Restaurant cheese dip at home!

Wayyyyyy back when we used to dine out, we loved going to a local Mexican restaurant for their cheese dip.  Having a major hankering, my son begged me to make some at home.  I wasn't sure exactly what they had in theirs, but it was worth a shot.  It turned out pretty good.  Here's what you need...

8oz Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded  ( real cheese, not a processed 'cheese product')
2T Butter
2T Flour
1C Milk

Melt the butter in a small sauce pot over low/medium-low heat.

Sprinkle in the flour, stir.

Cook for a couple of minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.  Stir constantly.

Slowly add in the milk.  I like to add a couple of tablespoons, stir to combine, add in a couple more, stir, and so on.  I find I don't get any lumps that way.  We're basically making a white sauce here.  I would normally be stirring constantly, but I needed my hand to take the picture.  Ya know, it's funny, my son never asks me WHY I have to take pix of the food I'm preparing, lol!  What will be weird is if he goes to a friend's house some day and asks their mom why they don't take pix of their food!  ;)

Turn the heat up to medium and the mixture will thicken.  Stir constantly so the bottom doesn't scorch.  

Turn heat back down to low.  You could even remove it from the heat at this point if you like.

Add in small handfuls of shredded cheese.  Stir to incorporate, making sure it's melted before adding more.

Continue until you have the flavor you like.  Mine took about half of the package shown above, or 8oz.   If you don't have pepper jack, you can always use mozzarella or cheddar and add in some salsa, green chiles or some diced (canned/pickled) jalapenos.

Your end product should look something like this, thick and creamy.  If it's too thick, you can always thin it down with some milk.

Serve it up with some tortilla chips

and you have a tasty snack!

Mmmmmmmmm, craving satisfied, kid approved, simple and frugal!

This whole batch of cheese dip AND the bag of chips cost me less than one order of cheese dip at the restaurant!  But my recipe made 3 times the amount of dip!  This makes about 1 1/2 cups, if I had to guess.  Yup, the boys polished it off in one sitting!

Homemade Ranch Dip and Dressing Mix

If you're like most people, you either buy the packets of Hidden Valley or buy bottled ranch dressing. Why not make it at home for a few pennies instead.  Does it taste exactly the same?  Welllll, not exactly.  But it is a good substitute if you want to save some dough.  Here's what you'll need. 

Ingredients:
5T Minced, Dried Onions
2T + 1t Dried Parsley Flakes
2t Salt
1t Garlic Powder

UPDATE: I have since found a MUCH better Ranch Dressing to make at home.  While I LOVE the below recipe for dip, THIS recipe for ranch is much more satisfying and tasty!

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl or cup.  You could 

leave it as is and put it in a jar, but it has to sit longer

after being mixed together because the onions have to reconstitute.

Me, I'm going to grind mine in my coffee grinder so it mixes faster.

Spoon it in, working in two batches.

Put the lid on and press down the button.  I let it go until it 

ground down into a fine powder.

When done with both batches, dump your powder into a

clean jar.  I knew I kept that old yeast jar for a reason!

Be sure to spill some on the counter, making it look like

you're a total slob in the picture, lol!

Screw lid on and give it a good shake to combine

the two batches.  I used painters tape to label it

and to put the recipe for dip and dressing

on the outside.  That way, I don't have to dig for it.

Now, to clean your coffee grinder so it 

doesn't taste like onions next time you use it.

(If you're a serious coffee drinker, get a separate grinder)

Place a couple of chunks of bread in the grinder.

 Put the lid on and push the button.  See how the moisture

in the bread starts to clean the powder off?  

Keep going for a little bit, then remove the lid. 

Dump out crumbs into trash (or toast them and

put them on a casserole), then wipe grinder clean with paper towel.

I set out to make the dressing right away, but accidentally grabbed

sour cream instead of milk, so I made ranch dip.  

Be sure to label your container so you know when you made it.  

How long will it last?  I dunno. 

But I do like to know how long it's been in there!

While I was at it, I got out the milk and made a small batch of  

salad dressing.   I  wanted to make sure we like it first.

Notes:

If you decide NOT  to grind your spices:

To make ranch dip: Blend together 2T of mix, 1C Sour Cream and 1C REAL Mayo (not Miracle Whip, for the love of all that is good and holy in the world, people!!!)

To make ranch dressing.: Blend together 2T of mix, 1C Milk and 1C real mayo

If you DO grind your spices like I did:

To make ranch dip: Blend together 1 1/2T of mix, 1C Sour Cream and 1C REAL Mayo

To make ranch dressing:  Blend together 1 1/2T of mix, 1C Milk and 1C real mayo

Because this smelled suspiciously overtly oniony to me, I only made a 1/3 of a batch of both dip and dressing.

I have to say....we LOVE the dip!  Does it taste like ranch?  Sorta.  It tastes more like a mix of onion dip and ranch dip, but it's really very good.  As for the dressing, I haven't tasted it on salad, but it tastes pretty good. out of the jar.  It doesn't taste quite like ranch, but it is good.  I would definitely make it again.  The big test is to see if my son will eat it.  I'll update this post when he does.  I tend to do a lot of my experiments when he's in bed.

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