Creamy, flavorful and full of bacon this Beer Cheese Soup is comforting, easy and absolutely tasty. One recipe that you will wan’t to make over and over again.
I’m a total soup person, when the weather cools down like is starting to here in Minnesota and we know that Fall is slowly creeping in, we wan’t all that pure comfort.
Beer Cheese Soup has been on of my favorite soups for as long as I can remember. The flavor and the creaminess of the soup itself is just amazing.
Filled with vegetables, spices, bacon, cheese and of course beer you really are not lacking any flavor when it comes to this delicious Beer Cheese Soup Recipe.
I could actually eat soups and chilis all year long as I’m a huge advocate that I don’t think things need to be seasonal, kind of like pumpkin.
Just give me all my favorite hearty, warm and tasty comfort foods all year long and I will be happy! That is how I think of this soup, we make it all year long but especially when the weather get’s cooler.
Some of our other favorite soups that we have on our site include: Creamy Potato Soup, Chicken Gnocchi Soup and Vegetable Beef Soup.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
- With all the different flavors and textures in this soup you will be blown away.
- You can use different kinds of beer you like to switch up the flavor.
- The bacon adds an extra special flavor that we absolutely deem a necessity in this recipe.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED (FULL RECIPE AT BOTTOM):
Bacon
Unsalted butter
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Garlic
Thyme
All-purpose flour
Beer
Chicken stock
Heavy cream
Dijon mustard
Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Cayenne pepper
Sharp cheddar cheese
HOW TO MAKE BEER CHEESE SOUP, STEP BY STEP:
- In a dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-low heat, add the bacon and cook it until crispy, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Take the bacon out, leaving the bacon grease.
- Add the butter to the pot and let it melt, add the onion, carrot, and celery, stir to combine in the fat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme, stir it in until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Add the flour and stir it in to coat the veggies. Let this cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Slowly stream in the beer while whisking so no lumps form.
- Slowly stream in the chicken stock and heavy cream, whisking constantly.
- Add the dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne pepper, stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.
- Take off the heat and add the cheese, stir it in until melted and combined.
- Serve immediately with more cheese for garnish and the crispy bacon on top.
WHAT IS THE BEST BEER FOR BEER CHEESE SOUP?
We like to use a lager for our soup, we find that it has a great flavor that is not too overpowering and let’s the other elements of the soup shine through.
We also like a brown or amber ale in this soup as well. The ones we try to avoid are IPA’s and certain craft beers as we really don’t want the flavor hoppy, also try to not use a light beer.
The beer is really a key element to this recipe and what you use will really determine the outcome of the color and flavor of this soup.
WHAT IS THE BEST CHEESE TO USE?
We like to use a freshly shredded sharp cheddar here. You need to use a strong cheese in this recipe so you can taste it.
Gruyere, sharp white cheddar, or smoked gouda would also be wonderful. But you really just can’t go wrong with a good cheddar in my opinion.
WHY ISN’T MY CHEESE MELTING?
Making sure that you are using a freshly shredded cheese is key to the melting in my opinion. If you use bagged it contains more preservatives that prevent it from melting nicely.
Also you do not want to melt it at too high of a heat, low and slow is what you will wan’t to ensure that the cheese is melted and blends well into the soup itself.
HOW TO STORE:
While this Beer Cheese Soup Recipe is best served warm right after you make it, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
This can also be frozen, place in a freezer safe container and it will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months, remove to refrigerator to defrost overnight.
You will want to place it back in a saucepan or dutch oven and heat it up slowly at a low temperature until it reaches your desired temperature.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- We like to use a lager for this recipe, we feel it provides the best flavor that you can taste but also blends nicely with the cheese.
- You will need a strong cheese for this soup so we use Sharp Cheddar, see some of our other recommendations above.
- This can be frozen, see above on how you can do that.
- If you don’t like chunky vegetables you can puree the soup after it has simmered for 10 minutes in step 4, then use an immersion blender, and then follow with the remaining steps.
- You can double this batch to serve more people.
- Top with bacon and cheese and even popcorn, yes I said popcorn, trust me – it’s awesome.
If you wan’t an easy, flavorful and comforting soup for the upcoming fall season or just because, then you need to make my Beer Cheese Soup.
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If you’ve tried this BEER CHEESE SOUP or any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!
Beer Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon ½ inch dice
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ cup small-diced onion
- ½ cup small-diced carrot
- ½ cup small-diced celery
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 12 ounces lager beer
- 1 ½ cups chicken stock
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 8 ounces freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese plus more for serving, optional
Instructions
- In a dutch oven or large stockpot over medium-low heat, add the bacon and cook it until crispy, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes. Take the bacon out, leaving the bacon grease.
- Add the butter to the pot and let it melt, add the onion, carrot, and celery, stir to combine in the fat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme, stir it in until fragrant, 30 seconds.
- Add the flour and stir it in to coat the veggies. Let this cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Slowly stream in the beer while whisking so no lumps form.
- Slowly stream in the chicken stock and heavy cream, whisking constantly.
- Add the dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and cayenne pepper, stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally.
- Take off the heat and add the cheese, stir it in until melted and combined.
- Serve immediately with more cheese for garnish and the crispy bacon on top.
Nutrition
Tornadough Alli is not a nutritionist or dietitian, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and nutritional value is important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and values can vary depending on which brands were used.
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