This Bacon and Beer Cheese Soup is a rich, decadent soup loaded with cheese and bacon with a lager infused broth. Made in just one pot, this flavor enriched soup is ready to be devoured in under an hour.
Fabulously rich and ever so luscious, this yummy bacon and beer cheese soup is one of my favourite creations! Made in only one pot, this soup is loaded with cheese and thick pieces of bacon, all married together with a rich, pale-lager beer broth.
I am a huge fan of soup, I don’t know about you but I crave soup on a regular basis, especially when it’s cold and it’s -11F (-24C) now! This feel good, comfort soup is an awesome meal to prep in advance for future meals or to eat throughout the week. Busy or not, this soup is ready in under an hour and ideal to make on a cold and dreary day.
Ingredients
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card for a list of FULL ingredient amounts and instructions or click the “Jump to Recipe” card at the top of the page!
- Bacon – Chopped. The more the better!
- Onion – Large, chopped.
- Garlic – Fresh is best! Minced.
- Flour – I used all-purpose flour to thicken the soup a bit, you can use cornstarch as well.
- Chicken Broth – Low sodium or no sodium added!
- Milk – I used 2% milk.
- Lager – I used a pale lager, Pilsner.
- Cheese – Use a sharp or medium cheddar cheese.
- Salt and Pepper – To taste.
- Parsley – Fresh, chopped. For garnish.
How to make bacon and beer cheese soup
- Cook Bacon – Cook the bacon in a large Dutch oven until crisp. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate.
- Mix Ingredients – In the same Dutch oven add the onion and cook until softened and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook until aromatic. Sprinkle the flour over the onion and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes – add the broth, milk, beer and whisk. Bring to a boil and let simmer until thickened, for 20 minutes.
- Season and Finish – Stir in the cheese and continue simmering for another 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Add most of the bacon and stir it in.
- Garnish and Serve – Serve soup ladled in bowls and garnish with remaining bacon and parsley.
Tips on adding cheese to soup
A lot of the time when making soup, your cheese can end up clumping. Here are some tips on how to avoid that issue!
- Keep the soup at a low simmer – Too much heat can cause excess moisture to escape from the cheese, therefore it won’t melt nicely into the soup.
- Choose the right cheese – You want to use a cheese with a high moisture content and a low melting point like sharp cheddar, fontina, Gruyere and Swiss. The flavor of sharp cheddar works best in this soup.
- Add in only a little cheese at a time – When your soup is simmering, gently toss in small handfuls of cheese at a time to allow it to melt and incorporate fully.
- Constant stirring – Continue to whisk or stir the soup until each handful of cheese is thoroughly melted and incorporated before adding more.
- Beer in soup – Aside from upping the flavor factor, the tartaric acid in beer helps stop the cheese from clumping! The beer in this recipe aids in the luscious texture of this soup.
How to serve
This soup is perfect for those chilly nights in! There’s nothing like some toasted warm, crusty bread to dunk into this bowl of comfort. Some other suitable options for dippin’ :
- Garlic Cheese Bread
- Crackers
- Soft Pretzels
- Baguette
- Cheesy Cauliflower Breadsticks
You can also top your soup with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkle of green onions and some croutons to pull it all together!
Can I make this in advance?
You can absolutely make this soup in advance! Do not add any toppings – cool the soup completely before transferring into airtight freezer containers. You can store your bacon, cheddar and beer soup for up to 3 months in the freezer!
Tip: Your cheese soup may or may not separate in the freezer, to avoid this completely – don’t add the cheese until you are ready to serve the soup.
How to store leftover soup
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
See above for freezing instructions.
Did you like this soup recipe? Try these!
- Broccoli Cheese Soup
- Easy Tortellini Soup
- Taco Soup
- Lasagna Soup
- Baked Potato Soup
- Italian Wedding Soup
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Egg Roll Soup
- White Chicken Chili
- Italian Meatball Soup
- Stuffed Pepper Soup
- French Onion Soup
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Bacon And Beer Cheese Soup
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 slices bacon chopped
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups chicken broth low sodium or no sodium added
- 1 cup milk I used 2%
- 8 oz lager
- 12 oz cheddar cheese sharp or mild, shredded
- ½ tsp salt or to taste
- ¼ tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
- Cook the bacon in a large Dutch oven until crisp, for about 5 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper tower lined plate.
- In the same Dutch oven add the onion and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until softened and translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until aromatic.
- Sprinkle the flour over the onion and stir. Cook for about 3 minutes then add the broth, milk, beer and whisk. Bring to a boil then le tit simmer until thickened, 20 minutes.
- Stir in the cheese and continue simmering for another 5 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Add most of the bacon and stir it in.
- Serve soup ladled in bowls and garnish with remaining bacon.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
- You can store this soup for up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Tip: Your cheese soup may or may not separate in the freezer, to avoid this completely – don’t add the cheese until you are ready to serve the soup.
Can you use any type of beer? My husband drinks coppers pale ale.
Yep, it should be fine.
I’m going to make this today and was thinking of adding some cauliflower or broccoli to it for the final simmer . What do You think?
That sounds great!
I added broccoli to the recipe and it turned out to be my all time favorite soup!
Jo, I made this for the first time today, and WOW! Not only is the combination of flavors incredible, it was super easy to prepare and while I made it as written this time*, it’s one of those soups that could easily use up leftover vegetables in the crisper. Also I think one could play with different cheeses (Gruyere or Emmentaler would probably be good).
* Didn’t have lager on hand so used a cup of pale ale. Still delicious.
Thank you as always. I subscribe to dozens of food blogs and yours is far and away my favorite.
I hope you and your family are well and safe up there in the Great White North, greetings from New England.
So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, and thank you!!
Mm, yum!
Hi Jo,
I would love to make this for a family member. The problem is that this person is a vegetarian. Do you think this soup would still be decadent without the bacon? In my world, the bacon is a must! ;-D
I mean, like you, in my world the bacon is always a must, but yeah you can definitely make it without the bacon. 🙂 I know there’s vegan bacon, might be worth a try. 🙂
Thanks, I didn’t know about vegan bacon. I’ll definitely come back and let you know what they say after I make it.
Not knowing much about vegan meat substitutes myself, if your family member is vegetarian and not full-on vegan, perhaps you could saute the vegetables in butter or a butter/oil combo and prepare the bacon separately to add to your own? Also there are smoked salts and cheeses out there that might make up the difference.
Good luck, this soup is so good and worth trying.
Jo, Michael here from Toronto. I love your recipes and follow they religiously as they come in.
Keep up the good work. Oh, do you have a hard cover or paperback cookbook?
Thank you, Michael. I do have a book, you can find more information on it here: https://www.jocooks.com/cookbook/