We Taste-Tested 9 Brands of Queso—Here Are the Ones We’d Actually Serve at Our Super Bowl Parties

When I grew up in New York in the early 2000s, good Tex-Mex was hard to find. It wasn’t until I visited Austin in 2021 that I tried real Tex-Mex for the first time. I was on my second margarita at the legendary restaurant Matt’s El Rancho when their Bob Armstrong dip—a creamy, spicy salsa con queso studded with ground beef and topped with scoops of guacamole and sour cream—landed on my table. It was cheesy, well-seasoned, and just rich enough to leave me satisfied without feeling bloated afterward. I scraped the bowl clean. 

I have yet to find a queso as delicious as that one. Still, it hasn’t stopped me from trying. With the Super Bowl fast approaching, we set out to find the best supermarket salsa con queso. We poured each sauce into a bowl, heated it, and served it with tortilla chips. After tasting our way through nine different brands, we tabulated the results and crowned an overall winner, along with two runners-up we’d be happy to serve at our own parties.

The Criteria

The best versions of salsa con queso are rich and balanced in heat. The sauce should be cheesy and flavorful, with a peppery chile note. It should be nicely savory, not so acidic or spicy that it overwhelms the cheese’s flavor. The cheese doesn’t need to taste fancy, but it should have some complexity, with sharp, tangy notes from cheddar, Monterey Jack, or pepper Jack. It should be thick and creamy—not stodgy or gummy, nor watery. Specks of peppers and onions are welcome, but the sauce should remain easily scoopable and not be overly chunky.

Overall Winner

On the Border Spicy Jalapeño Queso

This queso won us over with its creamy texture and heat level. Our editorial director, Daniel, was surprised by how much he enjoyed its heat and cheesy, peppery flavor, noting, “Hey, this is good!” While Megan described the sauce as mild, I, like Daniel, appreciated the dip’s distinct jalapeño flavor and its richness—enough to coat a tortilla chip but not so thick it came across as gloopy.

Runners-Up

Bowl & Basket Salsa Con Queso Dip

If you prefer a queso with savory depth and a kick, this is the jar to grab. Daniel immediately noticed a distinct “hit of umami” in this queso. Tasters noted its steady heat, which placed it toward the hotter end of the spectrum among the dips we tasted. Its texture, which Megan described as “pleasantly gooey,” was also a highlight. It had bits of onion and pepper that added substance to every bite. While this queso was a touch too acidic for Daniel, its velvety texture, satisfying savoriness, and spice level made it a top contender among several tasters.

On the Border Salsa Con Queso

This silky queso won points for its texture. Megan thought it was gooey “in a good way” and named it her favorite, while our senior editor, Genevieve, liked that it was “creamy” and “well-rounded.” Flavor-wise, Daniel found it “middle-of-the-road,” but others loved its vegetal notes and mild spice.

The Contenders

• 365 by Whole Foods Market Organic Salsa Con Queso 
• Bowl & Basket Medium Salsa Con Queso Dip
• On the Border Spicy Jalapeño Queso
• On the Border Salsa Con Queso
• Pace Salsa Con Queso Party Bowls – Medium 
• Taco Bell Medium Salsa Con Queso
• Tostitos Salsa Con Queso Medium 
• Velveeta Queso Con Salsa Cheese Dip
• Wise Medium Salsa con Queso

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Our favorite quesos were luxuriously creamy and perfect for dipping. Our winning salsa con queso, On the Border Spicy Jalapeño Queso, is made with Monterey Jack cheese and nonfat milk and flavored with jalapeño peppers, other green chiles, diced tomatoes, and dried spices such as onion, garlic, and tomato powder. It also contains sodium citrate and sodium alginate, emulsifying salts that give processed cheeses superior melting properties. Writing about sodium citrate in his guide to American cheese, former Serious Eats editor Kenji noted: “It’s thanks to this little molecule that American cheese won’t break, instead staying glossy and gooey no matter how much you seem to heat it and cool it down.” 

One of our runners-up comes from the same brand as our winner. The runner-up is made with ingredients similar to their winning jalapeño version, except the winner has a higher dose of jalapeño peppers than the milder runner-up (the runner-up also contains nonfat milk and red bell peppers). Our other runner-up, Bowl & Basket Salsa Con Queso, doesn’t list the cheeses used and doesn’t contain sodium citrate. It is, however, made with monosodium glutamate (MSG), which would explain the savory depth our tasters detected. 

Our top three quesos all used a variety of peppers to add a fresh lift and spicy kick to the dip. On the Border Jalapeño Queso and Salsa Con Queso used jalapeños, with the addition of green chiles and dried bell peppers for added complexity, while Bowl & Basket’s Salsa Con Queso also used a blend of three peppers: jalapeños, chile peppers, and red bell peppers. 

Though the jarred stuff is unlikely to beat a fresh homemade batch of queso—or one served at a great Tex-Mex spot—our editors would still happily serve any of our top picks at a Super Bowl watch party. You can pop them open, microwave them, and serve them as is—or go the extra mile by zhuzhing them up with sour cream, guacamole, scallions, and even ground beef, à la Matt’s El Rancho.

Our Testing Methodology

All taste tests are conducted with brands completely hidden and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample one first, while taster B will taste sample six first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving any one sample an advantage. Tasters are asked to fill out tasting sheets, ranking the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulated, and results are calculated with no editorial input to provide the most impartial representation of actual results possible.