5 Minute Nacho Cheese Sauce
on Aug 10, 2023, Updated Apr 04, 2024
The easiest way to make homemade nacho cheese! This recipe is so simple and comes together in just 5 minutes!
This is the best easy nacho cheese!
This 5 minute nacho cheese sauce is one of my favorite things to make for Mexican night!
All you need is heavy cream, cheese, and pantry ingredients to make this simple delicious cheese sauce.
Ideal when served with tortilla chips, over nachos, on tacos, quesadillas, mexican themed casseroles, you name it!
Nacho Cheese Sauce Ingredients
- heavy cream
- colby jack cheese
- paprika
- garlic powder
- chili powder
- cornstarch
How to make nacho cheese sauce
Step 1: add the heavy cream to a pan and warm it to medium heat, but do not boil.
Step 2: Once your heavy cream is warm, add the paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cornstarch, and freshly grated colby jack cheese.
Stir or whisk the cheese sauce often for three to five minutes, until thick. The longer you stir over low to medium heat, the thicker it becomes.
Using Fresh Grated Cheese
Pre shredded cheese is not the way to go for this recipe, as fresh just tastes so much better and makes a big difference in the quality of the nacho cheese sauce.
For a thicker sauce, just leave it on the heat a little longer, watching and stirring so that it doesn’t burn.
This recipe is similar to my cheese sauce for broccoli, but made with colby jack cheese and mexican spices to create a nacho cheese flavor.
How Do You Make a Quick Cheese Sauce?
The answer is simply: cornstarch. By using this as a thickener, you spend much less time and the taste is just as good!
Once I realized the cornstarch trick, I make all of my quick cheese sauce recipes this way! Cornstarch is now a time saving staple in my home. You can’t taste it, and it makes dinner prep so much easier.
Once we first made this recipe, I had to make it three times in one week because I just could not get enough of it! The homemade nacho cheese just takes nacho night to the next level.
From easy dinners to party appetizers, you really can’t go wrong with a batch of this cheesy goodness!
What to eat with nacho cheese sauce
- nachos
- burrito bowls
- quesadillas
- tacos
- burritos
- stuffed peppers
- roasted veggies
- enchiladas
What is the best cheese for nacho cheese sauce
I find colby jack my favorite, but this sauce would also be delicious with monterey jack cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, or pepper jack cheese.
Nacho Cheese FAQs
We do not recommend this as freshly grated cheese will melt better and result in a smoother sauce.
Leftover nacho cheese sauce can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat leftovers in a sauce pan or in the microwave until heated through.
More Dips & Sauces
- Queso Blanco
- Stir Fry Sauce
- Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Chip Dip
- Cream Cheese Bean Dip
- Orange Sauce
- Veggie Dip
5 Minute Nacho Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups colby jack cheese, freshly grated
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- Heat a sauce pan on medium heat and add the heavy cream
- Once the heavy cream begins to get warm, add the freshly grated colby jack cheese, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, and corn starch
- Whisk until thick and creamy (around 5 minutes or less). Stir constantly to avoid burning
- Serve the nacho cheese with chips, nachos, tacos, quesadillas, or with any mexican themed dish!
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Nutrition
I made this with Cabot’s Pepper Jack cheese – everyone LOVED it!
Yum! I’ll have to try it with pepper jack!
Omg… This recipe was GREAT! I had everything but the chili powder so I substituted it with smoked Paprika and used Gouda cheese… Honey let me tell you, it came out amazing, this is the best simple recipe I’ve come across for awhile and I’m one to search and search until I find one I want to stick to, this is IT!!
Thank you so much ❤️❤️
Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
I made this as written but with sharp cheddar. Wow, I’m never gonna stress about making a queso roux on a weeknight again. Perfect for when you need to throw together nachos with a couple of pantry staples. Thank you!
My kids loved this cheese sauce, it was so much better than the ones that have a butter and flour base. We used the sauce for nacho night but I’m sure there are plenty of other things I can use this for.
Best cheese sauce I’ve ever made. Thanks!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This was delicious! The spices were perfect- great flavor and texture. I added was some jalapeño juice from a jar in the fridge for some extra spice.
This will be my new go to recipe, thank you!
Thanks for leaving a review, so glad you enjoyed it!