Obatzda Recipe (German Beer Cheese Dip) (2024)

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Obatzda, a flavorful German Beer Cheese Dip, is a beer garden classic made with camembert cheese, butter, and beer! This easy cheese dip can be made ahead and makes a delicious appetizer or snack with pretzels or rustic bread. Perfect for your next Oktoberfest party!

Obatzda Recipe (German Beer Cheese Dip) (1)

Obatzda is a classic Bavarian dish that you can get in every beer garden, supermarket in Bavaria, or traditional Bavarian restaurant. But it’s super easy to make at home with ingredients you can get at your local supermarket! This easy recipe is perfect for making ahead.

There are many different ways to make this beer cheese spread but one thing they all have in common are the main ingredients: aged soft cheese like Camembert or Brie, good quality butter, and a small amount of wheat beer.

Obatzda or Gerupfter(Franconian name) is traditionally seasoned with paprika, caraway seeds, salt, and pepper. You can add chopped onions to the dip but I recommend adding them just before serving otherwise they could develop a bitter or soapy taste when you make the dip in advance.

I’ve tried many different variations of this beer cheese dip and the recipe below is my favorite way to make it!

Obatzda Recipe (German Beer Cheese Dip) (2)

Tips and Trick for How to make Obatzda

  • If you can’t have alcohol you can omit the beer or use a non-alcoholic beer.
  • Instead of wheat beer, you can also use any other German beer.
  • Using your hands works best to mix the ingredients together.
  • Take out all the ingredients from the fridge half an hour before starting to make this recipe. Cut the butter into small cubes, it will come faster to room temperature. Using room temperature ingredients makes it easier to mix everything together.
  • To make my beer cheese dipeasily spreadable even after sitting in the fridge overnight I add a spreadable cheese likeLaughing Cow Cheeseto the camembert cheese. A common problem with Obatzda, made only with cheese and butter, is that it gets quite firm in the fridge. Don’t use cream cheese instead of spreadable cheese wedges. The cream cheese flavor is not the right choice for this dip.
  • Add the sliced onions just before serving this way you can store the cheese dip longer.
  • Serve this beer cheese dip with pretzels, pretzel bread, or a rustic sourdough bread. MyBavarian Pretzelsare perfect to make with this recipe!
  • This recipe is perfect for your Oktoberfest party but also makes a great addition to every holiday appetizer buffet!

Obatzda Recipe (German Beer Cheese Dip) (3)

Looking for more German recipes? Try out these authentic recipes:

  • German Pork Hock (Schweinshaxe Recipe)
  • German Apple Cake (Versunkener Apfelkuchen)
  • German Cucumber Salad Recipe
  • Authentic German Potato Salad
  • Easy German Spaetzle Recipe

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5 from 20 votes

Bavarian Beer Cheese Spread (Obatzda)

By: Julia Foerster

Obatzda, a flavorful German Beer Cheese Spread, is a beer garden classic made with camembert cheese, butter, and beer! This easy cheese dip can be made ahead and makes a delicious appetizer or snack with pretzels or rustic bread. Perfect for your next Oktoberfest party!

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

  • 6 oz Spreadable cheese, like Laughing Cow Creamy Swiss
  • 7 oz Brie , or Camembert Cheese
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 4 tbsp wheat beer
  • 1/2 tsp caraway, ground
  • 1 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 cup chives, finely chopped
  • 1 white onion, finely sliced

Cups - Metric

Instructions

  • Cut the Brie (or Camembert) Cheese into small cubes and add it to a medium bowl.

  • Add Laughing cow cheese, butter, wheat beer, ground caraway, ground paprika, salt, and freshly ground pepper and mix with a fork until combined and smooth.

  • Cover airtight and let it sit in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.

  • Take it out of the fridge and let come to room temperature before serving. Garnish with chives and finely sliced onion rings. This dip keeps fresh in the fridge for about 3 days (without onions).

Nutrition

Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 423mg | Potassium: 65mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 615IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 0.2mg

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Categorized as:
Appetizer Recipes, German Recipes

About Julia Foerster

Hi, I'm Julia! Born in Germany, I call Canada now my home and love to share my favorite dishes with you! Here you'll find hundreds of recipes, all made from scratch, with lots of tips and detailed step-by-step instructions.

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Obatzda Recipe (German Beer Cheese Dip) (2024)

FAQs

What is Obatzda made of? ›

Obatzda, also known as Obatzder or Obazda, is an orange-colored Bavarian cheese spread that's made from combining aged soft cheese (usually camembert) with butter, some Frischkäse (can use quark or cream cheese), onion, and spices. A splash or two of beer is also a popular addition.

What beer is best for German beer cheese? ›

What's the Best Beer to Use for Beer Cheese? Use any beer you enjoy drinking will make for a great beer cheese dip! I prefer something with a more amber color and wheat flavor, like a Wheat beer, a German Hefeweizen, or a Lager.

What is beer cheese dip made of? ›

Beer cheese dip is typically made by heating beer with ingredients like garlic, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in a saucepan until the beer reduces, mixing in cheese and milk, and continuing to cook until the cheese is melted. The resulting mixture is a cheesy spread that can be served warm or cool.

Is beer cheese popular in Germany? ›

Rather than American-style beer cheese that is served warm, Obatzda is made and served cold. Obatzda is one of the most popular snacks at Oktoberfest where it is served alongside fresh Bavarian pretzels.

What is Obazda in English? ›

Obatzda [ˈoːbatsdɐ] (also spelt Obazda and Obatzter) is a Bavarian cheese spread. It is prepared by mixing two thirds aged soft cheese, usually Camembert (Romadur or similar cheeses may be used as well) and one third butter.

What's the best beer for beer cheese? ›

I used Fat Tire because that what I had on hand, but Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Lite are all good options. No need to use anything fancy! What brands of cheese do you recommend? For the Cheddar, you can use a good supermarket brand, like Cabot or Tillamook.

What is the No 1 beer in Germany? ›

In Germany, Krombacher is the most popular beer brand with 11.8% of the beer consumption. The second most popular beer brand in Germany is Beck's, representing 8.9% of the beer market. Oettinger, a Bavarian brewery, is the largest selling beer in Germany by volume.

What do you serve with beer cheese dip? ›

This warm cheddar beer dip is fantastic paired with soft or hard pretzels. It also goes great with vegetables like celery, cauliflower or broccoli florets as well as toasted baguette slices or crackers. If possible, use a brick of cheddar cheese and grate the cheese yourself.

What beer do Germans drink most? ›

By far the most popular type of beer in Germany is pilsner, generally known as 'Pils'. The light-golden beer with the dry hoppy aroma is very popular in the North, West and East.

Why is my beer cheese dip grainy? ›

High heat makes the proteins and fat in the cheese separate, causing the sauce to “break” and turn into a lumpy mess. If this happens, it can be difficult (or impossible) to repair. You might be able to fix the cheese sauce by adding more cream cheese or Dijon, which are both emulsifying ingredients.

How do you thicken beer cheese dip? ›

But you can also grab a small saucepan, add 1/2 cup of your existing cheese dip and a little flour or cornstarch (try 1 teaspoon at a time), and whisk to combine over low heat. Add this back in to your other pan of sauce and stir until incorporated (repeat as necessary to get the consistency you're after).

Does the alcohol cook out of beer cheese dip? ›

Roughly speaking: Beer cheese sauce, bourbon caramel and other sauces brought to a boil and then removed from the heat typically retain about 85 percent of the alcohol. Diane, cherries jubilee and other recipes that flame the alcohol may still have 75 percent of the alcohol.

What is another name for beer cheese? ›

Beer cheese is a form of cold pack cheese, sometimes called crock cheese or club cheese. It's usually made from processed cheese or a blend of cheddar and other cheeses along with spices such as cayenne pepper, mustard powder, and garlic.

What cheese is used at Oktoberfest? ›

Given booter-keh-zuh's mild, buttery taste and creamy texture, the name is a flawless fit. Butterkäse is featured in a variety of different traditional Oktoberfest dishes, but we're equally happy to snack on it solo with a stein of our favorite beer. For pairing, our top recommendation would be a Kolsch.

What do Germans eat with their pretzels? ›

In Bavaria's world-famous beer gardens, pretzels are also enjoyed with obatzda, a strong, cheesy dip made with butter, hot paprika, and Camembert. Frankfurt is home to a milder, creamier version known as schneegestöber, also enjoyed with pretzels and glasses of sour flat apple cider named apfelwein.

What makes German beer German? ›

As one of the oldest alcohol-based beverages, beer's many stages of development go back to early times. But today's beer production has been perfected in Germany. For over 500 years, the German Purity Law has ensured clearly regulated ingredients: Water, malt, hops, yeast - and nothing else. Anything else is not beer.

Is beer cheese alcohol? ›

Is there any alcohol in Hall's Beer Cheese? Yes. There is less alcohol content in beer cheese than there is in a non-alcohol beer.

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