Corn Queso

Grab a bag of chips and dig in. This Corn Queso dip is insanely cheesy, creamy & delicious. It will become your new favorite game day cheese dip.

Now, I have always been a queso fan – like it’s my favorite part of game day. I never thought that queso could get much better or cheesier than my favorite cheese dip, but I stand corrected this Corn Queso takes the chip, so to speak. Inspired from my recent trip to Iowa to learn all things corn, I had a version of this Corn Queso Dip, and my mouth has been watering ever since.

This post is written in collaboration with Iowa Corn. I’m excited to partner with them and give you the inside story to Iowa’s farmers and a behind the scenes look into their lives.

I’m not even kidding friends when I talk about how much I love this dip. When I had it for the first time at Iowa Distilling Company, I couldn’t stop eating it. In fact, I felt bad because I ate so much of this appetizer that I ate like a bird the rest of the meal. 

I went back to this cheesy corn dip over and over again. However, I was sure to praise the chef, so she’d know how much I loved it and why I really didn’t eat much else. And I’m kicking myself for not asking her for the recipe. So instead, I came home and made one that was close enough to satisfy my queso craving.

What I love about this dip, besides the fact it’s loaded with cheese, is that it is simple to throw together & packed with flavor.

I love a bit of heat to my queso dips, so I added some diced jalapenos. This is something you can easily omit though if you don’t like your queso spicy.

Next game day, I will be trying this recipe in the slow cooker; I feel like it would be a bit creamier because when you stick the skillet in the oven to get the bubbly cheesy topping, you have to break through the cheesy crust to get to the creamy corn mixture.

My husband, who swears he doesn’t even like corn, devoured this dip.

The people from Iowa aren’t just amazing at growing corn and making amazing queso dips, they are inspired, hardworking, salt-of-the-earth and proud Americans, striving to improve farming standards, clean energy and environmental footprints and practices.

If you’ve been following A Dash of Sanity for a few years now, you know how much I love Iowa. Not just the corn and baby pigs – but the people. This year, I returned once again to Iowa Corn Quest, my favorite time of year where we talk all things corn – from ethanol fuel and nutrition to farming practices.

While I think every year I have learned everything I need to know and could easily become an industry expert, that really isn’t the case. Every year I go back, I learn more and realize that I’ve only begun to scratch the surface.

Here are a few takeaways from this year’s Iowa Corn Quest: Corn is more than just fuel for my body.

FACT: Did you know only 1% of the corn grown in the US is sweet corn. Sweet corn is what you buy in the store – your traditional corn on the cob. The rest of the corn my friends, is field corn, which go towards animal feed and ethanol fuel.  Another fun fact is corn is the primary U.S. feed grain; it accounts for more than 96% of the total grain produced and used in the US.

A lot of the time, when we think of corn, we think of food and not necessarily clean energy. But let’s go there.

Why is ethanol made from corn?

Most of the ethanol fuel in the United States is produced from starch-based crops like corn. Almost 90% of ethanol plants are dry mills due to lower capital costs. What is dry-milling? Dry-milling is the process that grinds the starch-based drops like corn and ferments it into ethanol, with other grains and carbon dioxide.

Currently, 60-70% of pollution is caused by mobile transportation. We need to think about our air and what is going into it. Ethanol fuel is considered better for the environment over gasoline because it reduces carbon monoxide emissions. As demonstrated at last year’s Iowa Corn Quest, the ethanol fuel burned so much cleaner than gasoline. Something you may not know is that most of the gasoline sold in the U.S. contains some ethanol. This varies dependent on the type of fuel you purchase.

I learned this year that ethanol fuel is a huge topic not only in the U.S. but in many other countries. The price of corn plays into this as well. There is a lot of politics at play here. Something that we may not realize is that not only does this affect our environment but our farmers as well.

Roughly, 18% of our corn is exported to 80 different countries, although this varies 10 to 20% throughout the year.

Genetically Modified Corn

Every year I learn more about corn and GMOs. Being from Colorado, I hear a ton of buzz words, but never really have known much until my visits to Iowa, which allowed me to meet with industry experts and talk to the farmers themselves.

Why are GMOs used for farming?

The use of GMOs helps increase the yield of corn products. This is done because the genes are modified to help make the corn resistant to pests, which means fewer pesticides. In turn, this reduces the environmental footprints by allowing less spraying of the fields, resulting in less fuel being used for the tractors. Also, different GMO seeds are used depending on clients, the terrain of the fields and the amount of moisture. Using GMO seeds gives the farmer more options to plant for their soil condition.

GMO Corn fact: Currently, up to 92% of U.S. corn is genetically engineered.

GMO corn is not only innovative but necessary. This allows farmers and people all over the world to grow and produce corn in many different conditions, not only providing food for many but allowing corn to be used for other materials besides ending up on our dinner table.

GMO corn has allowed farmers to better their systems and utilize many resources to produce more efficiently, affecting their bottom line and production.

At the end of the day, corn is beyond what we eat at our dinner table or at the movie theaters. Corn fuels our livestock, cars, homes and the passion of the Iowa farmer.

So while you may be enjoying corn as you eat this amazing queso dip, realize there is a whole lot more to corn than meets the eye.

xo San

How do you make Corn Queso Dip?

• In a large skillet, add olive oil and heat over medium heat.

• Add onions, bell peppers, jalapeno, and garlic together. Cook until onion is tender.
• Add corn and heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add in salsa, cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream and heavy cream. Mix together over medium heat.
• Stir in cumin, smoked paprika and salt until well combined.
• Add Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, and stir until cheese is melted. Place the skillet in the oven on low broil and leave the queso in there until the cheese is browned on top.

What to serve with Queso.

• Corn Tortillas
• Flour Tortillas
• Chips
• Salsa
• 7 Layer Dip