Ro-Tel gets its name from its inventor, Carl Roettele, who started a family canning company in Elsa, Texas, in the 1940s. It is commonly used in making chile con queso, particularly with Velveeta, and in King Ranch chicken.

Ingredients in Rotel Dip Rotel Tomatoes: A can of rotel tomatoes adds lots of flavor and a little heat. Rotel can be substituted with any kind of salsa. Meat: We love ground beef in this recipe but swap it out for ground turkey or sausage. Cheese: Velveeta makes this dip quick and easy (and super creamy).

Queso literally means “cheese” in Spanish, but that's not all you're getting when you order this creamy, gooey, sometimes spicy delight at a restaurant.

Unlike queso, cheese dip is made with velveeta. It's designed to melt and stay melted, remaining smooth, silky and clump free far longer. It's thinner, because it includes other dairy products and more flavorful with spices, chilis, veggies and herbs.

Made with a mix of red tomatoes and green chilies, Rotel adds a kick to dishes like chili, casseroles, dips, and more. It's perfect for Tex-Mex recipes like Easy Chicken Fajitas or branching out to creations like Charleston Crab and Grits.

"We as a culture have tended to gravitate toward foods that were - and are - predictable, unchanging and relatively bland," Werlin explains. "Processed cheese fit the bill, and it is also easy to use." Advertising campaigns from the 1950s touted Velveeta's mild flavor, ease of use and nutritional value.

Kraft Foods lists Velveeta's ingredients as: milk, water, whey, milk protein concentrate, milkfat, whey protein concentrate, sodium phosphate, and 2% or less of salt, calcium phosphate, lactic acid, sorbic acid, sodium citrate, sodium alginate, enzymes, apocarotenal, annatto, and cheese culture.

U.S. pop culture dialect has borrowed the word “queso” to mean a hot cheese dip for tortilla chips. I've even heard people calling Velveeta (shudder) “queso cheese”. English, especially American English, unabashedly takes words over to mean something else in pop culture context.

Queso, which means cheese in Spanish, isn't a direct translation when you're ordering it with a basket of tortilla chips or drizzled over a breakfast taco, but rather an abbreviation for chile con queso, an almost liquid melted cheese dish dating back to turn-of-the-century Texas, when Tex-Mex cuisine originated.

Rich, creamy, a little bit spicy, and so very satisfying. There's nothing quite like the taste of chips and queso. In Texas, where they're particularly serious about the Mexican cheese dip, it's not chile con queso without a can of Rotel. In fact, to some Texans, queso is simply "Rotel dip."

Queso translated from Spanish is simply “cheese.” But to many Americans, particularly those with roots in Texas, it is shorthand for chile con queso, a cheesy dip with chile peppers that is a staple at social gatherings of all types.

When you need a fast dip with tons of flavor, this is the winner! Rotel is canned tomatoes with green chilies, which adds just a touch of spice. I use taco seasoning to create more of that Mexican flare, but you can make this dish your own. It is SO creamy and delicious, I can't stop myself from eating it!