Every part of the country has some special recipes which represent their heritage and reflect their local foods. Wisconsin is known for their cheese, and well, their beer. Put those two together in one recipe and the result is a fabulous, quick dinner idea for a cool fall day.
Wisconsin Cheese Soup is ready in less than 30 minutes and incorporates some tasty vegetables as well. If you don’t want to use beer to make this soup a little more family friendly, use milk instead (after all, Wisconsin is known as a dairy state too). Top the soup with popped popcorn, oyster crackers, croutons or mini pretzels. Serve with a garden salad and crusty artisan bread and you have a meal in minutes.
Kids will love the cheesy soup. Now, I know my son Kyle isn’t a kid anymore but he would enjoy every spoonful of this tasty recipe. Knowing him, he’d use a serving bowl as his soup bowl. Yes, he has been known to do just that. I even have proof.
Sometimes it’s difficult to get mad at this face. But, now that his football playing days are over and he is spending his time teaching math to 8th graders he isn’t eating quite the same quantity of food.
To make this recipe come together in a flash I suggest doing all the chopping and measuring first. Start to finish, in about 30 minutes you will have dinner on the table.
Place 1 cup chicken broth along with the carrots, onion and celery in a 4-quart saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until the onion is softened. This takes less than 10 minutes.
Add 2 more cups of the chicken broth (you will still have about ½ cup left), milk, cheese and hot pepper sauce.
I got a phone call from my fellow blogger and daughter-in-law, Amanda, the other day asking about hot pepper sauce. It was called for in a recipe and she wasn’t sure what she should buy. Hot pepper sauce is the generic name for a hot sauce made from chili peppers. Tabasco is the most recognized brand name of hot pepper sauce, but there are many different brands available in grocery stores.
Reduce the heat to medium and cook until the cheese is melted. This will only take about 5 minutes. Sliced and quartered American cheese works great in this recipe because it melts quickly and creates a creamy, cheesy soup.
In a small bowl stir the flour into the remaining ½ cup chicken broth.
Now stir that mixture slowing into the soup. Creating a slurry with the flour and a small amount of the chicken broth will help prevent any lumps of flour in your soup. Adding the flour helps to thicken the soup to a nice consistency.
Cook the soup, stirring constantly, until it has slightly thickened. Just a minute or two and the soup is ready to serve.
It’s fun to let the kids choose from a selection of toppers such as popcorn, pretzels or crackers.
Add the green salad, crusty bread and dinner is on the table in no time.
What’s your favorite topping for beer cheese soup? And, come back to rate and review Wisconsin Cheese Soup.
Come back in a few days when Bridget will share a recipe perfect for Halloween parties.
Becky Wahlund is the Director of the Test Kitchens for Land O'Lakes and writes for our Recipe Buzz® Blog.
