Accidental Cheesy Potato, Sausage, and Beer Soup

The great part about this recipe is that you can change it and add whatever kind of protein or vegetables you like. You don’t even have to add the cheese if you wish. It’s totally up to you.

This recipe, as I said above, was totally by accident and here’s how it came to be.

Throw a stick of salted butter (it’s what I had on hand) in a stock pot. Begin to melt that in the pot. Add a package of frozen onions. I keep these on hand especially during the winter for stew and other kinds of soups or chowder. Next, chop up three stalks of celery and add to the mix. While you are letting the onion and celery sauté together, chop up the sausage into bite-sized pieces and toss them in.

I let this cook for about 15 to 20 minutes, starting on medium-high heat and then turning the heat down to almost low.

Because I didn’t have fresh potatoes on hand, I used the next best thing, and once again turned to my freezer and found a bag of frozen potatoes—the kind you use for hash browns, except they are cubed. I threw the whole bag in (it was small and we like potatoes!).

Then add 1 cup of cream (I know, I know—but gosh, Paula Deen says “I’m your Chef not your doctor!”) and the box of chicken stock along with a bottle of beer. Any old bottle will do.

Bring this all to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Now for the fun part. I wanted something cheesy and decided to try Velveeta Cheese. I know it sounds icky, but let me tell you, it’s amazing stuff! Cubed half of a large block of Velveeta and add it to the mix. Stir constantly until the cheese is melted. Once the Velveeta is melted, add 2 cups of the sharpest cheese you can find. The sharper the better.

Add three tablespoons of flour or Wondra (whatever you have on hand to thicken the soup) to the 2 cups of half-and-half, and mix until the mixture is smooth. Pour gently into the stock pot. Bring to a boil once again, and then return to a simmer, stirring constantly for about ten minutes.

If the mixture is too thick for your liking, you can thin it down using whole milk or half-and-half. I purposely didn’t add salt, as so many of the ingredients already have salt in them, but I did use pepper in the end. Lots of it.

My guess is you could also add any sort of pepper to give the soup a kick.

I served this with thick crusty bread.

It’s a meal in itself, and I love it when I have accidents of this nature!

Enjoy!