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overhead shot of a bowl of beer and cheddar cheese soup with bacon bits

Beer and Cheddar Cheese Soup with Bacon

This easy Beer and Cheese Soup recipe combines the robust flavors of beer with cheddar cheese, oven-roasted vegetables, and bacon to make a rich and creamy winter soup that’s perfect as a quick weeknight dinner, for Game Day, or Super Bowl.  So much better than canned! 

Course Appetizer, main, Soup
Cuisine American
Keyword beer cheese soup recipe, cheddar cheese soup, cheese soup recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 4 -6
Calories 450 kcal
Author Kiki Johnson

Ingredients

  • 1 leek only white part
  • 2 carrots
  • ½ celery root celeriac
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 strips bacon
  • 2 cups milk full-fat
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 laurel leaf
  • 1 twigs thyme
  • 40 g butter 3 tbsps
  • 1/3 cups flour 40 g
  • 2 cups broth
  • 1 1/2 cups beer 350 ml
  • 1 tbsp Worcester Sauce
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • ¼ tsp nutmeg
  • 3 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 C - 392 F. Wash leek, carrots and celery and chop up coarsely. Toss with 3 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper in a baking dish. Bake for 45 min.
  2. Place bacon into a pan and heat on medium heat. Fry for 5 minutes on one side and another 3 min or so on the other side, until crisp. Take out of the pan and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Save the fat.

  3. Heat the bacon fat in a big pot on medium heat. Add onion, garlic, laurel leaves, and thyme and sautee until the onions are translucent. Add onion mix to a bowl. Add butter to the pot and melt until bubbly. Toss in flour and stir well using a silicone whisk to make a smooth roux (flour-butter paste). Stir the roux until golden.

  4. Now add milk slowly and stir well. Let cook for a minute. It will thicken. Add broth, beer, Worcester and spices.

  5. Let cook for 5 minutes. Puree the oven-roasted veggies and add to the soup. Stir in the grated cheese and whisk well until smooth. DO NOT LET COME TO A BOIL once the cheese has gone in.

  6. Break the bacon into bits. This works by hand or using a food processor. Season the soup with salt, sugar, and pepper and serve sprinkled with bacon bits and fresh thyme leaves.

Recipe Notes

  • To keep the color nice and light, only use the white part of the leek.
  • The addition of carrots makes for a nice orange hue, but you could also use parsnips.
  • For a meatless version, skip the bacon and fry the onion in ghee.