Maybe you have some leftover queso dip after a party, or perhaps you simply made too much—because who can’t help but make a lot of queso dip? If you’re worried about throwing it away, don’t be.
You can freeze queso dip. While it may be slightly crumbly or dry after unfreezing, it’ll still be perfectly edible. Queso dip can last around 6 months in the freezer. It can be convenient to freeze queso dip into several small portions.
If you want to preserve the creamy texture of your queso dip, there are a few things you can do. It’ll never be as good as freshly served or restaurant-made queso dip, but it should be more than good enough to satiate your cheese dip craving. Read on to learn more.
How To Freeze Queso Dip
You can easily freeze queso dip, so feel free to keep it in the freezer if you have too much and don’t want it to go to waste. Here’s how to freeze queso dip:
Wait until your queso dip has cooled down.
Divide the queso dip into small portions and store them in airtight containers.
Freeze the queso dips as quickly as possible.
Your queso dip should last around 6 months in the freezer.
Queso dip is easy to prepare, and you can serve it with various foods. You’ll always want to make more!
After getting used to making queso dip on your own, you’ll often run into the issue of having made too much. You can put it in the fridge, and that’s usually enough if you’ll eat it within the next few days.
But if you really made a lot of queso dip or simply want to save it for a later date, you’ll need more time than that.
Well, we’re here to tell you that this “issue” isn’t really an issue at all! You can prepare as much queso dip as your heart desires and freeze it so that it lasts as long as you need.
As a general rule, it’s better to avoid freezing cheeses that aren’t designed for cooking. They won’t taste bad or become unhealthy, but their texture won’t be as good. Hard cheeses will be difficult to slice, and softer cheeses may crumble apart.
The softer a cheese is, however, the better it’ll react to being frozen. Luckily, all dairy products present in queso dip are on the soft side, from processed cheese to cream and sometimes butter.
Here are some tips for freezing queso dip (or any other cheese dip, for that matter):
Wait until it has cooled down. If the queso dip is homemade or you heated it up, wait until it has completely cooled down before freezing it. Freezing it while it’s hot will worsen its texture.
Freeze the queso dip into small containers. If you unfreeze the entire container only to eat a portion of it, you’ll have to freeze the rest of the queso dip again, damaging its texture even more.
Use heavy cream. If you’re making homemade queso dip, using heavy cream may help preserve its texture after it’s unfrozen.
Use airtight containers. All kinds of food are best protected from the frozen air in the freezer when stored in an airtight container. I like these small, airtight glass containers from Amazon. They’re the perfect size for snacking.
Don’t freeze queso dip with pieces of nachos in it. Freezing queso dip with other leftover foods makes it more prone to catching bacteria.
Freeze the queso dip rapidly. After the queso dip has cooled down, freeze it as quickly as you can to avoid the formation of ice crystals that’ll damage its texture. If your freezer has a quick freeze function, feel free to use it.
Queso dip should last for around 6 months in the freezer. However, the more you unfreeze it and freeze it again, the less time it’ll last.
Cheese can technically remain frozen indefinitely, but its quality will significantly worsen after 6–9 months.
Thaw the Queso Dip in the Fridge First
You know you can freeze queso dip, but how do you go about unfreezing while affecting its texture in the least possible way?
The best way to unfreeze any type of cheese is by thawing it first in the fridge. This process can take 7–8 hours for 1 pound (0.45 kg) of cheese. You can achieve even better quality if you leave it in the fridge for days or even weeks. However, leaving it in the refrigerator overnight will do the trick.
Quickly unfreezing queso dip can lead to it being dry and crumbly. Using heavy cream will help, but only to a degree.
Still, this doesn’t have that much of a problem for queso dip. Since it’s used as a dip, you’ll most likely be heating it up again which should solve any texture problems.
Make sure to stir the queso dip well after reheating to prevent it from curdling on the surface.
How Long Does Queso Dip Last in the Fridge?
Homemade queso dip can last up to 4 days in the fridge. You should freeze homemade queso dip if you know you won’t be able to use all of it in that amount of time. Store-bought queso dip can last longer, over 4 weeks in the fridge after opening.
To answer how long you can keep Queso Dip in the fridge, we got to take a look at what’s made of.
The main ingredient is cheese, of course, but not any cheese. Queso dip is usually made with processed cheese, like American cheese or Velveeta cheese. The only two other crucial ingredients are cream and chili peppers. If it has no chili peppers, then it’s just a cheese dip.
But you’ll find that queso dip can be slightly different in each place it’s served. Many home recipes add vegetables and herbs like onion, cilantro, and tomatoes.
Processed cheeses like American cheese can last 3–4 weeks in the fridge. Soft cheeses have a shorter lifespan and should be consumed within one week, and many recipes use other cheeses besides American cheese.
Cream lasts 1–5 days after its “sell by” date if it’s refrigerated after opening. Fresh chili peppers last 1–2 weeks in the fridge, making it the most perishable part of the queso dip.
All this means that homemade queso dip won’t last for too long in the fridge. To be safe: let’s say it lasts around 4 days in the fridge. It also applies to fresh queso dips made in restaurants.
However, if we’re talking about store-bought queso dip, then it can last 4 weeks or even more. Read the package for more specific indications.
Also, check out the video below for a neat idea for freezing queso and nacho cheese dip for later use.
Too much queso dip? Don’t fret. Just divide it into several small containers and put it in the freezer. It’ll be good to eat for up to 6 months.
If you want to make queso dip in advance for a special occasion, you can freeze it in a single container. However, you’ll better preserve its texture by putting it in the fridge.
As long as your special occasion is less than 4 days away, that is. After that, the cheese may start going bad.
