Dairy-Free Chili Cheese Dip with Gluten-Free Pretzels and Chips

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Since giving up dairy pretty much permanently almost 4 years ago, there are a few cases where I miss it. I attribute it to growing up in Texas and eating queso and chili con queso all the time. But, without dairy, I either cheat and regret it, or go without. Add to that that I love to dip pretzels in it, well, it’s just an amazing thing I’ve been missing. But, missing it, no more. Because I’ve created a dairy-free chili cheese dip that I can enjoy with gluten-free pretzels and chips.

When ALDI first started carrying their liveGfree line of food on a “test” basis, I (along with many other people) got on their social channels and told them it had to stay. Thankfully, they listen to their customers and have made them to stay. ALDI is our favorite grocery store for at least these 16 reasons. Check the ALDI store locator to see if there is a store near you.

One of my favorites there is the liveGfree Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks which were recently announced as a winner in The 8th Annual Gluten-Free Buyers Guide. These Gluten-Free Awards honor the best gluten-free products in more than 50 categories based on feedback from thousands of consumer voters. Results are published in the annual Gluten-Free Buyers Guide and promoted via social media and e-newsletters distributed to a network of more than 7,000 members of the gluten-free community. Not only were the pretzel sticks chosen as winners, but so were four other of their certified gluten-free products were honored as best in class.

Great taste. Great price. And gluten-free. It’s a total win!

So, to pair them up with my long missed chili cheese dip, aka chili con queso, I got to work and it was a hit with the whole family and the neighbors we shared with!

Dairy-Free Chili Cheese Dip Recipe

Using raw cashews (soaked for at least an hour in water and then drained), nutritional yeast, a bell pepper, chili powder, unsweetened almond milk, our homemade taco seasoning, diced tomatoes with green chilies, grass-fed ground beef, and black beans, (sure, fine, add onions if you want, but it’s a hard pass here!) I made a super tasty and surprisingly cheese-tasting, non-dairy cheese dip!

We started with browning the ground beef and then adding taco seasoning a can of drained black beans and diced tomatoes with green chilies. This wasn’t very spicy, so you could easily double up the dice green tomatoes with green chilies. We allowed this to simmer while making the cheese.

Into the high speed blender went the soaked and drained cashews, nutritional yeast, bell pepper, chili powder and unsweetened almond milk. Around and around it went for 4 minutes. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t used your high speed blender for this long that it will actually get hot.

After those four minutes, we gave it a taste. The girls were impressed to find that it did taste like cheese!

Into the meat and bean mixture went the cheese mix. We allowed this to simmer for just a few minutes and then it was ready to serve. If you find you like more garlic, onion, salt and/or pepper, add it before serving.

We served our dairy-free cheese dip with both the liveGfree Gluten-Free Pretzel Sticks and some tortilla chips from ALDI.

All of the yum! I mentioned everybody loved it, and I mean it! We even got praise from the neighbor kids!

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We had a bowl to ourselves and brought bowls to two neighbor’s houses and still have some leftovers. So this will definitely make a batch big enough for your favorite party. You could easily put it in a slow cooker to keep it warm longer!

Do you have a favorite item from ALDI? I’d love to hear it. We try it all, but I’m always looking to try something new.