Slow Cooker Nacho Cheese Sauce made with no processed cheese and just four ingredients total! Perfect for game day snacks!
Slow Cooker Nacho Cheese Sauce
Slow Cooker Nacho Cheese Sauce made with just four ingredients and none of them are processed cheese! Almost every recipe I found online contained american cheese, velveeta or cream cheese.
This recipe uses sharp cheddar for it’s base.
You can even make this into queso! Add in a pound of browned beef seasoned with taco seasoning.
If you’d prefer to make this nacho cheese sauce on your stovetop you can add in the ingredients over low heat and whisk until it is fully melted, combined and thickened a little bit.
The best part of this recipe, aside from molten cheesy delicious flavors is that you can make this for parties. To serve you can put dipping items in bowls around the slow cooker.
To keep warm you can just use the “keep warm” setting on your slow cooker. If the cover is not left on the cheese will form a little layer on the top that dries out, but a quick stir is all you need to get the cheese looking good again.
Fun mix ins for nacho cheese sauce:
- seasoned taco meat
- bacon and chives
- jalapeno and bacon
- rotel chilis and tomatoes (drained)
- use sharp white cheddar instead and add in spinach and artichoke
More fun appetizers:
- Philly Cheesesteak Egg Rolls
- Slow Cooker Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches
- Bacon Brown Sugar Chicken Bites
- Cheddar Bacon Ranch Pinwheels
- Bacon Brown Sugar Chicken Tenders
Tools used in the making of this Slow Cooker Nacho Cheese Sauce:
Slow Cooker: Perfect size for 1 pound of cheese.
Evaporated milk: makes the recipe creamy without using processed cheese.
Franks Red Hot: My favorite hot sauce other than this one.
Slow Cooker Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 16 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 2 cans evaporated milk (12 ounce cans)
- 1 tablespoon Franks Red Hot Sauce
Instructions
Add all the ingredients to your slow cooker on low heat and cook for 1-2 hours on low heat.
- Stir well before serving.
- Leave on keep warm setting while serving as a dip.
I haven’t tried it yet, making it tonight for a family movie night in with a nacho bar. 🙂 I was reading the comments. If it turned out clumpy, the cornstarch is most likely the culprit. If going to use shredded cheese, and toss the cheese well with the cornstarch prior to adding the evap. milk. I’ll let you know how it turns out!
Hope it goes well! Let me know and what movies you guys watched 🙂 We are always looking more for our movie night line up!
I forgot to come back and reply! ? I don’t remember what movie we watched. Your cheese sauce was perfect! We’re making it again tomorrow for another movie night in. ?
Can you use other cheeses than sharp?
Certainly! I suggest white cheddar or a mild cheddar. Or you could go wild with blending different cheeses. Let me know what you try!
I also followed the directions, except that I did not add hot sauce. The kids were looking for a good nacho cheese without spice. It turned out ok. I liked it. It’s not exactly like nacho cheese from a restaurant, it’s much creamier. Almost like Mac and cheese sauce. Mine came out really thick, so I’ll use less cornstarch next time.
turned out perfect?…whisked the corn starch (used 2 heaping tblsp) and evap milk before adding the cheese. Shredded it to make sure it blended…was the bomb! Added a tonne more cheese but, I’m a cheese freak…will be doing this AGAIN!!! ??
So glad you enjoyed it, Jennifer!
I tried to make this, and like other commenters, mine came out very clumpy. I didn’t substitute anything and followed recipe exactly. My cheese did not mix well with the evaporated milk and their were clumps in the entire thing. Wish this would have turned out well. Had to go buy pre-made nacho cheese.
I’m not sure why it would be clumpy. My only thought is the cornstarch wasn’t mixed enough in the recipe and it clumped with the heat before it was mixed in? Or your cheese was all in one place and you may just have needed to keep mixing? Did you cube the pieces small enough? I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you.
Can I use Velveeta for this? I’ve used shredded cheese before and it turned out gritty…maybe there was a different factor at play.
I haven’t tested it with velveeta, but it is a product known to be much creamier so you have a good chance at it working.
I also followed the recipe exactly as directed. It turned out terrible. Not smooth just clumpy.
Can this recipe be doubled?
Yes though you may need an additional half an hour of cook time added.
Did you use shredded cheddar? or just cut the cheddar up into chunks?
It’s up to you. I just cut mine into smaller cubes. 🙂
Do I have to use Frank’s hot sauce or can it be any hot sauce
You can use whatever brand you prefer 🙂
Mine looks like it “broke” anyone else have this issue?
Did you make any substitution or changes to the recipe? If not, I’d love to trouble shoot with you and get a more detailed report of what happened. Feel free to email me at contact @ dev.dinnerthendessert.com
Yes…mine was clumpy in spite of mixing it occasionally..sorry..didnt turn out the way i thought..i followed the directions exactly.
I’d like to make this recipe a day or two before I will be serving it. Does it reheat well? If so, please let me me know your method please.
You’ll need to reheat it on a very low temp and make sure to stir occasionally.
I made this today and just wanted to leave a comment for anyone serving this kids to consider using a milder cheese. I love extra sharp cheddar but was worried it wouldn’t appeal to the kids and went ahead and made it with half extra sharp and half medium cheddar and it still had too much bite. I was able to tone it down a bit more by adding cream. I also added some homemade chili seasoning to add some contrasting flavor and that was a great choice. I don’t recommend adding cream because it changed the texture and it wasn’t smooth and creamy. It solved my problem this time taste-wise but I sacrificed texture. Now that I know better I’ll just make it with a milder cheese. It’s a versatile base!
Thanks for the feedback/suggestions!
I use a recipe that calls for provolone and american. It’s pretty mild if you don’t use sharp provolone. I don’t really care for american cheese so I think I’ll try this cheddar version with provolone. So many combinations can be made!
This would be the perfect dip to serve at our super bowl party.
Definitely!
This sounds fantastic! Just out of curiosity, can I use paprika or cayenne pepper instead of hot sauce for a kick? ?
The heat adds a good dimension of flavor so I wouldn’t use paprika. Cayenne shouldn’t be a problem, but there’s the slightest chance it may be a bit grainy, so just be aware of that. 🙂
OMG! All these cheese! Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks Catalina!
Now I am craving nachos! I love that I can make this cheese in the slow cooker.
Not a bad craving to have 🙂
I can’t wait to make this for my Super Bowl party!
This will be perfect!
I want to eat some of this right now!
It’s hard to resist!