Beer Cheese Soup for the Table

Beer + Cheese. I’m not sure much else needs to be said and I can probably only give you the recipe and end the post now, right?

Hah. You aren’t going to get off without hearing at least a bit of my daily rambling. Sorry!

This is actually an OLD old recipe on the blog. I’ve been wanting to re-make it for a WHILE. AND now that it is socially acceptable to eat soup (even if it was 90 degrees in Nashville this weekend) I’m eating the HECK out of some soup right now. Especially this BEER CHEESE SOUP!

Traditionally this soup is made by marinating the beer and broth with veggies and then discarding the veggies before eating. However, this only seemed silly to me, so instead, I put it all in a blender and blended the veggies up. Plus, the carrots give the soup a brighter, more cheesy looking color. You can also do this with an immersion blender if you have one (like I did in the video)!

Kind of beer to use:

I experimented with using a wheat beer instead of a darker beer on this go around. I think I like the wheat beer better but genuinely they both taste great in this soup so use whatever sounds good to you!

Non-alcoholic beer: while I’ve never tried this, I have been truly into non-alcoholic beers lately and they should work only fine!

I DO NOT suggest using an IPA even if you’re a lover of hops. The flavor is only so intense and over powering that I fear it’ll interfere with the flavors of the soup.

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Veggies: we’re using a mix of carrots, celery, and onion. But cauliflower or even potatoes or other veggies would also work well!
• Garlic: use as little or as much as your heart desires.
• Broth: I used a veggie broth base (worth a second batch Better Than Bouillon because it has so much flavor) but chicken broth or any other broth you have on hand would work well.
• Milk: I used 2% milk because it’s what we usually have in the house but you could use heavy cream or another milk.
• Flour: we’re going to use this to create a kind of roux. It feels thicken the soup!
• Cheese: I used sharp cheddar but any kind of cheddar you prefer will work.
• Beer: the star of the show! Any beer you like will work but I’ve tried this with wheat beer, pale ales, as well as a darker lager.
• Additional flavorings: to enhance the flavor of the soup, I add in a tiny bit of Worcestershire sauce as well as dijon mustard. Salt and black pepper go in to taste. I’ve also added in paprika and hot sauce before which is savory!

How for this Beer Cheese Soup

The soup comes together in one big pot by first sautéing some veggies. Flour, broth, and then milk are added into the pot before being blended up. THEN the beer and cheese go in as well as some dijon and Worcestershire sauce. BAM done.

For serving:

While I usualy enjoy this in a big bowl with lots of extra cheese and a nice soft pretzel on the side, I KEEP thinking about how satisfying this would be inside of bread bowls! Surely hoping to try that soon!

To garnish, add on some freshly shredded cheese, sprinkle of chives/ green onions, and a nice piece of crusty bread (ya know, if you aren’t going the bread bowl route).

I’ve also served this soup as a beer cheese dip for chips and pretzels before and it’s SATISFYING! If you’re going to do this, I suggest adding in about HALF of the broth so that it turns out thicker.

Storage:

This recipes makes quite a bit so if you need to store leftover beer cheese soup then I suggest simply putting it into an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The soup will thicken a lot in the fridge but thins out again once heated back up.

We like to keep things straightforward on a Sunday morning, right?

ps- I’m revamping that soft pretzel recipe as well! They taste standout BUT I need to test it one more time. Recipe coming soon!