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Spicy Chili Beer Cheese Soup – perfect for game-day and cold nights. Ground beef (or use ground chicken or turkey) seasoned with taco seasoning mix, then mixed with onions, poblano peppers, chunky red salsa, broth, and beer. Simmer the creamy soup on the stove, then just before serving, add some milk, stir in a little cream cheese, and a mix of your favorite melty Mexican cheeses (cheddar, Monterey jack, pepper jack) to balance the spice and add creaminess to this delicious cold weather soup! Ladle into bowls and top each with your favorite toppings. Make the meal even better with a side of homemade beer bread. Or, if you’re making this for game-day, add tortilla chips for scooping! Yum!
Oh, this recipe is fun! Actually, this week is fun! The Super Bowl is on Sunday, and I have a couple of game-day recipes I’m excited to share!
Kicking things off with this spicy chili cheese soup. It’s almost chili, almost a dip, and wonderful served up with beer bread and a salad for dinner. Or grab some tortilla chips for game-day!
It’s so fun and delicious!
My idea for this soup was inspired by a recipe I shared for beer cheese soup so many years ago. This recipe was a creamy beer cheese soup topped off with a chili spice Chex mix. I remember it, and while it sounds different with the Chex Mix on top, it was honestly so delicious!
Anyway, I loved the sound of the chili atop a creamy soup. I wondered if I could create a soup with a creamy cheese base and some yummy chili-seasoned meat mixed in.
I knew it could be so delicious, and that’s exactly how it turned out! Creighton, my oldest brother, is very excited about this soup! And he doesn’t even like soup!
These are the quick details
Ingredients
- ground beef, or try using ground bison, chicken, or turkey
- yellow onions
- poblano peppers
- taco seasoning
- chunky red salsa
- your favorite beer
- broth
- milk
- cream
- salted butter
- cream cheese
- shredded Mexican cheese, cheddar, Monterey jack, or pepper jack
- cilantro and green onions
- plenty of cheddar cheese and avocado, for serving
Special Tools
None! All you need is a nice big soup pot. This recipe is basically effortless!
Steps
Step 1: brown the beef
Brown the meat. I love to use ground beef, but as mentioned in the recipe, you can use ground chicken or ground turkey too. Use whatever you and your family enjoy the most!
Now, mix in the peppers, the onions, and the taco seasoning.
Once the meat is broken up and browned, almost everything else will go into the pot to simmer!
Step 2: add flour
Now, mix in the flour. The flour helps thicken the soup and ensures the cheese will melt smoothly into the broth.
You can omit the flour if you like, but the soup may just be a little less smooth and more chunky!
Step 2: add everything else
Add the broth and the beer. Let this simmer and thicken.
Now add the milk, cream cheese, salsa, and shredded cheese. Allow the cheese to melt and the soup to thicken and become creamier.
This balances the heat and makes the yummiest soup!
How to layer
I layer as follows: shredded sharp cheddar cheese, cilantro, and sliced avocados. Then sprinkle on plenty of fresh scallions.
And no bowl is complete without beer bread or chips for scooping. Both are great additions!
Looking for other game day ideas? Here are a few ideas:
Healthy Slow Cooker Turkey and White Bean Chili
Healthy Slow Cooker Chipotle Bean Chili
One Skillet Saucy Chicken Tortilla Enchilada Rice Bake
Healthy Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Tortilla Soup with Salty Lime Chips
Crockpot Chipotle Queso Chicken Chili
Lastly, if you make this Spicy Chili Beer Cheese Soup, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Spicy Chili Beer Cheese Soup
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 470 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef, chicken, or turkey
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 poblano pepper, chopped
- 3-4 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- salt and black pepper
- 2-4 cups broth
- 1 can/bottle beer (or additional broth)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups chunky red salsa
- 2 ounces cream cheese, melted
- 1-2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (cheddar, montery jack, pepper jack)
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- avocado and scallions, for serving
Instructions
- 1. In a large dutch oven set over medium-high heat, brown the meat and onions all over, breaking up the meat as you go, about 5 minutes.2. Add the poblanos, taco seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, until fragrant. Stir in the flour and cook for another minute. Pour over 2 cups of broth, add the beer or additional broth, and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes until the soup thickens a bit. 3. Pour over the milk. Add the cream cheese, the salsa, and the shredded cheese. Stir to melt, 5 minutes. If the soup is too thick, add broth to thin. 4. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top as desired with cilantro, avocado, and scallions. You can sprinkle over some extra cheese too! Eat and enjoy!
This post was originally published on February 3, 2025
perfect soup for the -35C weather we have right now! Great flavour! YUM!
Thanks so much, Gordon! Love to hear that this soup was enjoyed! Stay warm! xT
Forgot to add my rating since my family refused to eat it and we had to order pizza.
My soup split and looks like it curdled. Why did this happen? I followed the directions exactly.
Hi there,
Thanks for trying this recipe, sorry to hear you had some issues. At what point did you experience this? Were your dairy ingredients at room temp? Again, sorry to hear this was not enjoyed. xx
Looks delicious! I haven’t made it yet but looking forward to it soon.
If you haven’t made it, why have you rated it? That’s so dishonest and unhelpful towards people trying to find a recipe to make.
Very tasty! Directions were easy to follow. I took a few liberties and added double beer, broth, salsa and cream cheese, it turned out a nice, not too thick consistency with these . I did have issue with the cream cheese incorporating – I melted it but it just clumped up in the soup, I even turned the heat up to try to melt it and it never fully mixed in. Next time I will probably use sour cream instead. It also isn’t spicy – maybe a tad bit smokey but definitely not spicy. That’s not a big deal for us, but just a note since it’s supposed to be spicy. If you want spicy, you’ll need a more spicy pepper. Overall, it was very good and I will definitely make again with a few modifications.
Hey April,
Thanks so much for trying this soup and sharing your feedback! Glad to hear it was enjoyed and that you would make again with adjustments:) xT
Thanks so much, Judy!! I hope you love this recipe! xT
It turned off cold here, so I figured it was the perfect time to make soup! This turned out really well—-I used ground turkey and a jalapeño instead of a poblano. Super creamy and flavorful!
Hey Valerienne,
Amazing! Thank you so much for trying this soup, I am so glad it turned out well for you! xxT
Tigehan, another crowd pleaser in my family! I am not a huge “traditional” chili fan and my family is constantly begging for it, so this was a great compromise in flavors! I used chopped green chilis instead of poblanos (only because it was what I had on hand) – we will definitely keep this in our rotating dinners! Thanks for all your creativity! 🫶🏻
Hey Ali,
Yay! Thank you so much! I’m so glad this recipe was enjoyed by your family. Thanks for making it! xxT
Just made this tonight per my teenage daughter’s request, it was delicious!! I made mine with a bit extra broth, we just prefer it soupy-er, and it was so flavorful! My hubby wants it in the rotation!
Thanks so much, Carrie! Love to hear this recipe was enjoyed, I appreciate you making it! xT
I just made this on this cold wintery day. It turned out delicious. I used the last can of beer in the house(lol) I did substitute a green pepper for the poblano pepper as I did not have one. I also added a can of black beans since I like them. I love your recipe and will be making this again. thanks so much Tieghan and please keep cooking away. . I love all your recipes. 😍❤️
Hey Chris,
Wonderful! So glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks a lot for giving it a try! Great idea to add black beans! xxT
I love beer cheese soup and also love chili and these seemed like a yummy combo of the two. My husband said he felt like he was eating queso dip with a spoon, and I do agree this seemed more like a dip than a soup. With chips it was good! Personally, I think if you left out the cream cheese and maybe reduced the milk it would be more soup like. I didn’t have any more broth to thin it out so it was pretty thick. I did also almost doubled the taco seasoning as 3-4 tablespoons wasn’t enough flavor for us!
Hi Sharie,
Thanks so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! So sorry to hear you didn’t love it. xx
I think there needs to be a report button for comments so we can get rid of the mean spirited people who make nasty comments from the sidelines to vent their emotional instabilities. These people are of low caliber and we don’t need to keep seeing their garbage. As for the soup, I’m looking forward to trying it and have already added it to my recipe file. As for the person who commented on greasiness — cheese, especially good quality cheese has a good deal of fat in it. That’s why I add the cheese just before serving it.
It would be ideal if the comments were pre-moderated before the blog published them. Then nobody would have to see it, and the readers wouldn’t be responsible for having to police others. The site admins should have set up this feature from day one, but certainly after the mudslinging started on this site.
This was a bit too greasy for a soup. Next time I’d drain the fat after cooking the beef and add way less cream cheese if any. Flavor-wise I expected a bit more oomph with all these ingredients but it was all kind of bland. Thanks though.
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! xx
Hi Tiegan,
I hope you read this. Please ignore the negative, evil comments that you are receiving. Some people are jealous of your success. They are basically kicking a kitten. You are very talented and are obviously working hard. Every half baked recipe that I have made has turned out great. Keep up the hard work because you are admired and making the world a better place. ❤️
Hi Elizabeth,
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment today, I appreciate your kind message:) Hope you are having a great start to your week! xxT
Hi Tieghan, you’re right, there were some really nasty comments. Don’t let the words hurt you. You have a great family and home, are loved and you’re very successful. That arouses envy in small-minded people. One can actually feel sorry for them. Keep going and enjoy your success and your life. All the best from Berlin, Germany.
Thanks so much for your kind message, Karen:) Hope you are off to a great Monday! xT
Sold! Love the way you toss on the chunks of avocado and randomly cut onions. It just makes it feel so different and fresh.
I hope you love this recipe, Janet:)
Do you use beef broth? And what is your favorite go to chunky salsa? Excited to try this! 🙂
Hey Rachelle,
You can use any broth you like here, I love using chicken bone broth. Whole Foods 365 has a great chunky salsa that I like to use. Please let me know if you give this recipe a try! xT