Nachos are great topped with onions, ground beef, chopped tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, or even chicken and guacamole. However, nobody would deny that the star of every plate of nachos is the cheese. The perfect nacho cheese sauce is smooth and creamy. Melted cheddar, however, is not creamy but rather tends to be oily or even rubbery. To make a smooth, creamy nacho sauce, you need processed cheese and a few other ingredients to help it flow over the chips.
Step 1
Melt the butter in a saucepan set over medium heat, stirring with the spoon to ensure that it doesn't brown.
Step 2
Stir in the flour. Stir until the flour is incorporated into the butter, then stir and cook for another minute to make sure that the raw flour taste is cooked out.
Step 3
Lower the heat and stir in the milk. Once the flour mixture is completely mixed into the milk, raise the heat to medium again and stir until the mixture thickens.
Step 4
Stir in the cheese and salt. Continue to stir the mixture over medium heat until the sauce is smooth.
Step 5
Pour the sauce directly over nachos or into a bowl or small pitcher for serving. Don't leave it in the saucepan or it may burn or separate.
Tips and Warnings
- If you find that your sauce is lumpy after adding the milk or the cheese, discard the spoon and go to with your whisk. Whisk the mixture over low heat until the lumps are incorporated. Instead of processed American cheese, you can use 7 oz. pasteurized prepared cheese product. The smaller the pieces of cheese, the faster and more smoothly they will mix into the sauce.
- If you are a cheese purist, you may be tempted to use cheddar or pepper jack cheese instead of processed cheese. If you do, your cheese sauce will probably not be as smooth. Processed cheese is made specifically to melt to a creamy consistency.
Things You'll Need
- 2 tbsp. butter
- Medium saucepan
- Stove
- Cooking spoon
- 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 7 slices processed American cheese
- Whisk
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- Bowl or small pitcher
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