Bob Armstrong Dip is a TexMex favorite! This is perfect for anytime, but especially necessary for parties, game day, you name it. Who doesn’t love the combination of seasoned beef with delicious queso and guacamole? If you’re from Texas you know exactly what I mean if you’ve been to Matt’s . Run to the store in the morning, get the ingredients you need and you can throw this together! And it is so good!
I should say this is a “Copycat” recipe, and there are many out there. I added my own touches here and there trying to very closely find the same taste as the original in his restaurant Matt’s El Rancho in Austin. This recipe is from an Austin magazine that and I hope its as close to Matt’s as possible. Just like I did, add your own twist to these simple ingredients, but this will get you started.
what do you need for this recipe?
For the Meat:
- Ground beef
- Red or green bell pepper
- onions
- celery
- garlic powder
- cumin
- chili powder (my addition)
- salt
- pepper
For the Guacamole:
- Ripe Avocados
- Juice of a lemon or lime
- Granulated garlic powder
- vegetable oil
- Small Roma tomato, very finely diced (you can omit the tomato)
For the Queso:
- Celery
- Red bell pepper
- White onion
- Poblano pepper (I used jalapeno)
- Roma tomato
- American Cheese
The History of Famous Bob Armstrong Dip
Do you know the history of Bob Armstrong Dip? Here you go!
The History of Bob Armstrong Dip, According to Bob Armstrong
Whenever Bob Armstrong dines at classic Tex Mex restaurant Matt’s El Rancho, he gets up from his table and circles the room. If he spots a group gathered around a bowl of queso heaped with taco meat and guacamole, the former Texas Land Commissioner leans in and asks, “Are you enjoying that?”
They usually are. The appetizer is the restaurant’s most popular dish; Matt’s chef estimates they sell at least four hundred a week. Most patrons order it by asking for “a small Bob” or “a large Bob.” Its full name is Bob Armstrong Dip.
After discovering the table is enjoying his namesake, he announces, “I’m Bob Armstrong.” Matt’s El Rancho tends to be packed with regulars who have been ordering the Bob for years. People gasp. They request photos and autographs. Even during this interview, Armstrong could not stop himself from visiting tables. Matt’s could not have picked a better regular to name a menu item after. Bob Armstrong’s dip is famous, and he loves it.
Matt’s El Rancho opened in 1952 on what is now Cesar Chavez downtown, and quickly evolved from a tiny restaurant serving plate lunches to a Tex Mex destination for politicians, sports writers, and other movers and shakers in mid-century Austin, including LBJ.
In the Matt’s El Rancho cookbook MexTex: Traditional Tex-Mex Taste, Matt Martinez Jr. tells the following story of the dip’s creation: Bob Armstrong came into the kitchen and asked a teenaged Matt Martinez to whip him up “something different.” On a whim, Martinez added taco meat and guacamole to a bowl of queso, and when Bob Armstrong tasted it, “his eyes got as big as saucers.” Back at the Capitol, Armstrong ignited a craze for the new dish he’d had, which politicians started calling “that Bob Armstrong dip.”
Now in his 80’s, Armstrong does not get out to Matt’s as much as he used to. But along with his wife Linda Aaker and son William he recently joined Eater to talk about his unlikely namesake. It was not uncommon for politicians and other regulars to go into the kitchen at Matt’s; Bob and Matt, Jr. knew each other well by the time he made his famous request.
As Armstrong recalls, he was starving, and poked his head in the kitchen asking for a quick snack, something filling and fast. As to why the dip became an icon, Armstrong says that like everything else at Matt’s, their use of fresh and good quality ingredients “makes all the difference.”
There you go! The story behind this dip. Matt Martinez has a great simple cookbook too! Here’s a link for that: https://amzn.to/2UidcE4.
I have this cookbook. It does not disappoint!
More appetizers:
Here’s the easy Bob Armstrong Dip Recipe!
Bob Armstrong Dip
Ingredients
- 8 oz ground beef
- 1/4 cup white onion, finely diced
- 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 stalk celery, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp granulated garlic (plus more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin (plus more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp chili powder (plus more to taste)
- salt and pepper to taste
For the Queso
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/2 1/4 white onion
- 1 large jalapeno (seeded if you like)
- 1 roma tomato
- 1/4 red bell pepper
- enough water to cover the above ingredients
- American Cheese
- I added juice from pickled jalapenos and a pinch of cumin
For the Guacamole
- 2 avocados, peeled and pits removed
- juice of 1/2 lemon or lime or to taste
- 1/2 tsp granulated garlic
- salt and pepper
- 1 roma tomato, finely diced (optional)
Instructions
For the Meat
- Heat a pot over medium heat, then add all the ingredients. Cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent and the meat is cooked, about 5 minutes. Most of the liquid should evaporate, but the mixture shouldn’t be dry. Keep warm while you prepare the other components.Note: Because I didn't want large pieces of onions, celery and peppers I added the vegetables to a food processor and pulsed them to almost a puree with, still some texture, but no big pieces. Do Ahead: The meat can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat before assembling.
For the Queso
- To a saucepan add the celery, bell pepper, onion, jalapeno and tomato and add enough water to barely cover. Bring to a boil and cook until the skin starts to come off the tomato and the vegetables have started to soften. With a slotted spoon remove the vegetables to a food processor and puree. While you are doing continue to simmer the water that you cooked the vegetables in allowing it to reduce a little. After it has reduced a little, add the vegetable mixture back in to the water, turn the heat down to low, and gradually whisk in the cheese. Cook until the cheese has completely melted, stirring consistently. If you walk away, you may scorch the cheese and you will have to start over. At this point, taste to see if you want to add a little more cumin, and I added some of the liquid from a jar of pickled jalapenos.Do Ahead:Â Queso can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Reheat before assembling.
- How to assemble
- Pour the hot queso into a wide, shallow serving bowl. Add a scoop of meat and a scoop of guacamole, about 1/2 cup of each. Do not mix. Guests should combine the queso, guacamole, and ground beef together with tortilla chips as they eat it.Enjoy!
