Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup (Chef Tried & True)
Chef tried and true Wisconsin beer cheese soup recipe. Rich, flavorful and nutrient packed. One pot.
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Servings: 4
Calories: 630kcal
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 yellow onion large, diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 2 carrots medium, diced
- ½ red or orange bell pepper diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ⅓ cup flour
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth or vegetable as substitute
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 12 oz beer well-balanced or predominantly malty
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard (ready powdered or grind whole mustard seed)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes optional
- 3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (white cheddar works too)
- 3 stalks green onion green part only, chopped, for garnish
- bread croutons optional, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a heavy bottom pot/large saucepan over medium heat. Add the butter and let it melt.
- Add the diced onion, celery, carrots, pepper and garlic and sauté until softened, stirring occasionally. About 5-6 minutes.
- Sprinkle the flour and mix well. Cook for about a minute, stirring frequently.
- While stirring add the chicken broth, the cream and the beer. Mix well and add the seasonings - salt and pepper, mustard, Worcestershire and cayenne/red pepper flakes.
- Let simmer for about 5 minutes and then remove from the stove. Take out the bay leaf.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Alternatively, transfer to a food processor or blender to puree but work in small batches to avoid the hot liquid blowing up.
- Add the cheese to the pureed soup base working in batches and stirring. Place the pot back on the stove. Heat up over low heat to blend all the flavors, about 3-5 mins.
- Serve right away, garnished with green onions and croutons (optional).
Video
Notes
Heavy cream truly shines in this recipe. Its high fat content facilitaties the absorption of the cheese into the soup and also make reheating easy.
For best results choose a beer that is not aggressively hoppy such as English or American amber ale or lager, brown ale, German helles, Vienna lager, dunkel, bock, doppelbock.
This is a very rich, very flavorful soup - serve in combination with lighter fare or as main course, especially if accompanied by soft pretzels.
The beer cheese soup can be reheated - for best results warm up leftover quantity in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir occasionally.
Nutrition
Serving: 4Servings | Calories: 630kcal | Carbohydrates: 24.9g | Protein: 27.6g | Saturated Fat: 27.5g | Cholesterol: 131mg | Sodium: 23mg | Fiber: 2.7g | Sugar: 7.1g
