Beer Cheese Soup

dianegrapegrower's Note:

A family favorite of ours, posted at my son's request. I'm not certain, but I think the recipe may originally have come from a Frugal Gourmet cookbook. A food processor really helps with all the chopping. We like it with crusty bread and a simple green salad. Editted to note: This is NOT a thick cream soup - it's brothy, with a light flavor of cheese.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 cup sausage , sliced (optional, but very good)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large onion , chopped
• 1 cup celery , chopped
• 1 cup carrot , chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3 -4 cups water (to taste)
• 1 cup potato , cubed
• ¾ cup beer (we prefer a lighter flavored beer for this)
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Tabasco sauce , salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, saute sausage (if using) until brown. Remove and set aside.
2. In the same pan, heat oil and saute the celery, onion, and carrots until tender and golden.
3. Add the chicken broth and water. Add potato. Simmer one hour.
4. Add beer and reheat.
5. Just before serving, add grated cheddar. Add Tabasco, salt, and pepper to taste. Heat just until cheese melts, and serve immediately.
6. Note: You can also prepare this in a crockpot. You can't brown the sausage and veges, but it's still good. Dump all ingredients into crock except cheese. Simmer until veges are tender. Add cheese just before serving, and heat only until melted.

Reviews

[Curty The Crime Dog]

Made this for dinner tonight...and was very dissapointed. I am from Wisconsin and have had good beer cheese soup several times and this was not beer cheese soup. I had to throw it away because it was so bad. I made this in the crockpot and followed everything in the recipe but omitted the sausage, olive oil, cut back the water to 2 cups and used one whole can of beer and about 1 1/2 cups of cheese, but it still turned out very "watery." I used some cornstarch to try to thicken it up, but it was still too watery and the onion and celery was too much. I would have used 1/3 cup celery, 1/2 of an onion, and 2 cups of potatoes instead. I know beer cheese soup as being a cream soup: this was like chicken soup minus the chicken with melted cheese that sank to the bottom: justed messed up. I don't know how anyone could eat this. This was my first time making beer cheese soup and even if I would have made this on the stove, it would have turned out similarly. I think instead of adding water, it needs 1/2 and 1/2 or whole milk and lots more cheese to even taste like real beer cheese soup. Sorry my review is harsh but I'm being honest :(