Quick and Easy Chicken and Bacon Beer Cheese Soup

It's such another beautiful fall day outside and I absolutely love sitting on my back porch enjoying the wonderful weather.  Seeing that it's November, I can't help but notice that a lot of my Facebook friends are beginning to go day by day listing the things that they're thankful for.  My thanks though, comes in taking the opportunity to appreciate moments like this.  I personally don't feel the need to sit on a computer and type out every single little thing that I'm thankful for, but instead, I believe in showing my appreciation to the people and the moments as they present themselves throughout the year, not just because it's November.  Therefore, what I'll typically do, especially on a splendid day like this, is grab a cup of coffee, a good book and head outside; I'm currently reading "Between Sisters", by Kristen Hannah, who is one of my favorite authors.  If I'm not going to read, I'll usually bring my computer outside to type on; which is actually what I'm doing right now.  Ok....you caught me...the truth is that I'm also watching the colorful fall leaves blow down from the trees.  They're just so pretty right now and sadly are almost gone for the season.

This transitional time of year, especially when there's a chill in the air, always makes me crave warm comforting foods like soup, chili, and casseroles.  The best part about these types of dishes though, is that there are so many wonderful recipes out there to try.  I happened to land on this particular recipe for chicken and bacon beer cheese soup, mostly because it sounded delicious, but I was also drawn to the fact that it didn't take too long to make.  Some soup recipes that I've found need to cook for a few hours, this one only needed about 15-20 minutes, which was perfect and it turned out absolutely delicious! 

Quick and Easy Chicken and Bacon Beer Cheese Soup
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Makes 4-6 bowls

Ingredients:
6 slices bacon, more for garnish
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. cayenne red pepper
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1 cup beer, I used a lager
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups half & half, or equal substitute
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Garnish:
Croutons
Bacon
Shredded cheese
Scallions

Directions:

Place a skillet over a medium-high heat and cook the bacon.  Once cooked, remove the bacon from the pan, crumble it into bit size pieces, and set aside.  Don’t clean out the skillet, but instead, add the chicken.  Allow the chicken to cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side.  Once ready, remove the chicken from the pan, and using two forks, pull it apart until shredded.  Add the shredded chicken back into the pan and allow it to cook until done.  Now, remove the chicken and set it aside with the bacon.

In an 8 quart pot, over a medium heat, melt the butter.  Add in all the flour and spices and whisk together.  Next, add in and whisk together the beer, chicken broth, and half & half.  Bring to a light bubble, but DO NOT let boil.  Now, add the cheese and whisk together until the mixture is smooth.  Once ready, add in the Worcestershire sauce, chicken, and bacon; then stir around.

Allow the soup to simmer and thicken up until ready to serve.  Garnish with a few or all of the additional toppings and enjoy!

I knew that I wanted a soup that wouldn't take too long to make, yet contained a variety of comforting flavors.  After gathering up some ideas, I settled on this quick and easy bacon beer cheese soup.  Not only does it contain, bacon, beer, and cheese, but it also contains chicken and a variety of spices, all of which sound absolutely divine.  So grab a bowl, and a spoon, and enjoy!

Source: The Slow Roasted Italian