This is now my go-to recipe for get-togethers…. perfect for game day! It takes about 60 seconds to whip up and I haven’t found a person yet that doesn’t love it! It’s creamy, cheesy and bursting with flavor. You’ll never guess the secret ingredient….

Indulging frequently on Mexican food was a hefty contributor to pushing my weight to almost 200lbs back in my 20’s! (See before and after pics here) I LOVE cheese, and queso was a huge craving for me. Over the years after I got healthy and dropped the weight, I rarely would splurge on queso when at a restaurant…. and when I did I would feel bloated and congested the next day. It just wasn’t worth the misery, but I secretly did miss that smooth, creamy, cheesy taste.

So back to the secret ingredient…. cashews! The cashews add that creamy, rich texture, while cutting down on the amount of dairy needed for the recipe. Not to mention they are loaded with fiber, protein and minerals which ups the nutrition of this queso. I personally don’t like eating too much dairy. I feel and look best when I keep it very limited in my diet. So this queso recipe is a real treat for me since it does contain some dairy. To me it tastes just like the white queso you order in Mexican restaurants!

Have you ever read the labels on store-bought queso dips?  Wow! They contain overly processed cheeses and a long list of unnecessary ingredients, like corn oil, corn starch, MSG, sugar, maltodextrin, artificial flavors, colors, etc, etc….. it is franken-food at it’s best!

AND then what do we use to dip into this chemical concoction? Corn chips. Most likely genetically modified and full of mycotoxins. (Thanks Doug for educating us on how devastating these mycotoxins are to our health!) Ahhh, and I used to live off this stuff!! A better option for dipping- Benitos bean and flax chips. I love them! A perfect substitution for tortilla chips. I only purchase the pinto bean and flax flavor or the black bean flavor. The others have added yeast, so be careful if you are avoiding yeast.

So how did I come up with this recipe? Well I have to give a huge thanks to Chef Natalie Jacocks. Chef Natalie is one talented chef! So talented that she won Food Network’s reality cooking competition, Chopped. I’m such a huge fan of the show! If you’re not familiar with it, the judges give the contestants all of these crazy random ingredients that you would normally NEVER pair together and they have to make something that tastes AND looks amazing, all while being timed…. a near impossible task for even the most gifted chef. And to make it even more impressive she was 5 months pregnant! I guess those unusual pregnancy cravings were able to be put to good use!

Natalie Jacocks – Food Network’s Chopped Champion
Photo courtesy of CentralTrack.com

I had the honor and privilege to team up with Chef Natalie on a project a few months ago. One of our tasks was to make a healthy queso dip. We put our heads together and this is what we came up with! Thanks Natalie!!