This simple cheese dip is perfect dipping sauce for soft pretzel, chips, and other snack! Make with only butter, flour, milk, and cheese, you can whip up a batch of this delicious cheese sauce in 10 minutes!
Pretzels and cheese dip is such a fun appetizer or snack for parties and game days. And, since you can now get soft pretzels online and then in the freezer section of most grocery stores, including Trader Joe’s and Costco, it makes this snack duo even easier to make!
This pretzel cheese dip recipe is great because the store bought cheese dips are completely processed and full of preservatives. This recipe is so easy and uses real food, plus you can make it in 10 minutes. It’s the perfect cheese dip for your favorite snacks!
INGREDIENTS
- Cheese – you can use any mix of cheese you want. I used sharp cheddar, but you can use park jack or mozzarella cheese, which can help make the sauce even creamier.
- Whole Milk – I recommend using whole milk
- Butter – I used unsalted butter, but you can used salted. Just cut the amount of salt in the recipe in half.
- Flour – this binds to the cheese and keeps the sauce smooth
- Spices – this is where you can get fun and really adjust the recipe to your liking. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and mustard powder, and a pinch of cayenne. But you could stick with simple salt and pepper or add more spices like paprika or sumac.
HOW TO MAKE Pretzel Cheese sauce
This recipe is so easy! You can make it is less than 10 minutes.
- Melt the butter and add the flour to make a roux.
- Cook over medium heat for one minute until the mixture bubbles and darkens slightly.
- Stir in the milk and cook about a minute until it starts to thicken. Do not let the mixture come to a rolling boil. If it’s to hot it can overheat the cheese in the next step.
- Turn off the heat and slowly add the cheese. If you heat up the cheese too fast or too hot, it can separate so be careful.
- Stir continuously until the cheese is melted. If necessary, turn the heat on low to finish melting the cheese. If you melt the cheese on too high of heat, it can separate and get grainy.
- Add the spices and remix. Enjoy!
Tips for perfect cheese dip every time!
- Make sure to use freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheeses often have additives that can alter the final texture of the dip.
- Add and melt the cheese slowly. The key to a smooth cheese sauce is to melt the cheese very slowly. If the cheese get too hot, it can separate and curdle giving the sauce a gritty texture. I normally remove from heat before slowly adding the cheese, then return the pan to very low to to continue melting the cheese if necessary.
- While cheddar is delicious, adding part mozzarella or jack cheese makes for an even creamier cheese dip.
- If you want to add more milk to thin it out, make sure the milk is warm. This helps keep a smooth consistency.
- Want commercial perfectly smooth store-bought style cheese sauce? Try Sodium Citrate. It’s what commercial food products use to ensure smooth and melty cheese, that can be heated over and over without loosing it’s texture. Typically add 1 tsp per 8 oz of cheese in place of the flour.
What to Serve with Cheese Dip
Pretzel of course! You can either make your own or I personally find the frozen kind to be so easy and tastes delicious.
You can also serve with chips, fries, sandwiches, raw vegetables, or on top of cooked potatoes and other veggies. Check out this fun pretzel board appetizer! It’s great for game days and Oktoberfest!
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Pretzel Cheese Dip
INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- pinch cayenne pepper optional
- 1 tsp hot sauce optional
- 2 cup freshly shredded cheese 8 oz
Instructions
- Melt the butter and add the flour to make a roux.
- Cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes until the mixture bubbles and darkens slightly.
- Stir in the milk and cook a minute until it starts to thicken
- Turn off the heat and slowly add the cheese. If you heat up the cheese too hot, it can separate.
- Stir until the cheese is melted. If necessary, turn the heat on low to finish melting the cheese. If you melt the cheese on too high of heat, it can separate and get grainy.
- Add the spices and remix. Serve immediately and enjoy.
Notes
- Make sure to use freshly grated cheese. Pre-grated cheeses often have additives that can alter the final texture of the dip.
- Add and melt the cheese slowly. The key to a smooth cheese sauce is to melt the cheese very slowly. If the cheese get too hot, it can separate and curdle giving the sauce a gritty texture. I normally remove from heat before slowly adding the cheese, then return the pan to very low to to continue melting the cheese if necessary.
- While cheddar is delicious, adding part mozzarella or jack cheese makes for an even creamier cheese dip.
- If you want to add more milk to thin it out, make sure the milk is warm. This helps keep a smooth consistency.
- Want commercial perfectly smooth store-bought style cheese sauce? Try Sodium Citrate. It’s what commercial food products use to ensure smooth and melty cheese, that can be heated over and over without loosing it’s texture. Typically add 1 tsp per 8 oz of cheese in place of the flour.
Tayler says
I made this cheese dip over the weekend and it was a hit with all my friends! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
Michele says
I can’t believe out easy and delicious this cheese dip was! I will be making this again and again!
Jacqueline Debono says
This is hands down my new favourite cheese dip. I’m a big cheese fan and this dip was just out of this world!
Heather says
Made this for a girls night and we devoured it! Simple to make and everyone loved it!
Carrie says
Made this for my last game day with friends and they LOVED it! It as really easy to make too. Thanks for the recipe!