New Pace Queso Party Bowls, Our Honest Review

The “big game” is coming and I think it’s safe to say we all have dip on the brain. As part of my effort to shift into molten cheese mode, I picked up a couple of the new Pace Queso Party Bowls last time I was at the grocery store.

The whole thing with these new Pace cheese dips is that they come in ready-to-nuke little bowls. Once they’ve been heated for a minute or two, you can just toss ‘em on the table with some chips, no need to soil a precious microwave-safe bowl. Are you hosting a party and inviting a bunch of people you resent for one reason or another? Pace Queso Party Bowls are PRECISELY the thing to serve. I tried them in two flavors—Queso Blanco and Jalapeno Popper—and immediately started planning my next spite party.

New Product!

Pace Queso Party Bowls Medium Queso Blanco Dip

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Pros: For a medium queso, this stuff is surprisingly spicy. It’s a solid medium-hot. The heat is enough to tickle the back of your throat, and I applaud them for going for it.

Cons: This queso tastes like a cheap, canned cheese soup. And it’s not watery, per se (and anyway, we love a lot of queso that’s pretty loose because loose queso is more authentic to Tex-Mex cuisine), but it feels wet in your mouth rather than creamy. For whatever reason, most of the jarred queso we’ve tried tastes much better than this.

Rating:

5.5/10

Sporks

New Product!

Pace Queso Party Bowls Medium Jalapeno Popper Dip

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Pros: This is definitely creamier than the other Pace queso. It’s a subtle difference in consistency, but there’s definitely a difference. Boy, if only this didn’t taste so weird! This is less spicy than the queso blanco, too. (I know I said the heat was a “pro” in the other blurb, BUT the more reasonable spice is definitely a pro for some people.)

Cons: I’ve consumed a lot of jalapeno poppers (it’s kind of my job), and none of them have tasted like this. This Pace queso doesn’t taste like jalapenos and it doesn’t taste like breading and it doesn’t taste like cream cheese. It tastes like smoked mozzarella. It’s one of the more dreadful things I’ve tasted recently. My spite party is going to rule!

Rating:

3.5/10

Sporks

About the Author

Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks. Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown. What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction. Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home. Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.