No-Cook

Spicy Cheese Appetizer

by:
May 19, 2019
5
2 Ratings
Spicy Cheese Appetizer
Photo by Ty Mecham
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Makes 1 bowl
Author Notes

Perfect for backyard summer BBQs or last-minute picnics, this easy beer cheese recipe makes a fast—and tasty—appetizer or snack. All you need to do ahead of time (at least an hour) is let the beer come up to room temperature so it blends nice and smoothly with the cheese. To make this recipe even easier, buy pre-shredded cheese. That way, all you have to do is toss everything in the food processor or a powerful blender. —Erin Alexander

Test Kitchen Notes

This recipe was developed in partnership with Allagash Brewing Company. —The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup Allagash White beer, plus more to thin out the dip, if needed
  • 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1/4 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 pinch cayenne
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 2 teaspoons hot sauce, plus more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 jalapeño, roughly chopped and with the seeds removed
  • 1 small bunch cilantro, roughly torn
Directions
  1. Pour the beer into a measuring cup or small bowl and let it sit out for at least one hour to come up to room temperature and lose its carbonation. (If it is too cold or bubbly it won’t combine properly.)
  2. Add the cheddar cheese, pepper jack, minced garlic, paprika, cayenne, and salt to a food processor. Pulse the food processor a few times or until roughly combined.
  3. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and add the hot sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, sliced jalapeño, and cilantro. Pulse the food processor a few times or until loosely combined.
  4. Scrape down the sides of the food processor and add the beer one or two tablespoons at a time. Pulse until the mixture is smooth, creamy, and fully combined, adding more beer as needed. If the dip is too thick, add 1 tablespoon of beer at a time; if it's too thin, add 1 small handful of cheddar cheese at a time until you've reached the desired consistency.
  5. Serve immediately with crackers and crudités. (It will also keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.)
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2 Reviews

Manhattan T.
Manhattan T. July 17, 2019
This was SO well received! I didn't *really* measure stuff, I just eyeballed the cheeses, used a few cloves of garlic, used more Dijon than called (a hefty 1 Tbs.) and more Worcestershire (1 Tbs. plus?) because they're delicious, used Jalapeño Jack instead of Pepper Jack so skipped the added jalapeño, did 1/2 tsp. Diamond Crystal salt, used Orange Hanger Wheat (sorry, no Allagash at Manhattan Beach Trader Joe's) and basically just used this as a springboard to utterly delicious snacking. The pretzel bread crostini alongside didn't hurt anyone's feelings either. This will be a perpetual request from a LOT of people -- including those who tried it microwaved. You can't go wrong with this delicious spackle.
 
Erin A.
Erin A. July 29, 2019
I'm so glad to hear it was a success!! Pretzel bread crostini sounds amazinggggg.