I have always enjoyed a good beer cheese soup; rich, creamy, satisfying deep in the belly. A traditional German soup prepared since medieval times, it’s simply a combination of stock, beer, and cheese thickened with a starch (such as flour, stale bread, or potato). Here in Wisconsin, with our substantial German heritage, the soup is most often made with a local beer and an aged-cheddar and served with a large, beer-hall-style, soft pretzel. This is a very representative sample recipe from a self-proclaimed Wisconsin native.

As deeply satisfying as this soup is in the belly, it’s not exactly the most healthy for the heart. With almost ½ cup of cheddar cheese per serving, that’s about 11 grams of saturated fat (over 50% of the daily recommended limit) as well as a fairly high amount of cholesterol and salt. If you want to throw the bacon on top, tasty but not exactly healthy. (Of course, you might side with Paula Deen when she says “I’m your cook, not your doctor”)

But what if we reconsider how we prepare this Wisconsin classic? Our version is Great Lakes in spirit then, if not fully in the ingredients, as we replace the cheese with a combination of roasted squash (very Great Lakes) and nutritional yeast (not exactly Great Lakes). We use a Wisconsin Yellow Potato (Wisconsin is the third largest potato grower in the US!) which adds a nice creaminess to the soup. The result is a rich, creamy, belly-satisfying soup, which also happens to be nutritionally rich and heart healthy.

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 delicata squash, peeled, seeded, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 Tbs canola oil or similar neutral vegetable oil
Salt

1 sweet yellow onion, diced
4 cups vegetable broth (We use Better than Bullion Roasted Vegetable)
12 ounce amber beer (We used Capitol Brewery’s Amber Lager)
2 medium Wisconsin yellow potatoes (or Yukon Golds), peeled and diced

1 cup nutritional yeast
2 Tbs stone ground mustard

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the squash cubes on the baking sheets, butternut on one and delicata on the other, and toss with a drizzle of oil and pinches of salt. Roast delicate for about 20 minutes and the butternut for about 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown around the edges and soft. Do not allow squash to get over-caramelized. If pieces are getting dark before tender, turn down the oven temperature to 300°F to finish.

While squash roasts, in a large soup pot over medium heat, drizzle with oil and add onions. Cook and stir until translucent and only lightly caramelized. Do not over-brown. Add broth, beer and potato and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are very soft then remove from heat and allow to cool.

In a large blender, place roasted squash, nutritional yeast, mustard and cooled broth and potatoes. Blend until creamy. Add salt to taste.

Serve while hot with a large pretzel from Milwaukee Pretzel Company and an Amber Lager from Capitol Brewery! The amber lager used in the recipe is pretty much the perfect beer for our German-style soup. Here is how Capital Brewery describes what they are about: “[F]ounded in 1984 to brew traditional German style lager beer in America and brewed their first two styles of beer in copper kettles obtained from the Krekeler Brewery in Hoxter, Germany” There you go, doesn’t get more traditionally German than that, Prost!