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This easy beer cheese recipe is perfect drizzled over my pulled beer chicken! This is an easy lunch or dinner recipe that’s made in the slow cooker and served on pretzel rolls.
Well, guys. It’s official.
I’m a mean mom and a bad wife.
You’ll never believe what I did.
My family was hungry. I was in the middle of doing something (probably Facebook, but let’s pretend it was something important just for fun). I made them wait for lunch. For a whole hour.
Now, don’t worry. They didn’t starve to death. It was a really close call, but they pulled through. Those 4 hours between breakfast and lunch nearly did them in, but I got off my butt and fed them just in the nick of time.
Of course, once the food was cooked and the house smelled like a weird mixture of beer (!) and cheese (!) and pretzels (!), I sent everyone off to the dining room to wait (im)patiently while I photographed their meal.
Seriously, is it just me or are hungry children and husbands the whiniest creatures on Earth? I mean, my word. I don’t think anyone was literally starving, but the moaning and wailing and rolling around the floor while crying big fat tears was sure enjoyable to watch. Except not.
So, if you’re looking at the pictures of the little pretzel sandwiches and you’re thinking, dang girl, that’s some crap photography…well, blame it on the whiners. They rushed me.
These photos do not do this sandwich justice! First, you have chicken that’s been slow cooked in beer. Because, beer.
Then you have a cheese sauce that’s made with beer. Because, beer.
Then you have pretzel rolls that are slathered with dijon mustard, because…beer? I don’t know. I was drunk at this point and mustard sounded good.
You can use my pretzel roll recipe for the buns here. Just shape them as big or as small as you like and adjust the bake time accordingly. Or you can be a cheater pants and hit up Costco for the big bag of pretzel buns. Either option is delicious.
And, if you want something to serve with these guys, may I suggest some of my crispy battered french fries? You can either dip them in the extra cheese sauce or you can make my easy fry sauce recipe. It won’t be the healthiest lunch, but I’m pretty sure you’ll love it.
Beer Cheese Chicken Pretzel Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 12 ounces beer
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup beer
- 1/2 cup milk
- 8 ounces freshly grated cheddar
- 2 tablespoons chopped chives
- Pretzel rolls homemade or store bought
- Dijon mustard
Instructions
- Place the chicken, beer, garlic, salt, and pepper in the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 8 hours or high heat for 4 hours.
- When done, shred the chicken with two forks. Meat should shred easily.
- To prepare the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 minutes.
- Whisk in the beer and milk and continue cooking and whisking until the sauce is smooth and thick, about 5 minutes.
- Turn heat to low and add the cheese, a small handful at a time, stirring until melted before adding the next handful. Stir in the chives.
- To serve, warm the pretzel buns in the oven. Split and spread one side with mustard. Top with the chicken and cheese mixture.
Ginger says
Made this for Super Bowl and spring break. Real crowd pleaser – loved by the whole family!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks for the review!
Bella says
Hi Karly! I can’t have alcohol- could I use broth here and amp up the spices? Also, I am obsessed with nutritional yeast and would like to toss some in a nacho queso I’d like to use here- any thoughts?
Karly says
Hi Bella! You can definitely use broth – the taste will be different of course, but the recipe will still work fine. You could also use a non-alcoholic beer, if you’d like that beer flavor. As for the nutritional yeast, it’s not something I have much experience with so I can’t really help there.
Miranda says
This recipe is quick and easy to throw together and very tasty. Love it. Thank you for the recipe!
Kristi says
I had leftover beer cheese from two nights ago and searched for a dinner to use it for. This was perfect! We liked it better than the original pretzel/ beer cheese recipe from two nights ago! Your buns turned out perfectly, and my husband is picky… While the shredded chicken isn’t giantly flavorful, no shredded chicken ever is, and yours is better than most. Doesn’t matter anyways once you add the cheese. Thank you.
Karly says
Hi Kristi! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Kelly G says
My family thought this recipe was okay. They enjoyed the cheese sauce, but something with the chicken, it was very wet. Maybe I didn’t use enough chicken or too much beer, but the flavor was not bad. Easy recipe to follow and not time consuming to put together.
Stephanie says
These turned out just like the photos. I took the recommendation of another comment and added Worcester sauce, cayenne and garlic powder to the cheese sauce. It helped, but I do think overall they need more flavor. I used a Kona lager, maybe a stronger beer would help with the flavor too.. I will definitely make again!
Joyce says
It’s been a long time since I’ve made this. Do I take the chicken out of the beer or shred it in the beer?
Karly says
Either way is fine. We always keep the chicken in the cooking liquid before serving so that it stays warm while we make the cheese sauce.
Kim says
This is really fantastic! Perfect combination of everything you could want in a sandwich. So fancy yet so easy. Kicks butt as an Oktoberfest party food!
Karly says
Thanks, Kim!
Kelly says
Delicious – I’d highly recommend Milwaukee Pretzel Buns — soooooo goood! https://www.milwaukeepretzel.com/collections/pretzel-buns