The Mysteries of Rotel Dip: Revealed

About author / Sarah Christine Bolton

Coffee addict; professional food writer; food fusion. Her slow cooker recipes go above and beyond your normal crockpot fare.

There are many mysteries in life. Like, is the moon really made of cheese? Does Bigfoot really exist? Who in the world invented Rotel Dip?

Okay, the last question might not be the burning question on the minds of every individual. But I have often wondered the origin of this very popular and very spicy dip.

Before I ventured out of my home state of California to the southern city of Jackson, MS, I had very little experience with cheese dips at all. Partly because I was allergic to dairy, and partly because in my family, words like “Super Bowl,” “Football,” and “Tailgating Foods” didn’t exist in our vocabulary.

I also don’t really eat dairy at all. It started way back in childhood, when a doctor decided I was allergic to all dairy products. My mom thought for about twelve years that I was strictly following her non-dairy diet guidelines. However, being the sneaky child that I was (at least in this area), I often snuck cheese back into my diet.

One Christmas, at my grandma’s house, while the adults and my siblings sang carols in the living room, I kept sneaking into the kitchen. My mission: scoop off chunks of the cheese ball with a cracker and then smooth the scoop out with my fingers, so no one would notice it was gone.

My brother and I made “cheese chips” in the microwave whenever my mom was sleeping in. We would take a big slice of cheese, put it in the middle of a paper plate, microwave it for about 45 seconds, and peel the slice of cheese off. After 45 seconds in the microwave, it had boiled and morphed into a crunchy, chip-like treat.

I loved American cheese when I was little. I enjoyed peeling the slices out of their plastic sleeves and rolling them around carrots and hot dogs.

After a childhood of actually eating cheese, and then confessing to my mom at age 13 that I had deceived her all those years (she didn’t care, surprisingly), I decided to stop eating cheese for real. There were several reasons for doing this, none of which are really important enough to go into detail about at this moment.

As soon as I decided to become a non-cheese eater, I joined the ranks of those who are discriminated against for their dietary choices. I ask for no cheese at restaurants. I get cheese anyways probably 89% of the time. I went to the grocery store the other night, searching for something quick, easy and healthy. In the frozen foods section, I found a soy cheese pizza. It totally fit the bill, and it was non-cheese. I was very excited…until the cashier rang it up for $8. A real cheese pizza of the same size probably would have been less than half that.

My husband, on the other hand, has no problem throwing back some cheese in any shape or form. The first time he made Rotel dip, I was mystified by it. It looked quite tasty, so I broke my non-cheese policy and tried some. To the dismay of my husband, I didn’t fall in love with it.

The actual brand Rotel goes all the way back to the 1940s. Carl Roettele opened a small canning company to make and sell canned tomatoes with green chilies. He shortened Roettele to Rotel so it would be easier to remember and say. His signature tomatoes with chilies and seasonings became very popular, and today, you can find cans of Rotel tomatoes in most grocery stores.

Serves/Makes: 10

• 1 box (1 lb size) pasteurized processed cheese (like Velveeta)
• 1 can (10 ounce size) diced Rotel tomatoes with chiles, undrained