The Best Tostitos Dip Is More Delicious Than It Has Any Right To Be

Tostitos might be most famous for its vast array of tortilla chips, but it also makes quite a few dips to accompany all of those variously flavored chips. Commonly seen at social functions like Super Bowl parties or summer cookouts, the dips might not usually be on your radar to grab at the store for anything other than a casual group gathering. The jarred salsas are definitely a decent choice, but the allure of the Velveeta-yellow queso dip is often hard to ignore. We ranked eight Tostitos dips from worst to best, and the clear winner was the Hot Spicy Queso. 

After sampling eight different Tostitos dips, eaten with Tostitos chips, of course, and evaluating them based on texture and flavor balance, our taste taster, who prefers spicier heat levels, was surprised by how much she loved that Hot Spicy Queso dip, especially for a store-bought jar of queso. Compared to other products labeled "hot" or "spicy," which usually disappoint our tester, the Hot Spicy Queso was "downright fiery." The balance of both chile and bell peppers with cheddar, parmesan, and Monterey Jack cheeses was a winning combination. Our taste tester appreciated not only the strong heat from the chile peppers, but also what she calls a deeper, vegetal sweetness brought by the bell peppers.

Although the texture was a bit thinner than the other Tostitos queso offerings, once it was heated, the dip turned out to have great consistency. Our taste tester recommends pairing the Hot Spicy Queso dip with salty chips.

Other varieties like the Medium Cheesy Enchilada Dip and the Hot Chunky Habanero Salsa came close, but none could rival the extreme heat and cheesiness of the Hot Spicy Queso. If you have a sub-par queso dip languishing in your cabinet at home, it doesn't take much more than a smoked spice to improve a store-bought queso.

If you can't make it to the grocery store or if you prefer to whip up your own queso dip, you could make a simple version at home with our three-ingredient queso dip recipe. However, if you have the time and you're looking for a show-stopping dip for entertaining guests, try our slow cooker chorizo and queso Rotel dip recipe, where smoky, spicy chorizo brings the dip depth of flavor and more heat.