Butternut Beer Cheese Soup
Warm and cheesy with a hint of smoke, this Butternut Beer Cheese Soup even adds a little nutrition to a winter classic. Kind of like grown up comfort food!
Butternut Beer Cheese Soup
Years ago, I ate a lot of beer cheese soup. Back in the day, I was working for an IT consulting firm and traveled regularly to Green Bay, home of the Green Bay Packers. We often stopped for lunch at a local microbrewery (Titletown Brewery) that served a delicious Beer Cheese Soup. Mixing beer and cheese–yum! Can you say Wisconsin?
Alas, time moves on and so do menus. I’ve been hoping to recreate the soup for years.
Great served with… beer
Recently I started seeing a lot of Butternut Beer Cheese soup online, and decided it was time to try a revival. In just two tries, I had it close enough—and with extra veggies even!
I love a nice warming soup in winter—and especially during the holiday season. And when you have out of town guests—or students home on break, there’s nothing like cooking up a couple big pots for an ongoing buffet. Easy and crowd-pleasing!
Just add bread and cold cuts.
Winter Comfort Food
- • 1 tablespoon butter or oil
- • 1 large onion, chopped
- • 1 cup broccoli slaw, finely chopped (or julienned & chopped broccoli stem) - optional
- • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- • ¼ cup nutritional yeast (optional)
- • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- • 1 teaspoon salt
- • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- • ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- • 1 12-ounce bottle beer
- • 1 large butternut squash, roasted, (about 3 cups)
- • 1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
- • 1 cup skim milk
- • 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
- • 1 Tablespoon cornstarch (optional)
- Cook onion and chopped broccoli slaw, if using, in butter or oil until tender. Add garlic, yeast, seasonings and beer. Boil vigorously for 3-5 minutes until reduced.
- Scoop out the squash and add, with the broth to a blender. Puree on high until smooth. Add to the soup and bring back to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk. Toss the shredded cheese with cornstarch, if using, then add to the soup. Stir until melted and serve.
- If you reheat leftovers, cook until hot, but do not boil, or the soup may curdle.
- There are a number of optional ingredients. These are things you may not have on hand -- it's happened to me and I skipped them and the soup still worked. Don't you love a flexible recipe!
mmmm, delicious! I just made some pureed cauliflower soup for lunch and am thinking beer and nutritional yeast might have made a nice extra touch. How interesting that you added broccoli slaw to this recipe. Would have never thought of that.
i’ve never seen broccoli slaw as an ingredient in soup and i’m fascinated! it certainly looks delicious… 🙂
I agree with Grace – I’ve never seen broccoli slaw as an ingredient in any recipe! (Well, other than actual broccoli slaw.) The soup looks so hearty and comforting… If I had some beer tonight, I would give it a try! It’s getting chilly in the desert.