Luckily my friend is a cook at Casa Ole and this recipe is not close. It's all in the cheese! They use Land 'o Lakes easy melt cheese diluted with water and then add your onions and chile. Unfortunately the cheese is very expensive (actually one of their most expensive at cost items on the menu) and is not available for retail sale. You can buy it but only in bulk, it comes in 5 pound increments and you have to buy a minimum of 30 pounds at most places.

Hi Justin, do you think your friend could give you the recipe for their ground beef for tacos, or their enchilada gravy sauce? Those are the two things from Casa Ole that I have tried to replicate but have not gotten there yet. Thanks!

That cheese is sold in the deli at Publix grocery stores in Florida. Try your groceries. Also, Mexican restaurants use it to make their white dipping cheese and might be willing to sell you some. It is on the expensive side, but not that bad at our deli.

Close, but theirs uses butter. Just look at a menu, land o lakes on the picture of chili con queso.

This is what they use, at home I use Velveeta

4 cups American cheese, grated
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup Jalapeno, seeded & chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup milk

Directions:

1. Melt butter in saucepan, add all veggies and garlic powder, saute until tender - simmering for a few minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add milk and heat, and then stir in cheese a little at a time until melted and creamy. You might need to add more milk. Salt to taste.

3. Serve with tortilla chips.

I don't see, smell or taste ANY Bell Pepper or Jalapenos in Casa Ole's Queso. I agree that it DOES need the garlic, though.

The reason it shows Land O Lakes isn't cause of the butter its cause they use Land O Lakes brand (yellow) american cheese. You can get it at Walmart

Made this tonight, followed recipe but it is missing something. Mine is kind of sweet. But still edible.

The reason it's 'missing something' is, you can't get the same cheese they use. It's a Sysco product. It'll never be exact unless you can get your hands on THAT cheese. I moved to NY state years ago and miss this the most lol We need a Casa Ole HERE!

My sister and I live in southern Arizona, but are originally from Texas. We miss Casa Olè like crazy. We just made this recipe, and while it is good, it isn't quite the same. To me it's too cheesy, and is missing something. I have searched for hours to see what we're missing, but most recipes say the same thing. It's still edible because I'm stuffing my face right now as I type this, lol! However, I am looking for what's missing to see if we can get even closer to the actual recipe.

We just had taco night and decided to try this out. It was pretty awesome, but it did taste like something was missing. BUT it was the closest I've ever had to the real thing. Id say go for it. it most certainly does not suck.

This turned out wonderful. I didn't have the evaporated milk, and I sure wish I had it as I am sure it would even add more to the recipe. I loved the onion in the dip. It was a great addition.

So.... I JUST got done making this per the recipe and I have to say, it is good, but not spot on. Onion is a little strong, and I am thinking that maybe the cream of celery was used to get close to the taste but is maybe not the correct ingredient. Don't get me wrong though, I am eating the dip as I type this out so I will say again, it IS good! =P Thank you for the recipe!

To me it was spot on for Casa Ole. Although I grated the onion, not chopped... the extra onion juice probably helped.