Beer Cheese Soup

Beer Cheese Soup

I. LOVE. CHEESE.

Actually, my whole family loves cheese. We have a huge area of our refrigerator devoted to the stuff. I’m like Bubba Gump except with cheese. Cheese bread, cheese pizza, cheese dip, cheese sticks, you get it, right?

Enter Beer Cheese Soup

Nothing screams comfort like pulling out my big Le Creuset Dutch Oven & making some soup. We have a TON of cheese in our garage fridge & I just found out how well my food processor grates cheese. Like, how did I not know this is a thing? It’s a total thing & my life is changed.

So, with 2 pounds of freshly grated cheese, I set out to use it in a soup. Yes, I’ve made potato soup & my family is now in love with Lemon Chicken Orzo soup, but I wanted to try something really hearty. Lindsay at Pinch of Yum is a great food inspiration to me. She creates real food, her recipes are simple and her photos are gorgeous. Her recipe for Beer Cheese Soup was the first thing that popped up, so I gave it a go.

Meal Prep Time

The first time we made this soup was on Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, the game was a total snooze fest, but the soup was delicious. Since we watched the game with my mom, Derek cut up all the ingredients at our house & brought them over. This made things so much easier! I fully encourage you to do the same. Prep and cut your veggies a night or two before cooking & it cuts the time in half. I guess I learned something from all those meal delivery plans after all!

Truth be told, I’m not a huge beer drinker, but Lindsay used Blue Moon in her recipe & so did we. It’s really a great choice, but I’m also excited to try different beers and see how they change the flavor. Let me know if you have any favorite beers you think would go well in the soup.

Since I’m feeding finicky kids, I omitted the smoked paprika & jalapeno & didn’t add as much celery. I was afraid this would make the soup bland, but it is so tasty. We used all Tillamook Medium Cheddar the first go around. This made for a well-balanced soup with a bit of tang from the red bell peppers. The adults & kids loved it. I’m really excited to try this Beer Cheese Soup with some of the Tillamook Specialty cheeses.

No doubt this soup is best served HOT! It does save, but the texture is not as great when you reheat it. Did it stop me from eating if two days in a row for leftovers? You already know it didn’t!

THE VERDICT

I am Really Into This soup! It’s filling, comforting & a great way to showcase one of my favorite foods – cheese!

Print

Beer Cheese Soup

Total comfort food for all. 

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium white minced
• 5-6 cloves garlic minced
• 5-6 stalks of celery minced
• 2 red bell pepper minced
• 2 bottles of wheat beer
• 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 8 tablespoons flour
• 2 cup whole milk
• 24 ounces cheddar cheese shredded
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, celery & red pepper. Saute for a few minutes until soft.

2. Pop the top & add a beer and half the broth. Bring to a low simmer.
   

3. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour & cook until just thickened.
   

4. Whisk the butter-and-flour mixture to the simmering soup pot. This thickens the soup.
   

5. Slowly whisk in the milk. Pop the top & add the other beer.
   

6. Simmer again for 5-10 minutes until creamy and slightly thickened. Add as much broth as you would like to thicken or thin the soup.
   

7.  Turn the heat down to low & whisk in the cheese until melted.
   

8. Season with salt and pepper. 
   

Recipe Notes

slightly adapted from Pinch of Yum's Beer Cheese Soup with Homemade Pretzels Recipe