stir until smooth then add in seasonings and ground beef. 

Stir until it comes to a simmer then remove from heat.

Serve warm in the skillet with tortilla chips for dipping.

The post Copycat Chili’s Skillet Queso Dip appeared first on For the Love of Food.

Happy Superbowl Sunday! 

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Gouda Queso Fundido Dip with Chorizo

Ingredients

• 10-12 oz pkg Chorizo casing removed and crumbled
• 1 large yellow onion diced
• 1 large red bell pepper seeded and diced
• 16 oz Gouda Cheese Grated (I used Chipotle and Chili Lime flavor)
• 1 jalapeno diced (optional)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 avocado diced for garnish
• 2 oz can sliced black olives for garnish
• 1/4 cup cilantro diced for garnish (optional)
• Tortilla Chips for serving

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large cast iron skillet, cook and crumble the sausage until brown.
• Remove from skillet and drain on a paper towel. Pour off any excess grease.
• Add onions and bell pepper to the skillet and cook over medium heat until soft and golden brown. Remove from skillet
• and set aside.
• To build the skillet, place 1/3 of the cheese in the cast iron skillet. Add half the sausage. Add another third of the cheese, then as
• much of the veggie mixture as you'd like. Add almost all of the remaining cheese (reserve about 1/2 cup), the rest of the sausage, then whatever cheese you have left. Sprinkle the top very lightly with chili powder.
• Place into the oven bake for about 5-7 minutes. You want to bake it until the cheese is totally melted, hot, and slightly bubbling...but before the cheese starts to firm up and harden.
• Remove from the oven, top with veggies to garnish and serve immediately with tortilla chips!

Notes

Recipe adapted from www.pioneerwomen.com 

 

Drain excess grease from skillet then add diced onions and peppers.

 

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