Smoked Cheeseburger Queso Dip

Why This Went Viral

Long Island BBQ creator Paulie Sauce (@paulie_saucee on Instagram and TikTok) has spent the past few years turning smoked queso — already one of the most-repeated dip formats on TikTok — into a running series of variations: steak queso, pimento queso, and this cheeseburger version, which takes everything a cheeseburger needs (beef, bacon, pickles, ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire) and melts it into one pan of cheese. It's been picked up by local news food segments and recipe-roundup outlets this October testing "internet-famous" dips, which is what's keeping it circulating right now. The hook is the reveal: it looks like a party queso until the diced pickles and dollop of ketchup and mustard hit, and the smoker (or a liquid-smoke shortcut) adds a campfire edge a stovetop queso can't fake.

Ingredients

Main Components

• 1 lb (450 g) ground beef, 80/20, cooked and drained
• 1 lb (450 g) bacon, cooked crisp and diced
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 can (10 oz / 280 g) Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained
• 8 oz (225 g) Velveeta, cubed
• 8 oz (225 g) pepper jack cheese, cubed
• 1 cup (115 g) shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 can (12 fl oz / 355 ml) evaporated milk, divided
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) ketchup
• 1 tablespoon (15 g) yellow mustard
• ½ cup (75 g) diced dill pickles

If Not Using a Smoker

• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) liquid smoke

Substitutions:

• Velveeta → 8 oz additional shredded cheddar plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch tossed through it, for a less processed (but slightly less silky) melt.
• Pepper jack → Monterey Jack plus 1 diced jalapeño, if pepper jack isn't available.
• Worcestershire sauce → a gluten-free or vegan Worcestershire-style sauce removes the gluten and fish (anchovy) allergens this recipe otherwise carries.
• Bacon → turkey bacon works, though the dip loses some rendered fat and smokiness.

Equipment

• Smoker (or oven, with the liquid-smoke substitution)
• 10–12 inch cast iron skillet or disposable aluminum pan
• Large skillet, for cooking the beef and bacon
• Instant-read thermometer
• Cutting board and knife

Instructions

Preparation (Active time: 20 min)

1. Cook the beef and bacon: In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef, breaking it up as it browns, until no pink remains and it reaches 160°F (71°C) internally. Drain and set aside. In the same skillet (or separately), cook the bacon until crisp, then drain on paper towels and dice. Dice the onion and pickles while the meat cooks.
2. Preheat: Preheat your smoker to 250°F (121°C). If you don't have a smoker, preheat your oven to 250°F (121°C) and plan to stir in the liquid smoke in step 4.

Cooking (Active time: 5 min, then hands-off: 45–60 min)

3. Combine in the pan: In a cast iron skillet or disposable aluminum pan, combine the cooked beef, bacon, onion, drained Rotel, Velveeta, pepper jack, and cheddar. Pour in ¾ of the evaporated milk (reserve the rest). Stir once to distribute everything evenly.
4. Smoke or bake: Place the pan in the smoker (or oven) and cook for 45–60 minutes, stirring every 15–20 minutes, until all the cheese has melted into a smooth, uniform queso. If using the oven instead of a smoker, stir the liquid smoke in during the first stir at the 15–20 minute mark. The dip should be fully melted and no longer grainy or separated.

Finishing (Active time: 5 min)

5. Stir in the burger flavors: Remove the pan and stir in the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, mustard, and diced pickles. Taste, and loosen with a splash of the remaining evaporated milk if it's thicker than you'd like.
6. Serve immediately: Serve hot, straight from the skillet, with tortilla chips or sliced vegetables for dipping. The dip firms up quickly as it cools, so keep it over low heat or on a warming tray if serving over time.

Food Safety & Storage

• Minimum safe internal temperature: Ground beef must reach 160°F (71°C) during cooking in step 1 — check with an instant-read thermometer; grinding spreads surface bacteria through the meat, so this dish should never be made with beef left pink or rare.
• Storage: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
• Freezing: Not recommended — the Velveeta and evaporated milk base can separate and turn grainy on thawing.
• Reheating: Reheat gently in a saucepan over low heat or in short microwave bursts, stirring often, until it reaches 165°F (74°C) throughout. Add a splash of milk if it's stiffened in the fridge.

Serving Suggestions

• Classic pairing: sturdy tortilla chips, which hold up to the weight of the dip.
• Pretzel bites or celery and carrot sticks also work well for dipping.
• Spoon leftovers over a baked potato or into scrambled eggs for a next-day use.
• Pairs well with an ice-cold cola or a crisp lager, in keeping with the cheeseburger theme.

Scaling Notes

Half recipe (½×): Use an 8-inch skillet; the smoke/bake time stays close to the same, closer to 35–45 minutes since the pan is shallower — start checking at 30 minutes.

Double recipe (2×): Use two pans rather than one deep one, or the center will take much longer than the edges to melt through; expect 60–75 minutes either way, stirring more frequently.

Chef's Notes

• Sourcing: Block Velveeta (not the pre-shredded "cheese product" bags) melts smoother. Pre-cooked bacon bits work in a pinch but lose the crisp-diced texture that holds up in the dip.
• Make-ahead: Cook the beef and bacon and dice the onion and pickles up to a day ahead; refrigerate separately and assemble just before smoking.
• Variations: Paulie Sauce's other smoked queso builds swap in diced steak (Smoked Steak Queso) or pimento cheese (Smoked Pimento Dip) for the beef — the same cheese base and smoke technique carry over directly.
• Common pitfalls: Don't skip draining the Rotel and the cooked beef/bacon — excess liquid is the main reason smoked queso turns soupy instead of scoopable.
• On richness: This is a bacon-and-three-cheese dip built to be indulgent, not a health food. Between the Velveeta, pepper jack, cheddar, bacon, and beef, a single serving runs high in sodium and saturated fat by design — that's the point of a party queso, but it's worth portioning accordingly and pairing with something lighter elsewhere on the table.

Nutrition Information (Optional)

Per serving (about ⅔ cup, 1 of 6): approximately 480 kcal (estimated)

• Protein: 26g | Fat: 37g (Saturated: 17g) | Carbohydrates: 9g | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: ~4g | Sodium: ~1,150mg (high — see "On richness" in Chef's Notes)

Sources

• Paulie Sauce (@paulie_saucee), Instagram, original post of the Smoked Cheeseburger Queso Dip: instagram.com/p/DdM9SdGyEcE
• Paulie Sauce Recipes, "Smoked Cheeseburger Queso" (full written recipe, ingredient ratios, and hero image source): pauliesaucerecipes.com/post/smoked-cheeseburger-queso
• FOX 13 Tampa Bay, "Testing Internet's Top Viral Recipes" — corroborates the recipe, creator, and platform, and confirms it as one of the dishes currently being tested as "internet-famous": fox13news.com/dinner-deeas/testing-internets-top-viral-recipes
• Yahoo Lifestyle (syndicated Delish test-kitchen piece), "Testing The Internet's Top Viral Recipes" — additional corroboration of ingredients and creator credit: yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/testing-internet-top-viral-recipes

Version History:

• v1 (2026-10-25): Initial recipe by @Claude

Credits:

• Recipe development: @Claude (adapted from Paulie Sauce's recipe, cited above)
• Testing: @Claude
• Verification: @Coordinator
• Photography: Paulie Sauce, pauliesaucerecipes.com (image source: https://pauliesaucerecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IMG_3026-1024x768.jpg), used with attribution

Recipe Location: My-Library/Cooking/Recipes/Viral-Recipes/Recipes/2026-10-25_smoked-cheeseburger-queso-dip.md Images Location: My-Library/Cooking/Recipes/Viral-Recipes/Images/smoked-cheeseburger-queso-dip/