Bacon Ale Cheese Dip
A fun twist on Welsh Rarebit (like our Welsh Rarebit Mac & Cheese), this Bacon Ale Cheese Dip is perfect for parties or game nights!
Cheesy Beer Dip Recipe
While I usually like my treats sweet, you just have to go with savoury and satisfying when you’re planning for game nights – whether we’re talking the kind you play around a table, or the kind you watch on the television.
(By the way, I don’t know who decided that the best way to enjoy other people playing sports is while gorging yourself on super-indulgent foods, but whoever that person is, I think we would be good friends. We would get each other so well.)
This savoury cheesy beer and bacon dip is everything you want in a cheese dip – super melty, dippable cheese with a smoky bacon-beer flavor profile that is rounded out with mustard and sautéed onions. Forget grocery store cheese dips that barely even taste like cheese, this stuff is the real deal.
You can prep it the day before and just pop it in the oven just prior to serving. Just prep right up until the step where you add it to the baking dish, then cover and refrigerate. (Don’t prepare it more than two days in advance though.)
It makes a great appetizer for a pot luck, or just something to serve until the pizza arrives! It’s indulgent pub food that you can make at home – and, dare I say it? It tastes better than any cheese dip I’ve ever had in a restaurant or pub!
This cheesy beer dip pairs perfectly with salty snacks, like our homemade soft pretzels (just be sure to top with coarse salt and not cinnamon-sugar!) Breadsticks, nachos or crackers would also work well, too.
And speaking of nachos, this cheese sauce would be insane poured overtop of a tray of nachos and then popped in the oven for a few minutes. If you do this, please tag me in any pictures so I can live vicariously… throw on some chopped cilantro, tomatoes, mild peppers, onions, and you’ll have some of the best nachos you’ve ever tasted!
Be sure to use a beer that you actually like drinking – and feel free to go the non-alcoholic route, as well. Just avoid anything with fruity flavors. I like to use Guinness, but my love of Guiness is well established.
Ingredients for Cheese Beer Dip
-
½ pound bacon slices
-
1 Tbsp. butter
-
½ yellow onion, diced
-
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
-
1 Tbsp. POD & BEAN™ Stone Ground Mustard
-
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
-
12 oz. dark brown ale or stout
-
6 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
-
Soft pretzels for dipping
- Parsley, optional garnish
Tip: stout or any favorite dark beer will work well in this recipe. If you don’t like the beer on it’s own, you’re not going to like it in this recipe so choose something you like!
Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful
- Sharp kitchen knife
- Skillet
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Whisk
- 1 quart baking dish
How to Make Beer Cheese Dip
Heat oven to 350° F.
Add bacon to a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté for ten minutes until just crispy and then remove and place on a sheet tray lined with foil. Allow bacon to cool and then rough chop.
In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt butter and then add the onions and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes.
Whisk in the Dijon mustard, POD & BEAN™ Stone Ground Mustard, and the ale, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan.
Increase the heat and bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the cream cheese and reduce the heat to medium. Whisk the cream cheese into the ale mixture until the cheese melts and becomes creamy. Turn off the heat.
Slowly add five cups cheddar cheese to the ale mixture, stirring until the cheese melts and is smooth.
Stir in ¾ of the bacon and save the rest to sprinkle on top.
Spray a 1 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the dip into the dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese and the rest of the crumbled bacon.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the dip is bubbling. Serve warm with soft pretzels.
This recipe was shared with me from THE COCOA EXHANGE™ POD & BEAN™. (Not a sponsored post)
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Bacon Ale Cheese Dip
Ingredients
- ½ pound bacon slices
- 1 Tbsp. butter
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp. POD & BEAN™ Stone Ground Mustard
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 12 oz. dark brown ale
- 6 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- Soft pretzels for dipping
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350° F.
- Add bacon to a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté for ten minutes until just crispy and then remove and place on a sheet tray lined with foil. Allow bacon to cool and then rough chop.
- In a large saucepan on medium heat, melt butter and then add the onions and cook until soft, about 3-4 minutes.
- Whisk in the Dijon mustard, POD & BEAN™ Stone Ground Mustard, and the ale, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Increase the heat and bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the cream cheese and reduce the heat to medium. Whisk the cream cheese into the ale mixture until the cheese melts and becomes creamy. Turn off the heat.
- Slowly add five cups cheddar cheese to the ale mixture, stirring until the cheese melts and is smooth.
- Stir in ¾ of the bacon and save the rest to sprinkle on top.
- Spray a 1 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the dip into the dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese and the rest of the crumbled bacon.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the dip is bubbling. Serve warm with soft pretzels.
For more delicious dip recipes, check out our Hot Deluxe Pizza Dip Recipe or our Clean Eating Onion Dip Recipe.
Check out our other Appetizer Recipes here:
