Irish Pub Beer Cheese Spread
An easy spread for a hearty snack meant to be served with pretzels.
There are dozens of recipes for this pub snack. Beer and cheese are a given, but everything else is up for grabs. Some are even served hot and look suspiciously like a yellow fondue. With a nod to the Delish website, I modified their recipe slightly and served this at a St. Patrick’s dinner party. Pretzels are recommended, so the dish is eaten more like a dip than a spread, but traditional chips or even crackers won’t stand up to the stiffness of the cheese spread. Pretzels do nicely. You can serve plain, traditional mini-pretzels, flavored pretzels or the newer pretzel “snaps,” which look like a small, pretzel tic-tac-toe box.
I strongly recommend a handheld cake mixer to put this dish together unless you’re wanting an upper arm workout.
Use whatever beer you like. For something purely Irish, a Smithwick’s Red Ale, Harp Lager or a Guinness Stout work nicely.
Irish Pub Beer Cheese Spread
An easy spread for a hearty snack meant to be served with pretzels.
Ingredients
- 2 8-oz tub whipped cream cheese (like, Philadelphia Whipped)
- 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (like, Kraft)
- 1/4 cup beer or non-alcoholic beer
- 1 tbsp whole caraways seeds
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried chives
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp fin sea salt
- 2-3 dashes Tabasco sauce
Instructions
- Take the cream cheese out of the fridge about an hour prior to making the dish for ease of blending.
- Place the cream cheese and beer in a mixing bowl and using a handheld mixer, blend for a minute.
- Place everything else in the mixing bowl and mix on high for 30 seconds to 1 minute until everything is blended and creamy
- Cover and refrigerate for 5-6 hours before serving so all flavors amalgamate.
- Serve with mini pretzels (like, Snyder's of Hanover).
