Cheddar potato-beer soup with shredded ham

Submitted by Hey Jude

"This is a hearty, cozy soup that's great for chilly fall evenings. I like it with lots of the red pepper flakes. You can serve this as a main course for dinner, along with rye bread and apple pie for dessert. Recipe is from the Chicago Tribune."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 10 baby carrots
• 5 red potatoes, peeled,cut into large pieces
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground pepper, red pepper flakes
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle beer
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans chicken broth or (14 1/2 ounce) cans vegetable broth
• 1 1⁄2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked ham, shredded or julienned

directions

1. Heat butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add carrots, potatoes and onion; cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
3. Add salt and pepper and red pepper flakes to taste.
4. Add beer; heat to a boil, stirring to scrape up any browned bits.
5. Add chicken broth; heat to a boil.
6. Cook until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 12 minutes.
7. Pour soup, in batches if necessary, into blender or food processor (or use a hand-held'boat motor' blender).
8. Puree and return to saucepan.
9. Stir in cheese; heat, stirring, until cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
10. Taste for seasoning; add more pepper flakes if needed.
11. Ladle into bowls.
12. Top each with shredded ham.

Reviews

[TPubmgjbd]

I have a bowl of this soup in front of me even as I type this review. This is really good (it must be...this is my second bowl of it). Thick like a chowder. The flavors all blend together. It's not the most beautiful soup I've ever seen but it makes up for that in the taste.

 

[Bri22]

I have got to hand it to ya, just looking at the recipe I was unsure of what the end result was going to be, but WOW!!! I had my Mom and brothere over for dinner and we loved it!! I wouldnt change a thing. I have a hand held mixer "wand" and so I just blended it still in the pot. This will be a family favorite from now on. Thank you!!

 

[Jazz Lover]

This was good, but It had a weird texture. I made a mess with my food processor, so I would not do that again! It was good, but not really what I was looking for.

 

[lmaiorana]

Great recipe that my family loved. I used a gluten free beer. Didn't blend the entire soup because I wanted it chunky. Definitely a keeper!

 

[duonyte]

This was very good - I used a good pinch of red pepper, and added just a bit of salt, as I used my own chicken broth with this. I added just a bit of broth towards the end, I am sure it all depends on how big your potatoes are. I used white cheddar cheese and this was a pretty apricot color. I also added a good spoonful of mascerpone that I happened to have, which added just a touch of creaminess.I think a little celery leaf might be a good addition. I opted not to add the ham, and garnished with some chopped scallion.