Beer Cheese Dip

Beer, cheese, and ranch come together in this genius pub-style dip that takes just minutes to make and is a must-have at any party. It doesn't matter if you're on team pretzel or team chip, everyone's a winner with this amazing dip.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings servings

Calories 277kcal

Author Meggan Hill

Ingredients

24 ounces cream cheese softened (see note 1)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup homemade ranch dressing mix or one packet store-bought (see note 2)
6 ounces beer (see note 3)
4 chives or 1 scallion, thinly sliced, plus more for garnish if desired
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or more to taste
Potato chips pretzels, or crackers, for serving

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ranch mix, beer, chives, and in a large bowl and mix well. Add garlic powder to taste, starting with 1/2 teaspoon and adding more if desired.
In a large bowl, add cream cheese, cheddar cheese, ranch mix, beer, chives, and garlic powder (start with 1/2 teaspoon and add more to taste if desired). Stir to combine.
Cover and chill at least 30 minutes or until serving time. Garnish with more chives if desired and serve with chips, pretzels, or crackers.

Notes

Cream cheese: Three, yes three whole blocks, because the recipe makes a lot of dip. Let them come to room temperature before you start.
Dry ranch dressing mix: Make your own dry ranch seasoning, or buy the packet at the store. (Important: Buy the dressing mix packet, not the dip mix packet, which has a lot more sodium.)
Beer: You don't even need a whole bottle, so use your favorite. Lager, pilsners, and lighter beers make a slightly sweet, mild dip. Heartier beers like stout, dark lagers, porters, or schwarzbiers will make the cheese dip a little more fully-flavored.
What to dip: Homemade Soft Pretzels taste incredible, but so do pretzel sticks, potato chips, tortilla chips, Melba toasts, rye crisps, carrot sticks, the list goes on.
Make ahead: Whip up the cold dip and stash in. the fridge up to two days before you need it.
Make jalapeño poppers: Stuff the cold dip in half of a jalapeño pepper (scoop the seeds out first) and roast in the oven until tender at 425 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.
Celery ribs: Stuff the cold dip inside celery for crispy veggie treat.
Toasted bread: Add 8 ounces of chopped sliced salami to the dip, then slather it on a baguette loaf that's been sliced in half lengthwise. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. Cut into slices and eat.
Leftover dip sandwiches: Spread any leftover beer cheese dip on rye bread with deli ham and some lettuce. Perfect weekday sandwich, coming right up!

Nutrition