Cheese and booze, what's not to love? It's soup season and this cheesy beer soup is a winner if you like rich and decadent food with nutty flavours and warm, cosy vibes.
This is a deliciously thick soup with beer and cheddar cheese topped with spring onion and crispy bacon. It's one of my fave dutch oven soup recipes and is ready in just 30 minutes which is also a winner in my opinion. I developed this recipe whilst in the mountains above Big Bear Lake in California and it has a real apres-ski vibe to it, I can imagine getting back from a day on the slopes and slurping it up hot and steaming from the bowl.
I served my cheesy beer soup with freshly baked German pretzels from the local deli, and they complimented the soup perfectly but a crusty roll will do just as well. Or even brioche, to get that sweetness from the glaze that works so well with the cheesy taste. You don't need an immersion blender for this recipe, it's a one-pot soup and is pretty fool proof!
This cheesy beer soup is perfect in cold weather, a cosy soup for winter.
I have a real thing for soup, and you can check out all my other soup recipes here.
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Ingredients
This cheesy beer soup recipe is pretty simple but as always, get your ducks in s row by measuring out your ingredients first and making sure you have them all ready and waiting to go.
- Cheddar cheese
- Beer (lager)
- Chicken stock/broth
- Double cream/whipping cream
- White onion
- Flour
- Bacon
- Butter
- Mustard powder
- Cayenne pepper
- Spring onion/green onion
- Butter
See the recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Cut the bacon into 1cm strips using scissors and dice the onion.
Hint: To make the bacon easier to cut, put it in the freeze for five minutes beforehand
Place the bacon strips in a dutch oven casserole pot and turn the heat on to medium, allowing the meat to heat up at the same rate as the pot, rendering the fat nicely.
Once the bacon is crispy, remove it to a plate using a slotted spoon.
Add more butter to the pot, and then the onions.
Cook the onion in the butter and bacon fat, and once they are softened, add the flour, whisking it into the butter to avoid lumps.
Pour in the beer, whisking all the while, and then bring to a simmer and leave for five minutes to cook off the alcohol.
Stir through the chicken broth, and then the mustard and cayenne pepper. Allow the flavours to incorporate for a further five minutes.
Now add the cream, and once it is back at the simmering point, turn off the heat.
Gradually add the grated cheddar cheese, allowing it to melt and incorporate into the soup. Once all the cheese is added, turn the heat back on and gently bring back up the temperature but do not allow it to boil.
Warm your pretzels or bread in the oven and serve the soup in bowls topped with bacon and spring onion.
Wine pairing
Serve beer! A hoppy West Coast IPA or an English Ale would pair wonderfully. If you are set on wine, then try a dry Reisling or a Grüner Veltliner.
Substitutions and Variations
Here are a few ways you can change up this cheesy beer soup recipe to suit you or put your own twist on it.
- Cheese - I used cheddar in my soup, but you could try other cheeses like gruyere or gouda
- Beer - try this with ale, or even wine to change it up!
- Spice - if you want even more of a kick, add more cayenne pepper or stir in extra mustard.
Equipment
I love using one of my enamelled dutch oven casserole pots to make soup as the heat distribution is marvellous.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat gently when you want to eat it. It will be fine for 2-3 days.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
Top Tip
Don't buy ready grated cheese - it is coated with a chemical that prevents it from clogging together in the packed and this also stops it from melting properly, leaving you with lumpy soup.
Recipe Card
Cheesy beer soup
Equipment
- Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 6 rashers bacon
- 1 white onion diced
- 350 ml lager
- 200 ml double cream
- 350 ml chicken broth
- 400 grams cheddar cheese grated
- 1 tablespoon mustard powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 20 grams butter
- 4 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoon spring onion
- 4 soft pretzels
Instructions
- Place the bacon strips in a dutch oven casserole pot and turn the heat on to medium, allowing the meat to heat up at the same rate as the pot, rendering the fat nicely.
- Once the bacon is crispy, remove it to a plate using a slotted spoon.
- Add more butter to the pot, and then the onions.
- Cook the onion in the butter and bacon fat, and once they are softened, add the flour, whisking it into the butter to avoid lumps.
- Pour in the beer, whisking all the while, and then bring to a simmer and leave for five minutes to cook off the alcohol.
- Stir through the chicken broth, and then the mustard and cayenne pepper. Allow the flavours to incorporate for a further five minutes.
- Now add the cream, and once it is back at the simmering point, turn off the heat.
- Gradually add the grated cheddar cheese, allowing it to melt and incorporate into the soup. Once all the cheese is added, turn the heat back on and gently bring back up the temperature but do not allow it to boil.
- Warm your pretzels or bread in the oven and serve the soup in bowls topped with bacon and spring onion.
Nutrition
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Kayla says
This cheesy beer soup is so delicious! It has all the cozy flavors that I love! I will be making this over and over again!
Julie says
Beer? Wow, this is indeed so creative and hearty i love it!
Shilpa says
This sounds interesting! Is there a substitute for bacon?
Rosanna Stevens says
Hi Shilpa! To make it without bacon you'll need to use extra butter to cook the onions so that the roux forms properly, I'd say 2 tablespoons?
Cindy Mom the Lunch Lady says
This soup looks so good! Great for Octoberfest, but I bet good anytime during the colder months.
Gina says
This soup looks so good and very warming. Perfect for the winter months.
Nora says
Yummy! This soup is so, so good! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Natalie says
That soup sounds delicious. It's so creamy and warming too. I have to make this asap. Thanks!
Toby says
I didn’t realise there was a way to combine 3 of the worlds greatest foods - beer, cheese and bacon. Thank you for a great yet simple recipe!