Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup Recipe

Stove Top, Slow Cooker & Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Instructions

Enjoy a bowl of hearty Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup.  Cheese lovers will agree, this broccoli beer cheese soup is the perfect meal to celebrate the arrival of Fall and Oktoberfest celebrations.  I have always loved a good Beer Cheese Soup when it is featured at the local pub since it is a close consistency to cheese fondue with the tangy taste of beer.  The sharp cheddar cheese is also part of the signature flavor of beer cheese soup.  I am always tempted to lick the bowl clean!

Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup garnished with popcorn

Since I also love Cream of Broccoli soup, I was confident that pureeing broccoli into the soup would be very complimentary.  My instincts were correct, and my family and I really enjoyed this soup fusion.  We decided to garnish the soup with popcorn, which is a traditional garnishment for beer cheese soup in Wisconsin.  My boys got a kick out of topping their bowls of soup with popcorn.

Broccoli Beer Cheese soup is excellent served with a hearty bread and sausages, and washing it down with your favorite beer or cider.

This is a heavier meal to enjoy on occasion.  If you want to lighten up this recipe for broccoli beer cheese soup, you could substitute olive oil for part of the butter and switch to milk or half and half instead of heavy cream.  I would not recommend to completely omit all the butter, since that is part of the wonderful flavor. In this recipe I have provided instructions to cook on the stovetop, slow cooker and Instant Pot pressure cooker.

Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup Recipe:
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 30 mins
 
Slow Cooker Cooking Time: High heat: 4 hours Low heat: 8 hours
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup Recipe
Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter*
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 large carrot (1 cup), peeled and chopped
  • 2 stalks celery (1 cup), chopped
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 4 cups chicken stock**
  • 1 teaspoon yellow mustard, prepared
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 12 ounces of lager beer, flattened
  • 5 cups broccoli florets, chopped
  • 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 cups heavy cream***
Garnishment Options:
  • Parsley, chopped
  • Popcorn
  • Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
Prepare the Roux:
  1. In a 6-quart Dutch oven over medium heat, add butter.  Let the butter melt; add the onions and garlic.  Sauté for 2 minutes until onions appear translucent.  Next add the carrots and celery.  Stir into the onion mixture and sauté for 2 more minutes to soften the vegetables.  Gradually add in the flour and stir into the vegetable mix until combined (the roux should appear to be a paste-like texture).  Cook the roux for an additional couple minutes, stirring constantly.  You should hear the roux bubble and sizzle in the pot.  Note: Do not let the roux brown. If this happens, then it can have a burnt taste.  You would need to discard the roux and start again . Learn How to Make Perfect White Sauce Roux.

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  3. sauteing vegetables

  4. Making white sauce roux

  5. Add the chicken stock to the roux one cup at a time.  Make sure the cup of chicken stock is completely blended into the roux before adding the next cup.  Repeat this process until all the chicken stock has been added and blended with the roux.  Stir constantly to keep from sticking to the bottom of the Dutch oven (up to 10 minutes or until the soup base come to a boil).  Turn the heat down to medium-low, then add mustard and stir to blend into soup.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Stove Top Instructions:
  1. Turn heat back up to medium.  Pour in the beer and stir to combine with soup.  Note: Make sure the carbonation is gone before adding to soup base.  Next add in the chopped broccoli and stir into soup.  Let the soup come back to a boil.  Turn the heat down to medium low and let the soup simmer for 20 minutes.  Make sure to stir the soup every couple minutes to prevent from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

  2. Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup

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  10. Remove the soup pot from the heat.  Add the soup to blender, in small batches, and blend to purée vegetables to a nice smooth consistently.  Note: fill the blender halfway with soup mixture to puree . Remove the small cap from blender lid to allow heat to escape and cover lid with dish towel.  Hold lid down while blending.  Pour each blended batch into a separate large bowl.  When all the soup has been blended, return to the Dutch oven.  

  11. Turn heat on to medium low and add the grated cheese.  Stir the cheese into the soup until melted and blended with the soup.  Finish by pouring in the heavy cream and stir until completely blended into soup and heated through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  12. Serve in bowls and garnish with shredded cheese, parsley and popcorn.

  13. Serves 4

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Slow Cooker Instructions:
  1. Preheat Slow Cooker on high heat.

  2. Pour the contents of the soup base from the Dutch oven into the slow cooker.  Next add the beer (make sure the carbonation from the beer is gone before adding to soup base), and then add the chopped broccoli.  Stir everything together. Cover with a lid and cook on high heat for 4 hours or low heat for 8 hours.

  3. Remove the lid and add the soup to a blender in small batches and blend to purée vegetables to a nice smooth consistently.  Note: fill the blender halfway with soup mixture to puree.  Remove the small cap from blender lid to allow heat to escape and cover lid with dish towel.  Hold lid down while blending.  Pour each blended batch of soup into a separate large bowl.

  4. When all the soup has been blended, return the soup to the slow cooker.  Add the grated cheese.  Stir the cheese into the soup until melted and blended with the soup.  Finish by pouring in the heavy cream and stir until completely blended into soup and heated through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  5. Serve in bowls and garnish with shredded cheese, parsley and popcorn.

  6. Serves 4 to 6

Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Instructions: 
  1. Prepare the roux: Select the Saute button on the Instant Pot and adjust the setting to the highest heat option.  When the Instant Pot registers "hot", add butter.  Let the butter melt; add the onions, carrots and celery. Stir together and sauté for a few minutes until the onions appear translucent and the vegetables are softened. Gradually add in the flour and stir into the vegetable mix until combined (the roux should appear to be a paste-like texture).  Cook the roux for an additional couple minutes, stirring constantly.  You should hear the roux bubble and sizzle in the pot.  Note: Do not let the roux brown. If this happens, then it can have a burnt taste.  You would need to discard the roux and start again . Learn How to Make Perfect White Sauce Roux. Next add the mustard and stir to combine.

  2. Add the chicken stock to the roux one cup at a time.  Make sure the cup of chicken stock is completely blended into the roux before adding the next cup.  Repeat this process until all the chicken stock has been added and blended with the roux.  Stir constantly to keep from sticking to the bottom of the Instant Pot (up to 10 minutes or until the soup base come to a boil). Salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Add the beer, stir to combine and mixture starts to boil. Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button to turn off the Saute mode. Add the chopped broccoli pieces into the Instant Pot and stir into the soup.

  4. Cover with lid and close the lid to seal closed. Make sure the pressure valve is turned to Sealing to ensure the pressure is sealed in while cooking. Select the Manual button and set to High Pressure. Adjust the cooking time to 5 minutes.  When the cooking time is done, Quick Release the pressure by opening the pressure valve and turning the handle to Venting.

  5. Open the pressure cooker lid and set aside. Add the soup to blender, in small batches, and blend to purée vegetables to a nice smooth consistently.  Note: fill the blender halfway with soup mixture to puree . Remove the small cap from blender lid to allow heat to escape and cover lid with dish towel.  Hold lid down while blending.  Pour each blended batch into a separate large bowl.  When all the soup has been blended, return to the Instant Pot. Select the Saute button and adjust the heat setting to medium.  

  6. Add the grated cheddar cheese.  Stir the cheese into the soup until melted.  Finish by pouring the heavy cream into the soup and stir until completely blended and soup is heated through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  7. Serve in soup bowls topped with Parmesan or cheddar cheese and parsley.  Also great topped with popcorn or croutons.

  8. Serves 4-6 

Recipe Notes

* As a lighter alternative, substitute half of the butter with olive oil or use margarine.

** Learn how to make your own homemade chicken stock.

*** As a lighter alternative, substitute half and half or milk.

This is the type of pressure cooker that I prefer to use in my cooking: I get readers asking which electric pressure cooker brand I prefer to use for cooking. I personally use the Instant Pot Multi-Use Pressure Cooker. I love having 7 cooking functions in one space saving appliance – Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker, Rice Cooker, Saute Pan, Steamer, Yogurt Maker and Warmer.
Learn more tips on How to Use an Instant Pot Pressure Cooker.

Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup collage and graphic

Comments and Reviews

2 Responses to “Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup Recipe”

  1. Marilyn

    Do you have any Gluten Free Recipes?

    Reply
    • Linda Stradley

      If you search our What’s Cooking America with Gluten Free, the recipes will come up.

      Reply

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