The Best Beer Cheese Sauce for Pretzels Recipe

A small white bowl with cheese dip in it in front of a tray of soft pretzels.

The Best Beer Cheese Sauce for Pretzels Recipe

This rich, intensely flavored beer-based Mornay sauce is the perfect beer cheese sauce for dipping pretzels. I'm giving you a range of amounts of spices for this sauce, because everyone's taste is different. Start with the lesser amount of each and add more after you add the dairy if you think it needs it. That's what I did.

Course Appetizers

Cuisine French

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 10

Total Time 20

Servings cups

Calories 130kcal

Author Jennifer Field

Equipment

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1-3 teaspoons ground mustard powder
1-3 Tablespoons whole grain mustard
kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste (you can use black pepper if you want. I just happen to really like white pepper)
4 oz 1/2 cup porter
12 oz 1 1/2 cups half and half
4 oz sharp aged Provolone cheese grated
2 oz Grana Padana or Parmesan cheese grated

Instructions

In a heavy-bottomed sauce pan, heat the butter over medium until melted and starting to get bubbly.
Add the flour along with the lesser amount of mustard powder, whole grain mustard, a very heavy pinch of kosher salt and a few grindings of pepper.
Cook, stirring constanty, for about 2 minutes to cook out the raw taste of flour.
Add the beer and stir well. Mixture will be very thick. Stir and boil until the harsh alcohol smell boils away, about 2 minutes.
Pour in the half and half. Switch to a whisk. It will make it easier to incorporate everything. Whisk until well-combined and hot. At this point, taste and decide if you want to add more mustard powder, mustard and/or while pepper. Hold off on the salt until after you add all the cheese, though. Adjust the other seasonings until they are to your liking.
Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for about 3-4 minutes to thicken it just a bit more than it already is.
Remove the sauce from the heat and whisk in the cheese in 3-4 additions until smooth and gorgeous.
At this point, taste for salt and adjust as necessary.
Serve warm with bread pretzels or pretty much anything that could use some delicious beer cheese.

Notes

To Reheat

This sauce will thicken up quickly as it cools and is a really thick spread at refrigerator temperatures. Reheat leftovers gently.

The best way I know to do this is to bring a pot of water to a simmer, put the container of beer cheese in it and let it melt gently. Stir occasionally until warm and ready for dipping. You can reheat it in the microwave, but only do it on medium power for a few seconds at a time, stirring each time. If you get it too hot, it will get grainy and you will be sad.

Nutrition