Beer and cheese are Wisconsin staples, and there’s no greater evidence than how many recipes we have that combine the two. I already have one of them on this site with my beer cheese queso.
There’s also beer cheese soup, which… okay, slight tangent but it’s something that annoys me so much. A few years back, legislators in Wisconsin proposed designating a Wisconsin State Soup, and they chose something called booyah. Outside of Stuart Scott calling a dunk highlight, I don’t know what that is. After a little Wikipedia research, I learned that it’s actually a stew, and yes, there’s a difference.
Calling booyah a soup is like calling a hot dog a sandwich. There are rules.
Anyway, my point is that any soup that combines beer and cheese is the state soup of Wisconsin by default. Some people even cut up little chunks of bratwurst in it. It’s the most delicious soup you’ll ever taste. But that’s not this recipe, so, tangent over.
In this recipe, room temperature beer is mixed with softened cream cheese and ranch mix, then filled in with a pile of shredded cheese. It’s most often used as a dip for pretzels… one time I used a pretzel-flavored beer and I’m not even sure that was legal.
It’s also great with potato chips, preferably the kettle version, and club crackers. Hell, even tortilla chips work. Grab literally anything in your pantry that can hold up to a cream cheesy thickness of a dip and give it a shot. Use it as a sandwich spread. Or on a hot dog, which is not a sandwich.
As always, may all your teams win or your beer cheese be booyah.
Creamy Beer Cheese Pretzel Dip
Equipment
- 1 handheld beaters
- 1 mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 2 8 ounce packages softened cream cheese
- 1 packet ranch mix
- 6 ounces room temperature beer
- 2 cups shredded cheese
Instructions
- With a butter knife, cut softened cream cheese into 8 or 12 pieces.2 8 ounce packages softened cream cheese
- Add ranch mix and beat until mixed.1 packet ranch mix
- Add beer slowly while beating and continue until the mixture is smooth.6 ounces room temperature beer
- Fold in shredded cheese and mix until combined.2 cups shredded cheese
Notes
- I typically just use sharp cheddar cheese, but anything you have is fine. This is also one of the very few times you’ll see me say “pre-shredded is okay.” The anti-caking ingredients in a bag of shredded cheese from the store won’t have much effect on the final texture.
- Choice of beer is up to you. As I’ve made this many times, I’ve tried it with many different beers. I try to use something with a lot of hops because it balances really well with the other ingredients, but I don’t like drinking beer with a lot of hops so I don’t have it around much. My personal favorite is using a red ale, for both flavor and color.
- The beer amount is very rough. If your cream cheese isn’t softened enough or if the beer is straight from the fridge, the dip will seem very runny when you add the beer and you may think you put in too much. Keep beating until it’s smooth.
- If it still seems too runny, add more cream cheese. If it’s too thick, add more beer.
- There are tons of variations you can try. I’ve added diced chiles and pimientos to make it sort of a pimiento beer cheese thing. Not surprisingly, I also add beer to my normal pimiento cheese spread. There are no wrong answers, just tasty experiments.
You are a man of many talents.