Hip! Hip! Hooray! Three cheers for these beer cheese dips! There is something simply amazing about a warm soft pretzel and a gooey cheesy dip. And boy do these dips bring their A-game to the table! It’s a touchdown in my tummy!
Anyone who knows me at all could tell you that I am not a huge sports fan. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a tight end and a wide receiver, I am the person who talks through the big moments and watches the game for the commercials, and I usually couldn’t tell you who what teams were playing in the Superbowl until Party City starts selling mylar balloons with team names on them.
Unlike my buddy Jenni, who has a legit love for football season, I don’t care as much about the game as I do the social gatherings that come with them. It’s all about that tasty, cheesy, carby game day food people. THAT is the real winner in my book.
…that and The League. If football has given me anything to be grateful for it is that show. Dear lord, I haven’t laughed so hard. It even inspired me to join a fantasy football league one year. I can proudly say that I picked my team based on legitimate stat research and not just because they had cats as their mascots or their team colors were pretty. Though the “Shut the Fuckupcakes” didn’t do too shabby that year, we didn’t win, and there wasn’t nearly enough teammate shaming or trash talking for my liking, so my dabbling in fantasy football was short lived. Oh well, I guess I will just stick with making cheesy things and drinking beer. I’m real good at that.
The base cheese dip recipe is delish as it is. The sharp cheddar cheese and dark beer give it a robust flavor. But if you are looking to have a variety of flavors then I have come up with two variations on the recipe that you use to spice things up: A spicy kick of Sriracha and jalapeño with bacon bits and a more mild (but still spicy) horseradish mustard. You can split the recipe into thirds (as in the instructions below) or you can adjust the mix-ins to fit the entire batch.
This recipe makes one big batch of beer cheese or you can split the batch thirds for three gooey beer cheese dips that really bring their A-game to your Game Day table!
Ingredients
Game Day Beer Cheese Dip (full recipe)
2tbsp.butter
2tbsp.flour
13ozbottle of dark beer (I used Sam Adams Oktoberfest)
9ozpackage cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
3cshredded sharp cheddar cheese
2tbsp.minced garlic
1tsp.dry mustard
1/2cmilk (or more as needed)
salt + pepper
Sriracha Jalapeño with Bacon (variation)
2tbsp.sriracha chili sauce
2tbsp.diced jalapeños
1/2cbacon crumbles
Spicy Brown Mustard and Horseradish (variation)
1tbsp.horseradish
2tbsp.Spicy brown mustard (I like to use the kind that has lots of chunky mustard seeds)
Instructions
Game Day Beer Cheese Dip
Start by melting butter in a sauce pan. Stir in the flour and whisk constantly for several minutes. Cook until the flour starts to smelly nutty and less like flour. You are making a roux! Woohoo!
Add the beer and whisk until heated and incorporated into the roux.
Add cubed cream cheese, shredded cheese, dry mustard, garlic, salt and pepper (to taste) and 1/2 cup of milk to the sauce base. Stir until cheese is melted and everything is smooth and incorporated. You can add more milk to adjust the consistency of your dip if it is too thick.
You can stop here if you want one big bowl of good ol' beer cheese dip. Else this is the point you would separate your cheese into 3 equal portions (about 1 1/2 cup each) and add in the additional ingredients below for 3 cheesy variations. You can also make one big batch of either of the two variations below. Just multiply the add-in ingredient amounts x 3.
Sriracha Jalapeño with Bacon (variation)
Add sriracha sauce and chopped jalapeños to one third of the sauce and mix until combined. Top with bacon crumbles and fresh jalapeño slices.
Spicy Brown Mustard and Horseradish (variation)
Add brown mustard and horseradish and mix until combined.
Serve beer cheese dip warm and melty with pretzels, bread or tortilla chips.