Beer Cheese Dip – Warm cheddar cheese dip made with plenty of bacon and beer! Great for dipping soft pretzels, chips or just about anything!
What do you think of when you think of cheese dip? For me, the first thing that comes to mind is soft pretzels. That seems kind of strange, but it is my favorite thing to dip in a beer cheese dip.
And the best part, this beer cheese dip recipe is super easy to make! You can have it ready in no time. And if you leave out the bacon you can have it ready in no time. So it is the perfect game day or party dip.
How to Make Cheese Dip
- Use good quality cheese. You will want a block of cheese, not the shredded stuff. It will melt better and make for a creamier more delicious dip.
- Pick beer you enjoy drinking. This beer cheese dip doesn’t taste like beer, but you do get the flavor in the back ground. So pick on you like drinking. This is the time to break out the good stuff. Save the light beer for something else.
- Use a good pan. Make sure you have a heavy duty pot or pan when making this. If you use a thin pan, it will not heat evenly, and you could end up with burnt cheese. And no one wants that!
- Use a whisk. You may be tempted to break out the spatula when you are mixing in the cheese, but a whisk lets you get the sauce nice and smooth and creamy!
Feel free to use your favorite beer in this recipe. Just know that the word Ale is in the title for a reason. You want to use something that is full bodied, and can stand up to the cheese. Light beers tend to get lost, and don’t really add much to the dip.
If you have leftover cheese dip, it reheats well. I sometimes add just a little milk to thin it out when reheating. This Skillet Cheese Dip has the dippers baked right in, which is such a fun idea for game day!
Beer Cheese Dip - Warm cheddar cheese dip made with plenty of bacon and beer! Great for dipping soft pretzels, chips or just about anything!
- 6 slices bacon , diced
- 3 tablespoons Flour
- 1 (12-ounce) bottle amber ale
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 4 ounces cream cheese , cut into pieces
- 2 cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce (I used Siracha)
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- In large pan over medium heat, cook bacon until browned and crispy. Remove from pan, and place on paper towels. Leave a couple tablespoons of bacon fat behind. Stir in flour, and cook for about 1 minute.
- Whisk in beer. Cook until it starts to thicken, stirring occasionally. Whisk in mustard. Turn heat down to low. Mix in cream cheese. Add cheddar cheese a handful at a time. Stir until cheeses are melted and dip is hot. Mix in salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste.
- Fold in about 3/4 of the bacon. Use the rest for garnish.
- Place in crock pot to keep warm for a party. Or place in fridge and reheat at the time for serving.
Adapted from Cabot Cheese
Erin S
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Erin @ The Spiffy Cookie says
September 27, 2013 at 8:02 amThat combined with pretzel bites is dangerous!
Taylor @ greens & chocolate says
September 27, 2013 at 9:11 amNo, you can definitely NOT go wrong with cheese, beer, and bacon! This looks perfect for an afternoon of football watching!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
September 27, 2013 at 9:50 amWhat a perfect fall dip, I love the side of pretzel bites!
Ruthy @ Omeletta says
September 27, 2013 at 2:33 pmOh man, I can just see myself hogging this entire thing on a football Sunday! The tiny soft pretzels are where it’s at.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love. says
September 27, 2013 at 10:02 pmI definitely want to get in on this!
Suzanne says
September 28, 2013 at 5:50 pmWhat a perfect dip for the Fall season, love the pretzel bites. I have a number of recipes from when I began blogging and the photos are not too good and I’ve slowly been doing what you did here re-taking the photos. Hope your weekend is wonderful!
Jen @ Jen's Favorite Cookies says
September 29, 2013 at 1:16 pmThis looks so great, especially with those little pretzel bites!
Lisa {AuthenticSuburbanGourmet} says
September 29, 2013 at 8:06 pmWOW this is a perfect dip for the fall season. I would have a hard time stopping myself from overloading. Smile.
Lora @cakeduchess says
September 30, 2013 at 9:28 amBacon, ale and cheddar in fabulous dip? Oh boy, I could get in trouble with a bowl of this. 🙂
ashley - baker by nature says
October 1, 2013 at 8:43 amI’ve been dying to make more cheesy dips, and this one looks ultra fabulous!!!
Beth says
January 15, 2014 at 10:45 pmThis started out great- wonderful idea, who doesn’t love beer, bacon, cheese, etc.- only the instructions are a bit off. You don’t mention what to do with the hot sauce, pepper, and salt, as well as what to do with all that bacon I cooked. It says to dice it up, but the last step of making this is the shredded cheese. It was simple enough to figure out on my own but there was the panic of “What do I do?” when making it right before an event. It also took about twice as long to make it. Everyone says they loved it but I’m not sure if it was worth the stress.
Erin S says
January 16, 2014 at 10:39 amSorry those instructions were missed. The recipe was recently updated, and those were not added back in. I have taken care making sure it is now correct, thanks for letting me know. Glad to hear that everyone loved it.
Erin says
January 24, 2014 at 11:16 amI almost made a terrible mistake by making just a cheddar ale dip. With bacon, the trifecta is complete. Thank you for posting this! I adapted the recipe (very slightly) on my post with real rye pretzel bites, and the combo was to die for. I love your blog!
Jennifer Farley says
January 23, 2018 at 2:17 amI want to eat this all the time!
Gerry says
January 23, 2018 at 7:49 amAll the epic flavors!!
Jennifer Blake says
January 23, 2018 at 8:25 amThis will not last long in my house! Coupled with some pretzel bites it doesn’t stand a chance!
Kristy Bernardo says
January 23, 2018 at 10:25 amBeing from WI, I just adore everything cheese! And this dip looks AMAZING!
Carolyn says
January 23, 2018 at 10:42 amYeah, baby. YEAH!
Terri says
June 20, 2018 at 11:27 amThis recipe sounds delicious ! Where did you find the small pretzel bites ?
Erin S says
June 20, 2018 at 3:46 pmThey are homemade pretzels that are just cut into bites. But Costco sells pretzel bites in the frozen section as well.