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Creamy, comforting beer cheese soup. This easy dinner recipe can be done and ready to eat in 30 minutes! Perfect for a family weeknight dinner.
All about this beer cheese soup…
- Flavor: A hearty and flavorful mixture of smokey bacon, mild bell pepper, comforting cheddar cheese and beer. This soup is a combination of creamy, savory and smokey all balanced with a nice lift thanks to the sprinkling of fresh parsley on top.
- Texture: Creamy and full bodied, this soup can be made and left with chunks of vegetables or you can use an immersion blender to blend it all up and create a smooth, creamier soup base. If you are wanting an extra thick version add some potatoes and blend those as well.
- Quick and Easy: This soup comes together quick and easy on the stovetop, and can be made in 30 minutes, making this a great option for a weeknight dinner idea. Crisp up the bacon and saute the vegetables, then build the base of the soup with broth, beer and cream.
Ingredients Needed:
- Cheese: Use whichever cheese you prefer, a sharp cheddar gives a nice flavor, mild cheddar is a popular option. Or spice it up with some pepperjack.
- Beer: choose a nice light beer to avoid creating a bitter flavoring.
- Paprika: adds a nice smokey bit of flavoring. You can also add hot sauce as desired for more heat.
How to make(step-by-step):
- Step 1: Cook the bacon in the dutch oven or stockpot. Take the bacon out, this will be crumbled and served on top as a garnish, or an addition to the soup. Keep the grease.
- Step 2: Saute the veggies in the leftover bacon grease until the veggies are softened. Add in the garlic.
- Step 3: Stir in the flour, this will create a roux and give a nice thickness to the soup.
- Step 4: Pour in the broth, beer and heavy cream. Using heavy cream helps to ensure that the dairy won’t separate while we simmer the soup. Simmer, then remove the soup from the heat, stir in the cheese, continue stirring until melted. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the paprika or hot sauce as desired.
Expert Tips:
- Smooth Texture: If you’re wanting to get that smooth texture, you can use an immersion blender and blend up the soup, this would blend in the veggies and allow the flavor to remain.
- Thick & Creamy: Add potatoes and blend for a thicker soup. Or if you want something with less carbs, you can add cauliflower and blend. Simply add the potatoes or cauliflower and let simmer in the soup until softened. Use an immersion blender to blend up and create a smooth, thick texture to the soup.
- Beer: What beer should you use for beer cheese soup? You can use whatever kind you prefer. A lot of the flavor will be going into the soup, so make sure it’s one you like. My preference when making this for my family (which includes children) is to use a pilsner, a pale lager, this is a nice light option that doesn’t impart a heavy flavoring.
FAQ’S: Beer Cheese Soup:
Does the alcohol cook out of beer cheese soup?
You may have heard that cooking alcohol will cause the alcohol to evaporate from recipes. While it’s true that a certain amount of alcohol will be removed from the recipe, not the entire amount will be. Approximately 75-85% of the alcohol will be cooked out due to boiling.
What is the best beer to use in soup?
Be careful when choosing the beer for your soup since anything more hoppy is going to give your soup a bitter flavoring. Choose something light in color to avoid this.
How to fix a bitter beer cheese soup?
If you find that the beer is making the soup slightly bitter in taste, add more cream to soften the taste in the broth.
The Toppings:
Beer cheese soup is cozy and indulgent on it’s own. But adding toppings can bring in all kinds of other flavors. Some options you might want to consider:
- bacon
- extra cheese
- parsley
- green onion
- jalapenos
- fresh cracked pepper
More Soup Recipes:
Beer Cheese Soup
Hearty and comforting, this Beer Cheese Soup is smokey, creamy and loaded with flavor. Ready in 30 minutes on the stovetop this soup is a great weeknight meal idea!
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- ½ cup onion diced
- 1 bell pepper seeds removed, diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 (12 ounce) beer
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- ½ tsp paprika
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a large dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon to desired crispness. Remove the bacon and leave the grease.
- Add the celery, onion, and bell pepper. Stir while sautéing for about 5 minutes until the veggies are tender and the onion is translucent. Add in the garlic and cook an additional 30 seconds.
- Add the flour and stir until the vegetables are coated in the flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the beer, chicken broth and heavy cream. Stir until fully combined. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to medium.
- Continue to cook for another 15 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the sharp cheddar cheese. Stir while the cheese melts.
- Add the paprika. Add the salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve soup warm garnished with parsley, more shredded sharp cheddar cheese and crumbled bacon on the top.
Equipment
Notes
*Recipes containing alcohol are intended for those 21 years of age and older only. Please drink responsibly.
- Smooth Texture: If you’re wanting to get a smooth texture, you can use an immersion blender and blend up the soup, this would blend in the veggies and allow the flavor to remain.
- Thicker: Add potatoes and blend for a thicker soup. Or if you want something with less carbs, you can add cauliflower and blend. Simply add the potatoes or cauliflower and let simmer in the soup until softened. Use an immersion blender to blend up and create a smooth, thick texture to the soup.
- Beer: My preference when making this for my family (which includes children) is to use a pilsner, this is a nice light option that doesn’t impart a heavy flavoring. Avoid hoppy beers as this can create a bitter flavor in the broth.
- Leftovers: store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for 3-4 days. Reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 579kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 50g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 140mg | Sodium: 870mg | Potassium: 298mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 2553IU | Vitamin C: 41mg | Calcium: 460mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
Recipe first published September 26, 2019. Updated October 1, 2022 with new images and information. Recipe is unchanged.
Photography by the talented @KJandCompany.co
My household LOVES this take on beer cheese soup. I do slight changes such as not using celery and using a red bell pepper for an interesting sweetness to counter the “beer” taste. Oh, and I use extra beer. And extra cheese.
Definitely need to follow your directions, especially regarding removing the pot off heat and then add cheese. Otherwise the cheese and soup become grainy and you kick yourself because you really wanted beer cheese soup but it’s grainy and doesn’t taste good and need to throw it out. And then you swear off not making it for awhile because you are so mad at yourself. But change your mind the next day because this really is the best recipe for this soup!
This is the best beer cheese soup I have ever had! I wouldn’t change a thing.
This soup looks yummy!
I love making a quick pasta bake with pasta sauce, pasta, shredded pizza blend cheese and meatballs. The family loves it. Thanks for the chance to enter.
This looks so yummy! 🙂 Can’t wait to try it! And I would love to win the copy of the cookbook! My go to one-pot recipe is chicken tacos in the crockpot. Chicken breasts, salsa, spices, peppers…all go in and get happy all day long and are ready when I’m home from work!