With football season just around the corner, I am trying to prepare myself for all the junk food cravings that come with that. I grew up watching football with my dad. And when I went to college, I didn’t stop loving football. I carried on the football watching spirit with my best friends and indulged in all the game day food.

It’s hard to pick a favorite junky game day treat, but at the top of the list is queso dip. I mean, the name itself means cheese dip. You can’t go wrong with cheese or dip.

The Dad in this house can’t get enough queso. He Doesn’t have any any food intolerances or allergies and when I am not feeding him, he eats all the junky things. He’s my toughest critic. I have made countless paleo queso recipes only to have them fall short to Josh’s expectations. The problem with letting him buy his own dairy/weird ingredient-filled queso is that I want some. And I know if I have some, I will be sick all night.

So I can either sit there and drool while Josh eats his junky queso or find a way to make something good enough for both of us to eat.

I got to work and finally nailed a paleo queso recipe. I promise, no one will know this is dairy free. It’s the perfect dip for game day or every day. It has that salty, dairy, nacho sauce flavor that will take you right back to the days of scarfing pizza, wings, beer and nachos every weekend in college. Well, assuming you were a junk food junkie like I was.

If you weren’t a junk foodie, trust me, this dip will win over your friends and family that are.

This dip has the salty, cheesy taste of queso dip without the dairy. You can use it to spread on crackers, sandwiches, tacos (my favorite), burgers or heat it up and dip your favorite chip into it. Plantain chips or Siete grain free tortilla chips are great paleo chip options. Or go for good ol’ corn tortilla chips if you tolerate them.

Did you make this dip? I’d love to hear what you think about it!

Dairy Free Paleo Queso

Author: Jen
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 people 1x

Print Recipe

Description

No one will believe this queso is dairy free. It’s the perfect spread for snacks or dip for chips!

Ingredients

Scale

1 cup raw cashew pieces
1 tablespoon lime juice
1.5 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup of canned coconut milk
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons salt**
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 can chilies or one jalapeno (hold to stir in)
2 tablespoons ghee (not for blender)
2 teaspoons arrowroot starch (not for blender)

Instructions

Pour cashews into heat safe bowl and set aside. Boil enough water to soak cashews (about 3 cups or so). When water is boiling, pour over cashews to soak them. Let the cashews soak for 20-30 minutes.
Add all ingredients except ghee, chilies and arrowroot starch to a high speed blender.
Blend ingredients for about a minute, until completely smooth.
Add chilies to blender and stir or pulse for a few seconds to mix. Set blender with sauce to the side.
In a medium saucepan, heat ghee over medium heat for about 40 seconds, until melted and hot. Once hot, add arrowroot starch and stir with a whisk until blended.
Quickly pour the cheese sauce from the blender into the saucepan. Leaving the heat on medium to medium-high, stir constantly until sauce thickens. About 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and enjoy! You can store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for a few days. it reheats perfectly.

Notes

The ghee ties the whole queso flavor together and is important for the taste. I haven’t tried any replacements.

**Two teaspoons of salt is based on using unsalted/low salt chicken broth. If you are sensitive to salt, start with less and adjust the saltiness before heating in the pan.

I recommend this coconut milk, this one (but buy at your local store for a fraction of the cost), or this one.