Beer Cheese Soup

close up overhead shot of a bowl of Beer Cheese Soup topped with bacon bits and green onions

Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Creamy and cheesy, this beer cheese soup is a delicious choice to keep you warm all winter.

Prep Time20

Cook Time25

Total Time45

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Beer Cheese Soup Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 925kcal

Ingredients

8 ounces thick-cut bacon, diced into ½-inch pieces (once the bacon has cooked, you will reserve 2 tablespoons of the grease)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup yellow onion, chopped
½ cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons seasoning salt, I used Lowry’s brand
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces lager beer, Budweiser (NOT Bud Light), Coors, Miller, or Michelob
32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
16 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
½ cup green onions, chopped - for garnish

Cheese bread (optional)

1 french baguette, cut into 1-inch thick pieces
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Instructions

In a medium skillet, on medium heat, cook the bacon pieces for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the pieces do not burn. The bacon should be cooked all the way through and crispy. Once cooked, using a slotted spoon to allow the grease to remain in the skillet, remove the bacon and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain the excess grease. Set aside for garnish. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. While the bacon is cooking, you can prepare your other ingredients.
In an 8-quart stockpot, on medium-high heat, add the reserved bacon grease, butter, chopped onions, chopped yellow bell pepper, minced garlic, thyme leaves, season salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft and tender.
Add the all-purpose flour, stir to allow the flour to absorb into the butter and vegetables. Add the bottle of lager beer and stir to incorporate, making sure that there are no lumps.
Add the low-sodium chicken broth and stir, making sure there are no lumps of flour remaining. Simmer for 10 minutes. The soup will start to thicken as it simmers.
Pour the soup into the container of a blender, with the lid on, and blend on medium-high for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Make sure to slightly vent to the top of the lid to allow the steam to escape while blending.
Transfer the pureed soup back to the stockpot on low heat, and stir in the heavy cream.
Add the shredded sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Stir to melt the cheese into the soup until smooth. Turn off the heat to the stockpot.

Cheese bread (optional)

Turn the oven to broil. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the french bread slices onto the tray in an even layer. Butter each piece of bread and top with 2 tablespoons of shredded Monterey Jack cheese. Place the tray of cheese bread under the broiler for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until golden and melted.

Notes

When choosing the best beer for this hearty soup recipe, I used a standard lager beer, NOT the light version. The light beer versions do not add very much flavor to the soup. Some alternate beers would be Sam Adams, Michelob, Heineken, or Yuengling traditional. If you have a favorite craft beer, I would suggest it be similar to one of these lager beers. I would stay away from some of the flavored beers like chocolate or orange as they will alter the outcome flavor of your beer cheese soup.
If you have an immersion blender, you can use that in your stockpot to puree the soup and vegetables. If you do so, you will omit step 5 as it will not be necessary.
BEER: Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Michelob all work well with this recipe. If you prefer to skip the beer, you could opt for a non-alcoholic option of these. Heineken 0.0, Coors Edge, and Budweiser Zero all work.

Note: Make sure to slightly vent to the top of the lid to allow the steam to escape while blending.

Note: If you did not want to make the optional cheese bread to serve with this soup, you could serve your soup in bread bowls and garnish your soup with the cooked bacon crumbles, green onion, and an additional sprinkle of shredded cheese.

Nutrition