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These Soft Beer Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dip are soft and fluffy pretzels with a cheesy dip. Perfect for game day, parties, or any time you need a snack to go with your beer.
Soft Beer Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dip
Beer and pretzels go together like – well like beer and cheese. And like cheese and pretzels. They all just go together really well, OK? When Fred Meyer asked me to develop a recipe using local, Northwest beer, my first thought was soft beer pretzels. Although the possibilities are endless when it comes to cooking with beer, I kept coming back to pretzels.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Fred Meyer. The opinions and text are all mine.
Not only did I want to make pretzels, I wanted to make a pretzel that was chewy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside. I also wanted a cheesy dip to go with it. And why should we just drink the beer with the pretzels and dip? Isn’t it even better to put the beer INTO the pretzels? AND the dip? Of course we will drink some beer when we eat them as well, I mean come on.
When faced with the decision of which beer to choose, I had some tough choices. Of course the Pacific Northwest is full of fantastic breweries, so one could hardly go wrong. But in the end I decided to go with my hometown favorite of Ninkasi. Ninkasi Brewing Company was started in Eugene, Oregon (where I spent most of my formative years), and has become very popular on the west coast. Luckily for me they have a seasonal lager available right now, so I grabbed a 6-pack at Fred Meyer. Which my husband drank before I got around to working on my recipe. Can’t blame the guy, Ninkasi is one of his favorites.
So I bought another 6-pack – make that two – and set to work on making some soft and fluffy pretzels (with beer!) and a warm and cheesy beer dip to go with them. The first version turned out OK, but could have been better and I wasn’t a fan of the classic style beer cheese sauce that I made. I ended up making a much creamier, cheesier dip with just a hint of beer and I was much happier with it. Here are the ingredients for the beer cheese dip: Cream cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, beer (lager is best), garlic powder, hot sauce. That’s it!
Although these pretzels have beer in them, they aren’t overwhelming with beer flavor. There is just a hint of beer flavor, enough so that you know it is there but not so much that it tastes like you are eating a beer. And the beer in the cheesy dip sets off the richness of the cheese perfectly. Of course you can fully round out these flavors by serving everything with an ice cold beer.
Really, beer, cheese, and warm, fluffy pretzels? How could you ask for more?
Soft Beer Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dip
Ingredients
For the Pretzels:
- 12 ounces beer such as a lager
- 1 tablespoon Sugar
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 package active dry yeast 2 and 1/4 teaspoons
- 2 ounces unsalted butter melted
- 22 ounces all-purpose flour about 4 and 1/2 cups
- 10 cups water
- 2/3 cups baking soda
- 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- kosher salt for topping or pretzel salt if you can find it
- vegetable oil for bowl
For Beer Cheese Dip:
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3/4 cup grated white cheddar
- 3/4 cup grated mozzarella divided
- 1/4 cup beer I used a lager
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- a few dashes hot sauce
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley optional, for garnish
Instructions
To Make Soft Beer Pretzels:
- Warm the beer to 110-115°F.
- In a stand mixer with the dough hook attached, add the warm beer, sugar, kosher salt, then sprinkle the yeast on top. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, or until it starts to get foamy.
- Add the butter and the flour. Turn the mixer to low to medium speed and mix until dough comes together.
- Increase the mixer speed to medium and knead for 4-5 minutes. Dough should be smooth and clinging to the dough hook (not stuck to the side of the bowl).
- In a clean bowl, add enough oil to coat the inside of the bowl (can spray with cooking spray or add about 1 teaspoon of oil and brush to coat inside of bowl) Quickly form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl, turning once to coat the dough in oil.
- Cover with plastic wrap and a tea towel, then allow to rise for about 1 hour, until dough has doubled in size.
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Line two baking sheets (Use silpat or parchment paper sprayed with cooking spray)
- In a large pot, bring 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a boil.
- Meanwhile, shape pretzels. Turn the dough onto a lightly oiled surface and divide into 8 pieces. Flatten each piece into a rectangle, then roll into a cigar shape. Pinch the seams together. Then roll the dough out into a 24 inch rope. Bring the two ends of the rope up to form a "U" shape. Twist the two end pieces around each other once, then cross the end pieces back down to the bottom of the "U" to complete the pretzel shape. (See above photo)
- When all pretzels are shaped, add them 2 at a time to the pot of boiling water, allow them to boil for 30 seconds. Then remove from the water with a spider or large spatula and place on the baking sheets.
- Brush each pretzel with the egg mixture and sprinkle with kosher salt.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned.
- Serve with beer cheese dip (below)
To Make The Beer Cheese Dip:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- In a medium bowl, stir cream cheese until smooth. Add the grated cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of the grated mozzarella, stir to combine.
- Add the garlic powder, beer and hot sauce, stir until completely mixed.
- Pour into a baking dish* and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of mozzarella on top.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until melted and top is golden.
- Garnish with chopped parsley if desired and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Comments submitted may be displayed on other websites owned by the sponsoring brand.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Fred Meyer . The opinions and text are all mine.
I ddon’t like beer but so excited to try this! Thanks for sharing. Hope you have blessed holidays 😇🙏🏻💯👍🏻💕👅👀yummy
Hi Kimberly, I hope you enjoy them! I don’t think the beer flavor is too strong in these 🙂
Meghan,
Thank you so much for sharing! I can’t wait to try these will let you know how they turn out. Going to check out you sight and see what else looks good 😇🙏🏻💯💗
I made these and they were a hit! I’ll definitely need to double or triple the cheese dip recipe!
How do you recommend storing the pretzels?
Hi Donna – I’m so glad you enjoyed them! You can store the pretzels in an airtight container for a few days. Some readers have mentioned freezing them, so that might work if you want to keep them longer. I haven’t tried freezing them so I can’t be sure if that works, but I think it would be fine.
Could you par cook these and then freeze? I’d like to have them on hand and not go through all the work every time I wanted one. Suggestions on doing so?
Hi John – I have never tried freezing them so I can’t say for sure. If you want to try freezing them, I would say follow the recipe through shaping them into pretzels. Freeze them individually so that they don’t stick together (you can put them in a freezer on a baking sheet, then when they are frozen you can put them into a freezer bag). When you are ready to bake them, take them out of the freezer and let them thaw completely, then continue with the recipe, starting with boiling them. Again, I have not tried this so I can’t be sure of how they will turn out. I hope that helps, let me know how they turn out!
I love this beer cheese dip. I make it all the time for parties and it is always a crowd favorite. Dip that pretzel in there! So good.
This dip is amazing!!! We had some frozen pretzels and after a few hop valley ipas (bubble stash) I decided to whip up some beer cheese dip. So glad I found this recipe!! I was working with what I had in the fridge and used havarti instead of mozzarella, threw in the bubble stash and I think I used garlic salt instead of powder (did I mention I had a few beers lol). This dip turned out great and when we ran out of pretzels we started dipping tortilla chips!! Thank you for sharing this and so happy to find great nw beer down in vegas!!!
Hi Emily – I’m so glad you loved the dip! I’m glad you were able to find some great PNW beer in your area!
Oh my gosh!! i just made these pretzels and beer cheese (doubled it for all the family to enjoy) for our Superbowl party today and holy cow are they ever a hit!!! This was my first time working with yeast so I was pretty nervous. Everything came out awesome!! My pretzel shaping skills are pretty rough, I don’t see auntie Anne’s hiring me anytime soon 😂
Yay! That makes me SO HAPPY to hear! Haha, don’t worry, the pretzel shaping gets easier with practice 🙂
WE’VE BEEN INVITED TO A SUPER BOWL PARTY AND HAVE BEEN ASKED TO MAKE A HOT CHEESE DIP. (HMM..I HAVE NO IDEA WHY I CAN’T CAPITALIZE ANYTHING..ANYWAY, MOVING ON.) THIS LOOKS PERFECT! I WANT TO MAKE THE DOUGH INTO PRETZEL BITES, SO THAT MORE PEOPLE CAN ENJOY THIS RECIPE. I WAS WONDERING, DID YOU CHANGE THE BAKE TEMP OR BAKE TIME FOR THE BITES AS OPPOSED TO FULL SIZE PRETZELS?
Hi Catherine – I did make these into bites when I was recipe testing and from what I remember the temp and time were the same. However, I would recommend keeping an eye on them the first time just to make sure they don’t get too brown, the may need to come out of the oven a few minutes early. I hope you enjoy them! If you are taking them to a party, I have had other readers make the cheese dip in the crock pot so that it stays warm longer. If you do that just be sure to keep it on the lowest setting so that it doesn’t burn!
Wow! My computer must have gone crazy with all the caps yesterday! Thanks for the reply. I’m making these this weekend for a Super Bowl party! Can’t wait to taste it!
Yay! Can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
Can’t wait to make these! My youngest son turns 21 Jan. 29 and I’m making all recipes with beer in them lol. These pretzels and beer dip will be perfect!
What a fun thing to do for your son’s 21st birthday! Hope you guys love them!
I made this recipe today and found that 3 cups of flour was enough for a nice soft dough.
Thanks Melissa! I’m glad to hear that the dough turned out.
Made the pretzels and the dip tonight and it was a huge hit! Great recipe. Followed as is.
Hi Katie, I’m so happy to hear that!
I made these today and the finished product tasted like I used WAY TO MUCH BAKing soda. Did anyone else have this problem? I used the 2/3 cups as directed.
Hi Nikki,
Hmm, that is odd, I have not had that happen before and I haven’t had any readers mention it either. Did you also use the full 10 cups of water? Is it possible you used baking powder instead of baking soda?
Did u put it in the dough one the water bath?
I made these today for a football party. Will definitely make again
Hi Susan – I’m so glad to hear that!
OMG I CAN NOT WAIT TO TRY THIS! i live in the midwest but have visited bend multiple times to hang with my brother and kid you not have been on the hunt for something similar to the Good life brewing pretzel and beer cheese! will be making this this weekend & mouth is already watering just looking at the pics!
Yay! So happy about that Sarah, I hope you love them!
SO GOOD! just made them & loved them! beer cheese pairs very well with some whole grain mustard too!
Yay! So glad they were a winner!!
Made these last night and they were amazing! However, they stuck like crazy to the parchment paper and i have no idea why!
Hi Eleny – Hmm, that is odd! I haven’t had them stick before. I have also used my silpat baking sheet liners and those are great for keeping things from sticking! The only reason I can think that they might have stuck is if the egg wash ran under them and sort of glued them to the parchment paper. Try spraying your parchment paper next time with non-stick spray and see if that helps. I’m glad you enjoyed them anyway!
MEGHAN, WHY LAGEr?
Hi! I like lager because it gives a nice flavor without being overpowering. I have also tried an IPA and it made the dip and pretzels too bitter for my liking. But feel free to use whatever type of beer you prefer!
Hello how many Pretzels would this recipe make? I’d love to make for our annual Oktoberfest party, I’ll only need to make about 24 pretzels.
Hi Kathy,
I believe this makes about 8 pretzels so you would probably want to triple the recipe. I have also made pretzel bites with the dough as well.
Do you think you could make the beer cheese dip in a crockpot?
Hi Deea, I have not made it in the slow cooker but I did have a reader try it and this is what she said about it: “I just put all of the ingredients in the slow cooker and kept it on low. I added a little more beer when it got thick. Also since I started it way to soon, I removed the crock from my slow cooker and stuck it in the fridge. When I was ready to take it to the party I nuked it in the microwave, stirring it at intervals until smooth and it warmed right up nice and creamy. I kept it on low at the party and it didn’t separate.” She said to keep it on low because someone accidentally turned it to high and it burned. I hope that helps!
Can the pretzels be made ahead of time and frozen until ready to be made?
Hi Marisol – I have never tried freezing them so I can’t say for sure. If you want to try freezing them, I would say follow the recipe through shaping them into pretzels. Freeze them individually so that they don’t stick together (you can put them in a freezer on a baking sheet, then when they are frozen you can put them into a freezer bag). When you are ready to bake them, take them out of the freezer and let them thaw completely, then continue with the recipe, starting with boiling them. Again, I have not tried this so I can’t be sure of how they will turn out. I hope that helps, let me know how they turn out!
i followed the direction exactly. Why did my dough still come out sticky?
Hi Nancy, it is really hard for me to say without being there. Did you measure the flour by weight or in measuring cups? Measuring by weight should give you a more accurate amount of flour. If the dough is still too sticky you can add just a little flour at a time until you have the dough is easier to work with. Try just adding one tablespoon at a time until you can work with the dough.
What kind of hot sauce did you use for the beer cheese dip? I’m from Texas and hot sauce could be many things 😉 thanks!
Hi Krista, I use either Tabasco or Tapatio. I hope that helps!