Queso is a Mexican cheese but it is also short for chili con queso which translates into chili with cheese. It is the creamy dip you see in most Mexican restaurants. You can make your own with Velveeta and Ro-tel tomatoes or add some chorizo for a spicy queso dip. If you have a few minutes, then make homemade queso with American cheese, for the absolutely best queso around.
But for this recipe I used a prepared queso from the grocery. I like to use a good quality queso like Leigh Oliver’s, that uses white American cheese and nothing artificial. You can find it in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. Fresh Market also carries prepared queso in their refrigerated section. If you have some leftover, queso is great drizzled over grilled chicken or beef tacos.
If you can’t find queso dip in the refrigerated section, then use a jar of queso dip that you can find in the chip section of the grocery.
How do you make queso chicken
Step 1: Marinate the chicken in buttermilk. On those nights when I haven’t planned ahead and marinated the chicken overnight, I’ll cover it with buttermilk the minute I walk in the door and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then just rinse and pat dry.
Step 2: Place the chicken in a baking dish and sprinkle the chicken with taco seasoning.
Step 3: Drain and then pour Ro-Tel Tomatoes over the top, cover with queso and top with grated cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes depending on how thick the chicken breasts are. A meat thermometer should read 165º.
You can put this together in less than 10 minutes. The tomatoes and queso combined with the juice from the chicken make a fantastic sauce that’s great over rice or pasta, or serve with a baked potato and pour the cheesy sauce over the potato!
If you don’t have taco seasoning, don’t worry, it’s just a combination of chili powder, cumin, oregano, and onion and garlic pepper. For this dish, just sprinkle some chili powder and cumin on the chicken breasts. Here’s a fabulous recipe for taco seasoning mix you can make at home.
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