Crock Pot Rotel Dip (Velveeta Cheese Dip!)

This crock pot Rotel dip brings gooey cheese and plenty of flavor to your snack table! Whether you’re tailgating, hosting a party, or just craving something fun and easy, this dip is a crowd-pleaser. This dip is the ultimate warm appetizer perfect for family hangouts or game-day spreads.

 

Why We Love Crock Pot Rotel Cheese Dip

• Flavorful Gooey Cheese – Listen, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with gooey cheese on crunchy, salty chips. Not only does this dip perfectly smooth and gooey, it’s really easy to make and is full of flavor from the tomatoes in green chilies.
• Great For A Group – Rotel dip is something we made when I lived in Ohio while we were watching the game. Easy for a crowd, it’s perfect for tailgating or any time you’re hanging out with family and friends.
• Crock Pot Keeps It Warm – One of the best parts is this dip kind of babysits itself. Leave it in the slow cooker on warm, and you and your family can enjoy it warm for a little while, and go back for seconds! I also like to make this dip for over baked potatoes when I’m making a baked potato bar for a group.

Ingredients For Crock Pot Velveeta Rotel Dip

• ground pork sausage cooked and drained, can also use ground pork without sausage seasonings. If your sausage is fresh sausage in casings, remove the casing.
• tomatoes and chilis like Rotel tomatoes, with juices, canned, I used mild Rotel
• Velveeta cheese
• cream cheese
• taco seasoning
• tomatoes diced – optional garnish
• cilantro chopped – optional garnish

How To Make The Best Rotel Dip In The Crock Pot

1. Spray a crockpot with spray cooking oil and set aside.
2. Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage to the pan. Cook sausage until no longer pink, breaking it up with a spatula as it cooks. Drain any excess grease for the sausage, then place it in the base of the crockpot.

3. Open the cans of Rotel and pour over the sausage in the crock pot.
4. Cut the Velveeta cheese and cream cheese into about 1 inch cubes. Add both the Velveeta cheese and the cream cheese to the slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over the cheese in the slow cooker.

5. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 2 ½ hours. Stir the cheese once about every hour, until smooth and thickened. The cheese is melted, gooey and smooth when finished. Then serve with tortilla chips, and enjoy. Top with diced tomato and fresh cilantro if desired.

Sausage Rotel Dip Recipe Variation Ideas

Swap The Meat – Use ground beef, ground turkey or even ground chicken. The sausage does add a lot of flavor to the rotel dip, so you may want to add a little extra taco seasoning if you are adding one of these ground meats that are on the leaner side. Ground turkey sausage, chicken sausage can also be used.

I’ve even used breakfast sausage in a pinch, unless it has a super strong maple flavor no one will know when they are enjoying this cheesy dip.

Make It Spicy – Buying spicy sausage or spicy rotel is one way to pump up the heat. Since you usually need two cans of Rotel, you can also try one can of spicy rotel and one can of mild if you’re not sure how spicy you will like it. You can also just add a little hot sauce to the whole batch.

I don’t recommend using a smoked sausage in this recipe. While it may taste delicious, it makes the dip a little too chunky for the chip to hold on to which can get a little messy.

Add Beans – Beans aren’t usually added to this dip, but they do add a lot of flavor. Try adding black beans or pinto beans that have been drained and rinsed well.

Try Adding Corn – Adding frozen or canned corn that has been drained is also really delicious in this dip.

Try Other Dipping Items – Tortilla chips work well in this dip, but Fritos which are basiclaly an extra salty corn chip are also delicious. The Fritos scoops work especially well! You can also get a little creative with other items to dip such as bread, other types of thick chips, or fresh cut veggies like carrots and bell pepper.

Why Add The Cream Cheese?

I’ve seen Rotel dip recipes where they use just Velveeta cheese, meat and Rotel. We tried a few different versions of this dip, and just found the Velveeta cheese flavor overpowered the dip. The cream cheese mellows out the Velveeta flavor letting the other flavors mix a little better together.

Is Their Another Cheese Besides Velveeta Cheese I Can Use?

Velveeta cheese is used because it melts really well and creates a smooth and creamy cheese sauce without having to go through the whole process of creating a roux with flour and butter. Some of the grocery stores do have a store brand version of Velveeta which is perfectly fine to use.

I’ve also seen a queso version at the grocery store that’s a white cheese version. While I haven’t tried this, I bet it would be delicious. Let me know if you try it.

Don’t confuse queso with crumbly queso fresco cheese, which is a cheese often used in more traditional mexican dishes. Queso fresco tastes more like feta cheese, and is better for sprinkling over tacos. Try queso fresco crumbled over my Instant pot carnitas, it’s delish! I honestly didn’t find queso fresco on shelves until I moved to Arizona, it wasn’t something I easily found on shelves when Iived in the Midwest.

I have not tried a premade queso dip in this recipe. Most of those premade dips are already seasoned though, so may not work well in this recipe. Plus they tend to come in a smaller container, and it won’t be as cost effective to make a large batch of dip like this recipe makes. If you’re buying the premade queso dip I would just enjoy it warmed up as it is.

Can You Make Rotel Tomatoes At Home?

In a pinch I’ve used two cans of diced tomatoes in juices (20 ounces total) and a 4 ounce can of mild diced green chiles. I’d then add a little more taco seasoning to taste at the end if needed. I’ve lived a few places where Rotel just wasn’t on the shelves, and this worked just as well.

How Long Will Crock Pot Rotel Cheese Dip Last?

This dip can last for up to 3 days if stored in a covered airtight container in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to enjoy any leftovers, you can warm it in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl.