Vegan Beer Cheese comes together in only 10 minutes! No cashews or blender needed. The ultra creamy sauce goes perfectly with pretzel bites and is the ultimate game day comfort food!
I’m no stranger to incredible vegan cheese dips. Just look at my Vegan Queso, Easy Vegan Nacho Cheese, Vegan Queso Blanco, Best All Purpose Vegan Cheese Sauce and Vegan Jalapeño Popper Dip.
But this Vegan Beer Cheese right here, this one wins them all.
Beer cheese is pub food at its best, and no one will guess it’s dairy free. Pair with a batch of these Vegan Pretzel Bites, and you’ll be in snacking heaven!
9 simple ingredients, 10 minutes, 1 pot and NO blender needed. Let’s go!
How to make vegan beer cheese
This is an overview with photos of the process. For the complete, printable recipe, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom.
It’s so easy! Get out a medium sized pot.
Melt the vegan butter over medium heat, then whisk in the flour.
Slowly pour in the beer and then plant milk, whisking as you pour.
Cook for about 5 minutes, until it thickens a bit. Stir in the spices, salt and pepper.
Add shredded vegan cheese and stir until completely melted and smooth. That’s it!
Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I make it gluten free? Pretty easy. Substitute a gluten free flour mix for all purpose flour and use gluten free beer.
- What is the best beer for beer cheese? I prefer an ale or IPA. Darker beers will make it a bit more bitter, but use what you prefer.
- Is there a non-alcoholic version? You can use non-alcoholic beer, or use more plant milk in place of the beer.
- What kind of vegan cheese works best? I used Whole Food’s 365 brand of vegan cheddar cheese shreds. LOVE THEM. Violife also works well. Use your favorite brand that you know you like the taste.
Serve with pretzel bites, tortilla chips, vegan fried chicken, add to a veggie burger or burrito bowl or anywhere else you please. It’s AMAZING on everything!
Vegan Beer Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour or gluten free flour mix
- 1/2 cup beer
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk or soy, cashew, oat
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- few shakes ground black pepper
- 3 cups shredded vegan cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan, melt the vegan butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until combined.
- Add the beer slowly to the pot, whisking as you pour. Slowly add the milk as well and whisk until smooth.
- Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until it has thickened somewhat. Add the garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and stir in.
- Now add the shredded vegan cheese and stir until completely melted and smooth. Increase the heat if needed to help it melt. Serve immediately with vegan pretzel bites, tortilla chips, vegan fried chicken or put in on a burger! Enjoy.
- Leftover beer cheese will keep covered in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Simply reheat and stir before serving. It can also be frozen, but the texture is better fresh.
Notes
- Gluten free – I haven’t tested it, but you can likely use gluten free flour in place of the all purpose flour. Use a quality mix, NOT almond flour. And use gluten free beer.
- Without beer – While the beer is essential for that ‘beer cheese’ flavor, you can make it without if needed. Simply substitute 1/2 cup more plant milk. Or use non-alcoholic beer.
- What kind of beer to use – I prefer an IPA or ale for a lighter flavor.
- What milk is best? I used unsweetened almond milk, but soy or cashew are also good choices. Even oat or hemp will work, just make absolutely sure there is NO sweetener or vanilla added.
- What cheese is best? I used Whole Food’s 365 brand of vegan cheddar shreds. Violife also works well, as well as Follow Your Heart or Daiya. Use your favorite!
I was wondering about some modifications to this recipe. I have been wanting to find a sauce to dip pretzels in, so I was super excited to find your recipe. Due to several allergies, pretty much all dairy substitutes won’t work for me. I use oat milk as my milk substitute. Butter is easy enough because olive oil subs just fine for most cases. I was wondering about making this recipe into a mustard sauce instead of a cheese sauce. I haven’t found a plant based cheese that works with all of my allergies.
I’m not really sure what all you can or can’t have in the recipe, but unsweetened oat milk will work in place of the almond milk. Olive oil should be fine in place of the vegan butter. But it’s the shredded vegan cheese that makes the sauce cheesy, so if you can’t have that, it will greatly alter the recipe. Have you tried my recipe for Best Vegan Cheese Sauce? It can be made with oat milk and has no coconut, nuts or tofu. It’s really good too!
Great recipe! We didn’t have enough pretzel bites, though, so we have to go back to the store right now to get more pretzels! Definitely a keeper recipe. Tastes delicious and absolutely scratches the itch for beer cheese. Used Violife cheddar shreds, like several other commenters.
Hi Barbara. I’m really happy to hear you love the recipe! Thanks for your fantastic feedback!
This is a great recipe – though I adjusted to resemble one my family would make. I added almost a full can of beer to make it thinner along with garlic, onion, vegan Worcestershire, and hot sauce. The key is to let it sit a day and then rewarm it to allow the flavors to permeate throughout. Serve it in a bread bowl with various bread cubes for a decadent treat.
Hi Michael. Your beer cheese sounds amazing, as does the bread bowl! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback and ideas!
What kind of shredded cheese do you recommend if you can’t get the Whole Foods brand? Also, I assume using a gf flour doesn’t matter since the beer is liquid gluten.
I like Violife and Daiya, Follow Your Heart also melts well. You can use gluten free flour and gluten free beer to make it gluten free.
Made this for St. Patrick’s day ☘️ It was the perfect appetizer. Easy to make and delicious! Thank you again, Nora!
We love this cheese at our house! Thank you for your wonderful feedback! I’m glad you loved the cheese!
Another Nora recipe success!!!!!
My family loved the beer cheese with pretzel bites. I served them as a Valentines appetizer. Thank you
I used Violife cheddar if anyone needed to know what worked.
I’m happy to hear Violife cheese worked for you! I’m so glad you loved the recipe, and thank you for sharing your review and feedback!
This was amazing!!!! My husband said this was the best thing he has eaten in weeks and that he wanted to pour it over everything. I made beer cheese before we were vegan with regular cheese and dairy and this was better than that. Thank you so much for the recipe! We used violife cheddar for inquiring minds.
Hi Emily. I’m so glad the beer cheese was a hit! Violife cheddar is also one of my favorites! Thank you for sharing your great review and feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
This cheese dip was amazingly delicious and smooth consistency!! I love that I didn’t have to use the blender and it’s all done on the stovetop in just a few minutes!
So good, so easy. I think adding the beer really makes the flavour 10/10!
I’m so glad you found it delicious! Thank you for sharing your review and feedback!
This sounds yummy along with the pretzel bites. Have you tried using Miyoko’s Creamery Cultured Vegan Cheddar Cheese Shreds in this recipe? (For those of us who still have some now that it’s been discontinued.) I am wondering how well it melts in this recipe. Thanks in advance for any help you’re able to provide!
Sorry, I haven’t tried that cheese in this recipe!
Oh, I kept looking for it not knowing it had been discontinued. That was my favorite one☹️