Beer, meet Cheese. Cheese, meet Beer. Now that I’ve introduced you two, I expect to be dancing at your wedding because this is a match made in culinary heaven!
The PERFECT soup for a rainy day, a cold winter’s night or while watching some football, Netflix or Antiques Roadshow on the couch, I have always loved this soup. And now, since I’ve adapted it for the Instant Pot, the flavors run even richer and more flavorful!
The thing that really sends this soup over the edge? Heating up some hot pretzels alongside it to dip in the soup. It is to die for and is literally one of the richest, most flavorful soups you’ll ever consume. I promise you this!
Here’s How I Made It:
Take some lovely red bell peppers and dice them on up.
Take a few carrots and slice them into little discs (I used a bag of baby carrots for this).
Toss some butter into the Instant Pot and let it melt.
And then add our peppers and carrots.
Let it cook until it looks like one of those colorblind tests where you look for a number hidden inside a bunch of dots (Note: this isn’t a colorblind test).
Add in a little flour….
…and mix it up with the butter-coated peppers and carrots
Pour in some chicken broth…
…and, of course, THE BEER!
Give it all a little whisk and then secure the lid and cook at high pressure.
When done cooking, it’s going to have already thickened up some from the flour.
So now we’re going to make our put site on the sauté function and add some half & half.
And, our main ingredient – SOME (okay a lot of) CHEDDAR CHEESE!
Add that shredded cheddar cheese in batches…
…and whisk!
Add more cheese…
…and whisk some more!
Now let’s add a little fresh lemon juice…
…and some hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard…
…and a little nutmeg too.
Now let’s take an immersion blender…
…and blend that soup right up into perfection (this is the fun part)!
Oooooh! Now that we’re all blended into a cheesy, beery, seasoned sea of bliss…
…let’s serve in a bowl and drizzle some optional mustard oil on top for a beautiful and flavorful garnish…
…along with some crumbled blue (or goat) cheese to top it off!
Serve with some hot pretzels you can bake in your oven for the perfect side to dip into this magnificent soup and that’s it! One of the richest, creamiest and cheesiest soups that will ever pass through your lips!
Instant Pot Beer Cheese Soup
Cheese-lovers, get your spoons ready. This is THE quintessential soup for the fall (especially watching a game of football). Just slurp it and you'll see why. Don't forget the hot pretzels for dipping and the immersiopn blender for simple, hassle-free blending!
Ingredients
- 1 stick of salted butter
- 2 shallots, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 2 tablespoons (6 cloves) crushed garlic
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups of chicken broth (I used 4 tsp of Chicken Better Than Bouillon + 4 cups of water – you can also sub Vegetable broth instead to make it vegetarian friendly!)
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 12 ounce can of beer, lager or pale ale (I used Sierra Nevada)
- 1 cup heavy cream or half & half
- 16 ounces (4 cups) of aged sharp yellow Cheddar cheese, grated (since this is a key ingredient in the soup, try to find a quality one that’s aged at 10 months or more. I used a block that I found in the deli section of the market. If you can’t find this, bagged shredded cheddar is totally fine)
- 5.2 ounces Boursin or 4 ounces of a brick of cream cheese
- 1/2 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce (optional, and it won’t make it spicy)
- Fresh crumbled blue cheese, for garnish
- Hot pretzels for dipping (this really sends it home! Available in the frozen food section of most markets)
Instructions
- Add the butter to your Instant Pot, hit “Sauté” and “Adjust” so it’s on “More”. Once the butter’s melted, add the shallots, carrots, peppers and garlic and sauté for about 3 minutes. Follow by adding the flour until the veggies are nice and coated and constantly stir for another 2 minutes.
- Next, add the chicken broth, beer and liquid smoke and give it a good whisk to combine. Be sure to get any flour lumps out and deglaze (scrape) the bottom of the pot to ensure no flour is caked on.
- Secure the lid, move the valve to sealing position, hit “Keep Warm/Cancel” and then hit “Manual” or “Pressure Cook” High Pressure for 5 minutes. Perform a quick release when done.
- Add the cream and whisk in with the thickened broth.
- Then, whisk in the Cheddar cheese and Boursin until smooth.
- Follow by whisking in the Old Bay, nutmeg, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce until fully combined.
- Purée the soup either by using an immersion blender (suggested as it’s much easier) OR in batches in a regular blender (filling only halfway to prevent overflow) until very smooth (veggies should basically be pulverized).
- Cook the hot pretzels according to the package (usually about 5 mins in the oven or 30 seconds in the microwave). Serve alongside the soup for dipping.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with a few crumbles of blue cheese.
- Cook the hot pretzels according to the package (usually about 5 mins in the oven or 30 seconds in the microwave). Serve alongside the soup for dipping.
Jeffrey's Tips
You can also use this outrageous recipe as an insanely delicious fondue! Just add a little more cheese to thicken and dip in some cubed bread, veggies and/or chips!
Want it spicier? Add more hot sauce!
Roxanne E
This was delicious! My first time cooking noodles in my IP. Great flavor, very easy to follow instructions. I look forward to trying more recipes. If I were to 1/2 the ingredients and noodles, would I use half the broth too? Thank you!
Jeffrey
Thank you! But there’s no noodles in this recipe 😉
Roxanne e
I struggle…. this comment is for your garlic Asian noodles…. I must’ve accidentally opened this page thinking it was the other one I tried. This beer soup is next though!
Mary Ellen Rogers
Excellent, we loved it! But not seeing how much lemon juice to add?? Also will it do well if I freeze? Thanks!
Jeffrey
I axed the lemon juice. Not really needed!
Roxanne
Wow!! This soup is ridiculous 😋Rich and flavorful. I followed the written instructions as the video was a little different. This soup is totally appropriate for breakfast, right? Because I cannot wait to have more! Thanks for great IP recipes!
*my previous review was for your garlic noodles, I hope you can delete that from here.
Monica
How much lemon juice?
Robb Geist
The video called for 2 T., but per the comment reply above, he axed the lemon juice since it wasn’t really needed.
Ally
This recipe was FANTASTIC. I was a bit confused as I didn’t see a note with how much lemon juice, but 1/2 of one lemon was perfect. Also, the picture review notes to turn on “sauté” when adding cream/cheese, but the recipe notes do not.
Cindy
This soup was so, so good. Beer cheese dip with soft is one of my son’s favorites and being able to offer it to him in soup form absolutely made his night. We all loved it! I used canned pizza dough to make soft pretzels to go with it and it was the perfect combination!
Pat
Absolutely awesome soup for a cold snowy night! Made crescent bagel dogs to serve with this. (Everything, of course) Will probably make a half recipe next time, since there’s just two of us.
We’ll suffer through the leftovers.
Jackie
I just printed the recipe. The ingredients don’t match or follow the ingredients or amount in the video above.
Lisa
Can this somehow be adapted for a beer cheese dip? Seeing those pretzels dipping into it reminded me of dip we ate while on vacation. I’m a follower of recipes, not an outside of the box thinker when it comes to recipes. LOL. I figured if anyone could do it, it would be you!
carol
less broth makes the perfect dip. like 3/4C
Sandi
Authentic beer cheese soup requires popcorn as garnish
Mike W
This was delicious (the version without lemon juice, mustard and mustard oil). The full tbsp of hot sauce was just right; even my hot sauce-hating husband liked it. Hope it will freeze well. It’s a lot for just the two of us. Thanks
Chris Gibbs
Amazing! I left out the red pepper and used Boursin cheese cubes. Plus shredded cheese I found on sale, I will make again soon!
Dana Wilson
Loved this soup. So many flavors!! Does it freeze well?
Jeffrey
Sure does!