Beer Cheese Soup is a pub favorite that you can have at home any time with this easy recipe. The rich and creamy soup is made with a base layer of carrots, celery, and onion and a basic roux with both evaporated and 2% milk. The big flavor players are sharp aged Gouda and your favorite lager adding savory, aromatic, roasted, and earthy notes to the soup. Serve it up with pretzels or pretzel bread, popcorn, or a simple salad for an easy meal with big flavor.
Living in West Michigan means I'm never too far from a small brewery and plenty of terrific pub food. One of the most common offerings in a local brew pub is beer cheese or beer cheese soup. As an appetizer, it is thick and rich and served with soft pretzels or bread. In soup form it has all of the cheesy and beery goodness, but they let you eat it by the spoonful.
Check out this cheese spread with cheddar and beer for another twist on a pub favorite!
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Ingredients
I include ingredient notes here when I think they'll be helpful, including ways to source, any preparation tips, or why I've chosen a particular ingredient. Be sure to check out the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and their quantities!
- Neutral Oil - Use vegetable oil, corn oil, canola oil, avocado oil, or any neutral oil you prefer.
- White Pepper - White pepper is particularly good in this beer cheese soup. I think the fruity flavors in white pepper compliment the hops in the beer so well.
- Mirepoix - Mirepoix is a common combination of carrots, celery, and onion that makes up the base of all sorts of soups and other dishes. Dice your vegetables in a smaller dice so that they get completely tender while the soup simmers.
- Garlic - a couple of cloves of fresh garlic add a subtle sweetness to the soup and don't need any major chopping. Simply crush the cloves and they will get tender as the soup cooks.
- Flour - Once the mirepoix cooks in the oil, flour is added to make a simple roux that will help thicken the soup. All-purpose flour is perfect for this.
- Evaporated Milk - Evaporated milk is richer than standard dairy milk, with about 50-60% of the water removed. It is shelf-stable, so I always keep some on hand for easy additions to soup and for making macaroni and cheese.
- 2% Milk - Adding both fresh milk and evaporated milk gives a good combination of both fresh flavor and richer texture. Feel free to use skim, 1%, or whole milk in place of 2% milk.
- Beer - I use a lighter lager most often for this soup. Avoid anything too hoppy as the bitterness will shine though and compete with the other flavors.
- Aged Gouda - A nutty aged Gouda has some extra savory flavor but still melts well in the soup. Avoid a pre-grated cheese, the coating that prevents caking will result in a grainy texture.
Instructions
Dice the carrot, onion, and celery (the mirepoix) in a ¼-inch dice. Smash the garlic cloves on the broad side of your knife to remove the peel.
Shred the cheese using the large holes of a box grater.
Heat a large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil.
Add the celery, onion, carrot, garlic, salt, and pepper to the hot oil and sauté for 7-10 minutes. Stir often to avoid burning. The vegetables should start to soften and the oil will take on a golden color.
Sprinkle the flour over the top of the vegetables. Stir constantly, cooking the flour for about 3 minutes.
Add the beer and use your wooden spoon to scrape up any golden bits, deglazing the bottom of the pan. When you pour in the beer it will foam up quite a bit at first, but just keep stirring to combine everything.
The beer and vegetable mixture will thicken up after a couple of minutes.
Add in the evaporated milk and 2% milk and bring the mixture to a boil. Watch it carefully and reduce the heat if needed or remove the pot from the heat altogether, it can boil over quickly!
Once the mixture has come to a boil, reduce the heat to low and allow the vegetables to cook until soft, about 15 minutes.
Remove the soup from the heat and puree the soup until smooth. I favor using an immersion blender, but the soup can be transferred to a regular blender as well (take care to cover the blender top with a towel in case of eruptions).
The pureed soup is a golden color thanks to the carrots.
Stir in the shredded gouda and stir until it is melted. You can add this in the blender or you can use the immersion blender once more to get an ultra-silky texture.
Beer Cheese Dip
With one minor change, this beer cheese soup recipe transforms into a beer cheese dip! Omit the 2% milk and add in only the evaporated milk to the beer and mirepoix mixture. Continue the recipe as instructed. The result will be a deeply flavored dip that's great for veggie sticks, potato chips, pretzels, and more.
Substitutions and Variations
- Toppings - Top your soup with chopped pickled or fresh jalapeños, crumbled cooked bacon, fried shallots, or croutons. Croutons made from pretzel rolls are a special treat!
- Swap the Cheeses - Use sharp cheddar, white cheddar, gruyere, or any other firm and aged cheese in place of the aged gouda. You can even combine cheeses for a custom blend.
- Experiment with Beer Selection - Choose a wheat beer, Belgian beer, pilsner, or lighter ale with a flavor you already love and you'll enjoy your beer cheese soup.
Equipment
Use these kitchen basics to help prep your tasty beer cheese soup:
- Chef's Knife - An 8- or 10-inch chef's knife is an essential tool in any kitchen. I use it for dicing the mirepoix and crushing the garlic cloves. A simple chef's knife is great for preparing fruit, finely chopping herbs, cutting large pieces of meat, and much more.
- Wooden Spoons - I purchased my favorite wooden spoon in college and still use the same one to this day! The one pictured in this post is especially good because of its angled head. It's great for scraping along the edges of pots.
- Dutch Oven - An enameled cast iron Dutch oven is a great pot to have in your kitchen for all sorts of recipes. The even cooking helps cook the vegetables evenly without scorching. They can go from stove top to oven, are good for deep frying, and are perfect for stews, braises, and soups.
- Immersion Blender - An immersion blender or stick blender will make quick work of the beer cheese soup, blending the tender vegetables into a smooth texture. Immersion blenders save you the step of transferring your hot soup to a blender and back again to the soup pot. They are also great for smoothies, dressings, marinades, and making homemade aioli.
Serving Suggestions
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish the soup with additional shredded cheese, popcorn, celery leaves, chives, or pickled red onion. Serve the soup with bread or pretzel rolls for dipping.
Add a bright salad like this beet and avocado salad with chili-soy vinaigrette. The tart and spicy dressing will balance the rich cheese soup well.
Storage
Store the soup in an airtight container for up to three days in the refrigerator. This soup will reheat well as long as you heat it slowly over medium-low heat. If it comes to a boil, the cheese may separate and become grainy.
FAQ
Some residual alcohol will remain in the soup, even after the simmering step and with the dilution of the beer with the volume of other ingredients. The final ABV of the soup will be dependent on the beer you choose and the amount of alcohol lost to evaporation during simmering. To ensure your beer cheese soup has no alcohol, use a non-alcoholic beer from the start.
Choose lighter lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, Belgian blondes, or other beers you enjoy for the soup. Avoid anything too hoppy like an IPA or any of the sweeter porters. Peanut butter porter may be delicious on its own, but it's an odd pairing with onions and cheese.
Beer cheese soup is European in origin, but has more modern roots in Wisconsin (both places where you'll find good cheese and good beer). What may have started out as Welsh rarebit (or Welsh rabbit) in the 18th century is now a popular pub food. Welsh rarebit is a stout and cheese sauce served on top of a slice of bread that can also be broiled for a humble meal. Beer cheese soup borrows that combination!
More Cheesy Favorites
Cheese is welcome in every meal, from breakfast to dessert! Get your cheese fix with any of the recipes below:
Hearty Winter Warmers
Beer cheese soup is perfect for those chilly winter nights. Try some of the recipes below for more options to warm up the family with hearty meals in the colder months:
Try It and Share
I hope you try this Beer Cheese Soup and enjoy the recipe as much as we do. I want to see your results! Tag your photo with #planeatpostrepeat and mention me @planeatpostrepeat on Instagram or Facebook. I can give you a virtual high five and thank you for cooking one of my recipes! Comment below with any questions and please leave a review so others can find this recipe more easily.
This post was updated in June 2026 to add extensive preparation details and step-by-step photos as well as additional post structure for easy navigation. The recipe was not changed from the original January 2021 version.
Recipe
Beer Cheese Soup
Ingredients
- ¼ cup neutral oil (vegetable, canola, corn, or avocado))
- 1 cup carrot (diced in ¼-inch pieces)
- ½ cup celery (diced in ¼-inch pieces)
- ½ cup sweet yellow onion (diced in ¼-inch pieces)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 12 oz evaporated milk (whole, 2%, or fat-free all work equally well)
- 1½ cup 2% milk
- 16 oz. beer
- 8 oz. aged gouda
Instructions
- Dice the carrots, celery, and onion into a ¼-inch dice. Peel the garlic cloves and crush them under the broad side of a knife.
- Shred the cheese using the large holes of a box grater or a shredding blad on your food processor.
- Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Sauté the carrot, onion, celery, garlic, salt, and white pepper for about 7-10 minutes, or until tender.
- Add the flour and stir often, cooking for 3 minutes.
- Add in the beer to deglaze, stirring while drizzling the beer in a slow stream. Scrape the bottom of the pan while the beer and vegetable mixture thickens.
- Stir in the milks and bring the soup to a boil (watch that it doesn't boil over!) Reduce the heat to simmer on low heat for 15 minutes until the vegetables are very soft.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Use an immersion blender to blend to a smooth consistency or transfer the mixture by ladlefuls to a blender to blend to a smooth consistency. If you use a blender, take care to drape a towel over the top and remove the center cap to allow the steam to escape.
- Stir in the cheese until it melts and the soup is silky smooth. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt or pepper if desired.
Notes
Nutrition facts are sometimes provided below and are calculated using an online calculator. With specific brands of ingredients and additions, omissions, or substitutions the nutrition facts may change. We encourage you to use your own nutrition facts calculator to obtain the most accurate nutrition facts for your meal.
Cassie Waltman says
We love this recipe to enjoy a brewery favorite right at home.