Cheesy Beer Soup With Cheddar And Crispy Bacon

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.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Wine pairing
• Substitutions and Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top Tip
• Cheesy beer soup

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.

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