Green Chile Queso Burger
A Southwestern burger smothered in creamy queso sauce and roasted green chiles for bold New Mexican flavor.
- Prep
- 15min
- Cook
- 12min
- Total
- 27min
- Serves
- 4
- Calories
- 830per serving, est.
By Time for Burgers, updated
Processed cheese is the right call for this queso. Velveeta or deli American contains emulsifying salts, so it melts with milk into a smooth sauce that stays pourable, where cheddar alone would turn stringy or oily. Keep the heat low and stir until no lumps remain.
The roasted green chiles sit on the patties for the last 2 minutes, just long enough to warm through. Hatch chiles run from mild to hot depending on the batch, while Anaheims are reliably mild. Tortilla strips add crunch on top of the sauce, and pico de gallo adds the acid.
Green Chile Queso Burger
Prep 15 min, cook 12 min, total 27 min. About 830 calories per serving.
timeforburgers.com/recipes/green-chile-queso-burger
Serves 4.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Make queso sauce: in a small saucepan over low heat, melt cubed cheese with milk, stirring constantly until smooth and creamy. Keep warm.
Season ground beef with cumin, salt, and pepper. Form into 4 equal patties.
Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties for 4-5 minutes per side until an instant-read thermometer in the center of a patty reads 160°F (71°C).
During the last 2 minutes of cooking, top each patty with chopped green chiles to warm through.
Toast brioche buns until golden.
Assemble burgers: place beef patties with green chiles on bottom buns, pour generous amounts of warm queso sauce over each patty, top with tortilla strips and pico de gallo, then carefully add top buns. Serve extra queso on the side for dipping.
Tips
- If the queso thickens while it waits, stir in milk 15 ml at a time over low heat. Don't let it boil.
- Pat jarred or thawed frozen chiles dry before chopping. Watery chiles thin out the queso on the patty.
- Toast the buns well. The queso runs, and a crisp cut side keeps the bottom bun from collapsing.
- Add the tortilla strips right before the top bun so they're still crunchy at the first bite.
Substitutions
- Swap half the American for pepper jack for more heat; the American keeps the sauce smooth.
- Less processed queso: melt shredded Monterey Jack into evaporated milk instead of whole milk. It stays smooth but thickens faster as it cools.
- Canned diced green chiles work if you can't find roasted Hatch or Anaheim; drain them well.
- Crushed tortilla chips instead of tortilla strips: the same crunch, a little saltier.
Make ahead & storage
Queso keeps 3 to 4 days in the fridge; rewarm it over low heat with a splash of milk, stirring until smooth. Cooked patties keep 3 to 4 days and reheat in a skillet to 165°F (74°C). Assemble just before eating, since the sauce softens the bun quickly.
