Beer Cheese Sauce

This Beer Cheese Sauce recipe is the BEST cheese sauce you’ll ever try! It’s rich, creamy, and flavoured with sharp cheddar, and it stays creamy and smooth thanks to a secret ingredient! Enjoy this homemade cheese sauce on veggies, potatoes, pasta, or as a dip for your favourite appetizers.

 

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

In case you missed it, we LOVE cheese. Like, a lot. This Cheese Sauce recipe is one of our absolute favourite recipes of all time and we eat it on almost everything. There’s just something so unbelievably delicious about a rich, creamy, smooth and melty cheese sauce that makes just about anything delicious… we’ve even been known to enjoy this beer cheese sauce by the spoonful! Trust us – if you’ve never made cheese sauce, this is the one to try!

Cheese Sauce is a classic, creamy sauce made from a roux (a mixture of flour and fat) and from melted cheese. It’s served with various dishes – everything from pasta and vegetables to nachos and sandwiches, and even soft pretzels. The rich, velvety texture of cheese sauce is unbeatable, which is why everyone loves it!

Beer Cheese Sauce is a delicious twist on traditional cheese sauce. Beer is added to the roux before the milk and then the cheese. The addition of beer introduces a unique flavour, and depending on the type of beer used, it can have a more intense or mild flavour. The alcohol in the beer is usually cooked off, leaving behind a distinct beer-taste that goes so well with the sharpness of the cheese (usually sharp cheddar).

Here are just a few reasons this beer cheese sauce is one of our favourites!

1. It’s SO CREAMY. If there’s anything better than a cheesy, creamy sauce on basically anything, let us know. Until then, we’ll be over here enjoying the creamiest cheese sauce on the planet!
2. It’s perfect for DIPPING. We LOVE dipping our famous soft pretzel bites in this beer cheese dip on game day!
3. It’s EASY to make. With a few simple ingredients and a couple tips and tricks, anybody can make this delicious cheese sauce recipe!
4. You can SERVE IT so many ways. We love it over broccoli or cauliflower, as a dip for french fries or tortilla chips, as a nacho cheese sauce, on a baked potato with chili for dinner, and we’ve even been known to make cheese fries with the leftovers! Pour it over some pasta for a quick mac and cheese, or even serve it over rice. The sky is the limit!

Want to make the perfect velvety cheese sauce? Here’s how to do it!

Don’t skip this IMPORTANT step for the perfect, creamy cheese sauce that won’t separate (we’ll explain more below!).

For the best melt and flavour, use a good quality, medium to aged sharp cheddar.

Avoid pre-shredded cheeses you can buy in bags at the grocery store as they often contain anti-clumping agents that can prevent the cheese from melting properly.

Melt your cheese on a low heat to avoid separating or curdling. High heat can cause the proteins in the cheese to clump together.

Keep the mixture moving. This prevents the roux from burning and helps incorporate the cheese smoothly without lumps.

Choose the best beer you can find or a beer you like to drink, but any mild beer will work for this cheese sauce. You can use non-alcoholic beer, or skip the beer altogether and replace it with the same amount of whole milk.

Seasoning goes a long way in making this sauce flavourful. Be sure to add mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and other seasonings.

One of the biggest challenges most home cooks experience in the kitchen when making cheese sauce is getting the perfect creamy texture. Kitchen chemistry can be complicated, but there’s one simple trick to achieving a cheese sauce with the perfect creamy texture every single time. We’ll explain WHAT it is, and WHY it works!

Understanding why cheese sauce separates and becomes grainy comes down to one thing: how the proteins in the cheese coagulate or clump together when exposed to high heat. The proteins clump together, squeeze out the fat and liquid, and the sauce appears separated.

The key to preventing this coagulation lies in protecting the protein structure of the cheese by changing the pH of the sauce. Sounds complicated, we know, but it’s actually really simple.

Baking soda and lemon juice, when mixed together, create sodium citrate which acts as an emulsifying agent in the cheese sauce by lowering the pH. In layman’s terms, it stabilizes the protein in the cheese and it emulsifies the fat and the proteins, preventing them from separating.

The pH level of your sauce can dramatically affect how cheese melts. Cheese, particularly sharp varieties like cheddar, tends to have a slightly acidic pH. When cheese is heated, especially if it is acidic, the proteins (casein) tighten, squeeze out the fat, and become grainy.

Some recipes call for baking soda to be added on its own, but this can add a soapy taste to the cheese sauce. The small amount of lemon juice neutralizes the taste of the baking soda and works together with it to emulsify the sauce.

Adding the baking soda and lemon juice together BEFORE you add them to the sauce is very important! Mix them together separately first, then add them to the roux (butter and flour mixture) BEFORE you add the dairy and cheese.

This is important because it’s a PREVENTATIVE measure – adding a baking soda and lemon juice mixture to an already separated cheese sauce won’t help much. Adding it to the roux BEFORE you add the cheese will PREVENT the sauce from separating as the cheese melts.

Having trouble with your cheese sauce? Here’s how to fix some common issues you might encounter:

If the heat is too high, the sauce can separate and become grainy. You can prevent this using the trick we outlined above, but if it happens, try adding a splash of lemon juice and whisking vigorously.

If your sauce thickens too much, gradually whisk in additional warm milk until you reach the desired consistency.

In this case, add some extra cheese to thicken up the sauce. You can also allow it too cook a little longer over low heat (stirring regularly) to reduce slightly.

Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Sometimes, an extra pinch of salt or a splash of Worcestershire sauce can make all the difference.

Here’s a list of the basic kitchen equipment you’ll need to make this homemade cheese sauce recipe (paid links):

• a small pot or saucepan
• a box Grater
• a Whisk
• some measuring cups and spoons
• a liquid measuring cup

Here’s a list of the ingredients you’ll need to make this delicious homemade beer cheese sauce (paid links):

• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 lemon (juice only)
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup lager beer (or, use 3/4 cup milk instead of beer, if desired)
• 1 cup whole milk plus more if necessary
• 1-2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 cups sharp cheddar cheese shredded

Take your homemade cheese sauce to the next level with one of these delicious variations on the original recipe!

1. Make it Smoky: Add a teaspoon of smoked paprika or a little bit of liquid smoke to the roux to introduce a smoky flavour that pairs wonderfully with the beer and the cheese.
2. Make it Spicy: Incorporate chopped jalapeños or a dash of cayenne pepper into the sauce for a kick of spice. Replace some of the cheddar with Monterey Jack cheese or pepper jack cheese.
3. Infuse it with Herbs: For a more subtle twist, add finely chopped herbs such as thyme or rosemary during the last few minutes of cooking.
4. Make it Gourmet: Mix in some Gruyère, Swiss, Gouda, or blue cheese with the cheddar for a more complex flavour profile.

We hope you love this AMAZING homemade cheese sauce recipe as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, how would YOU enjoy this beer cheese sauce? We’d love to know!

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Watch the video below to see exactly how we make this recipe. You can find many more deliciously simple recipe videos on our YouTube channel!