Let me start by saying that in my opinion, Velveeta “cheese” is one of the foulest foodstuffs known to mankind. Except… I really like that Ro-Tel dip made with Velveeta for some reason. Every year at Christmas, someone in my family makes some and it’s gone within an hour. I’d like to make it for an upcoming birthday party, but I was wondering: If I didn’t want to use Velveeta, what kind of cheese could I use? I mean, what type of cheese is Velveeta supposed to be an imitation of? It doesn’t melt like normal cheese, so would I have to add milk or some dairy product to cheddar cheese? How do I go about making imitation Velveeta with real cheese? Not just for the Ro-Tel dip, but to use in other recipes, as well.
I have no idea what Ro Tel Dip is. However I do know what you mean about Velveeta. (Ohh, my tongue aches just typing it.)
You’re going to have to make a cheese sauce. You can start with either milk or white wine. Let’s do the milk recipe:
Take 2 tbsps of butter and 2 tbsps of flour and put them in the bottom of a saucepan. Turn on low. Keep stirring until the melted butter has absorbed all of the flour. This is a roux. Now add a cup of milk. Also add something to make the mixture acidic. Kirsch is ideal, but sometimes hard to find. (about half a jigger) You can also use cognac or white wine. If not into alcohol add some lemon juice or mustard. White pepper is also good to add at this point. Stir until the sauce thickens. This is a basic white sauce.
Now add at least an equal amount of cheddar or american cheese. The cheesier you want your sauce, the more cheese you can add. Remember, though, that real cheese will solidfy if the sauce is too thick. And it really isn’t very easy to melt down again.
If you use white wine instead of milk then skip the acidic part. You also won’t need butter or flour, just cheese.
Corn starch also works to thicken sauces. So if you don’t want to go through the full process of making a roux, then put a cup of milk and two tbsps of butter in a pan and add about 1 tpsb of corn starch. Stir over low heat until it begins to thicken.
Use parmesan cheese with your white sauce and you’ve got an Alfredo sauce. Add some of those soft swiss cheeses and you’ve got a fondue, especially if you started out with white wine. (This should be a dry wine, by the way. Not something sweet.)
A white sauce can also be turned into other sauces, but we’ll leave that for another day.
Isn’t “Real Velveeta” a contradiction in terms?
I have to admit, Velveeta is something I wouldn’t admit in mixed company that I have ever touched.
However, the all-time best recipe for Mac & Cheese is Patti LaBelle’s “Over The Rainbow Macaroni And Cheese” (Google to find the recipe).
It is fantastic (and I don’t even really like Mac & Cheese) and one of the main ingredients is - Velveeta.
supervenusfreak has made this recipe. I died. No, really. I died. Right there on the floor on the first taste. It was beyond divine!
I got better. But I’m now watering at the mouth and thinking it’s time to suggest a repeat performance from my personal chef…
It’s funny – I don’t like macaroni & cheese made with Velveeta, but I love macaroni & cheese made with that day-glow-orange reconstituted cheese food powder. Must be what I was brought up with.
Ah, but Velveeta is not cheese, nor can it be labeled that. It is “pasteurized process cheese product”, which means that it contains less than 51% actual cheese by weight. The rest is mostly water, whey, and whey protein concentrate.
I have always said that the person that invented Ro-Tel Velveeta dip should receive the Congressional Medal of Honor or Nobel Peace Prize or something. That stuff is nirvana!!
To answer the OP, Monterey Jack cheese melts pretty smoothly. Alot of mexican restaurants we frequent use that kind of cheese in their queso dips. I have never tried it before, but you might think about experimenting with MJ cheese and sour cream or even cream cheese…?? Hmmm, I might even try it myself.
Velveeta is a pale simulation of the devine that is Land-O-Lakes American Cheese. Any recipie that calls for Velveeta is made a 1000 times better by adding L-O-L American.
L-O-L A.C. is, in turn, much like a very mild cheddar.
MidnightRadio… Velveeta cheese is supposed to be a super “fondu” cheddar. The makers of velveeta wanted a cheese that would melt in 5 minutes or less, over elbow noodles (cooked). They succeeded. They didn’t have a name for it yet until the taste tests. Most of the tasters admired it’s smooth velvety taste. Hence, velveeta cheese was born.
The rest is history.
If you want to make a cheese dip similar in texture to velveeta, then make cheddar fondu. Fondu cheese does not have elasticity, so when you spoon (or dip) into it, you can actually cut the cheese with the spoon, yet it’s smooth and velvety.
How to make fondu? I forget. I learned it on “Good Eats” with Alton Brown on the Food TV network. :wally
Fondue. The word is fondue.
I think you’re best bet is going to be American cheese. In taste and texture, that comes closest, and it melts nicely. White sauce with cheese in it is entirely different, and so is fondue. So just heat up those Ro-Tel tomatoes, brown that hamburger and stir in chunks of American. The consistency won’t be quite the same, but it’ll all be gone in an hour anyhow.
Oooh. I have tortilla chips. I have diced tomatoes with green peppers and onions. I have cheese. I have hamburger. I think I have a plan for dinner!
Yeah, it is, but it’s the only way I could think to phrase what I was asking. I thought it helped that I put “real” in quotation marks. 
I love that show! And this is the recipe you were referring to, I’m sure. I’ll have to try it sometime.
For those who don’t know about this wonderful addictive dip:
Rotel Velveeta Dip
Ingredients:
1 lb. Velveeta Cheese-like substance cut into squares
1 can Rotel Tomatoes with Chili Peppers (a Texas tradition)
Preparation Instructions:
Combine ingredients; place over low heat until cheese melts. Serve hot
with chips. Can also be microwaved.
It is also wonderful with cauliflower and broccoli florets, or over baked potatoes.
Velveeta is so tasty.
I grew up on velveeta dip (the rotel kind but we just used any salsa on hand) and tortilla chips.
I makes FANTASTIC grilled cheese sandwiches. Beautifully gooey.
Okay, so the word has a silent E at the end. :smack:
Ever tried roast beef deli, cooked (warmed?), over a sour dough bun, topped with velveeta? It’s to die for! what Arby’s?