Welsh Rarebit and Roasted Tomato Soup (Grilled Cheese the Welsh Way)
Last updated on October 13th, 2026
This is grilled cheese and tomato soup the Welsh way. The grilled cheese is Welsh rarebit: mature cheddar mixed with dark beer, English mustard and Worcestershire sauce, piled onto thick toast and grilled until bubbling and golden. It comes with a roasted tomato soup made with an oven tray and a blender. It serves two and takes about 50 minutes.
What Is Welsh Rarebit? (And Is It Just Cheese on Toast?)
Welsh rarebit is cheese on toast taken up a level. Instead of just grating cheese onto bread, you mix mature cheddar with warm dark beer, butter, English mustard and Worcestershire sauce, spread it thickly on toast and grill it. It’s sometimes called Welsh rabbit, but there’s no rabbit in it, and it’s been crowned the ultimate cheese on toast countless times. The mature cheddar gives it a strong, punchy flavour and the dark beer adds a deep, slightly bitter note.
Why Is It Called Welsh Rarebit?
Welsh rarebit started life as ‘Welsh rabbit’, and no, there’s no rabbit in it. It was an old dig from the English, a bit of tongue-in-cheek mockery suggesting the poor Welsh couldn’t afford real meat, so they made do with melted cheese on toast instead. Funny thing is, that ‘poor man’s dinner’ is now one of the best cheese on toast recipes you’ll ever eat, and it’s far easier to make than you’d think.
How to Roast the Tomatoes, Onions and Carrots for the Soup
The recipe starts with some beautiful Roma tomatoes, the riper they are the more flavour your soup will have, remove the stalks and slice them in half, then remove the green bit where the stalk was attached. This part is a bit woody and usually doesn’t get fully broken down in the blender. Ripe tomatoes are also the star of my Provençal baked tomatoes.
Next the 2 red onions, just slice them in half and remove the papery skin. Then slice off the very end of the root, any other dry-looking parts and cut the onion into a similar size to the tomato halves, probably quarters or sixths.
Next 3 carrots just take the very top off and any roots from the bottom. I’m using carrots because they’re a great thickener for blended soups and they also have a slightly sweet flavour that brings out the flavour of the tomatoes. Potato plays a similar thickening role in my silky spinach soup.
Finally 4 cloves of garlic, just lightly crush them, peel the skin off and take off the bottom.
Place everything in a roasting tray, pour over some olive oil and season generously with salt. Give everything a good mix with your hands, this is a step that chefs will always take but home cooks might not. It gets everything evenly coated in oil and salt, which will give you more even roasting plus it’s great for your skin!
Turn the tomatoes so they’re all facing up, this helps them to lose some moisture when cooking. Load the tray into a preheated oven set at 180C (355F), for around 20 to 30 minutes.
How to Make Welsh Rarebit With Dark Beer and Mature Cheddar
Next, the grilled cheese part of the recipe. It’s really easy to make and uses just a few everyday ingredients, a bowl and a spatula.
What Are the Ingredients in Welsh Rarebit?
For two portions you need 125g of mature cheddar, 35ml of dark beer, 10g of butter, a heaped teaspoon of English mustard, a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and two thick slices of bread.
The first of those is beer, you ideally want a dark beer, something that has a deep, slightly bitter flavour, think Guinness flavours rather than Budweiser flavours!
I’m making 2 portions in this recipe, so I only need 35ml, roughly 3/4 of a shot glass. Place that into a bowl and into the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds. Of course you can do this in a saucepan as well, you’re just looking to get the beer steaming, this removes any alcohol taste.
Whilst the beer is still hot add in 10g of butter, a heaped teaspoon of English mustard, if you don’t have English mustard then you could use wholegrain. I would avoid Dijon or American-style yellow mustard they’ll be too sweet for this recipe. Next into the bowl a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and lastly the most important ingredient, 125g of grated cheddar cheese. I’m using mature cheddar cheese, this is also known as sharp cheddar in other parts of the world. The cheese needs to have a strong, punchy flavour, a mild cheddar just won’t work.
Mixing the Rarebit and Spreading It on Toast
Mix all of that well until you have something that looks like this.
This is a simple version of rarebit, some traditional recipes start by making a roux, they might use some milk or multiple cheeses. If you do fancy the roux route, my leek gratin béchamel shows how to keep it lump-free. All these other versions tend to create a lot of washing up whereas this version uses just a bowl and a spatula.
Now we need something to put this on, any type of bread will work, you want a thick, sturdy slice, lightly toast it on both sides. A thick slice of homemade Turkish bread is ideal here.
Now just spread the rarebit onto the toast, cover it corner to corner and mound it up in the middle. Set that to one side until you need it.
How to Blend the Soup and Grill the Rarebit
By this point your vegetables should be ready, you just want the carrots and onions to be soft. Now spread 2 heaped tablespoons of tomato puree over the vegetables. This is going to give the soup a deeper colour and stronger tomato flavour. Place that back into the oven to roast for another 5 minutes to unlock the flavours of that paste.
5 minutes of roasting later, this tray smells deeply tomatoey and it’s time to finish this soup. Place everything in a blender or liquidiser.
I usually start on slow and build up to high speed, don’t forget to crack the lid a little hot things can blow it off. Once you have a reasonably smooth paste you can start to add the hot vegetable stock bit by bit. My salt-free homemade stock is perfect for this, so you stay in control of the seasoning. The amount to use will vary from soup to soup, so I’m going to start with just under a cup and go from there. In total this soup took 500ml or around 2 cups of stock for a thick winter-style soup.
Cook the rarebit under a grill, aka broiler, until it’s bubbling and golden in places. If you’re quick enough and you used boiling hot stock when blending the soup you can serve it in a warm bowl straight away. After 5 minutes under the grill, the rarebit is done, looking and smelling amazing!
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Welsh rarebit taste like?
Strong and savoury: the mature cheddar gives it a punchy flavour and the dark beer adds a deep, slightly bitter note.
What beer works best for rarebit?
A dark beer with a deep, slightly bitter flavour: think Guinness rather than a light lager. Heating it until it’s steaming, in the microwave or a small pan, removes the alcohol taste before it goes into the mix.
Can I make Welsh rarebit without beer?
Yes: swap the beer for the same amount of stout-flavoured stock or just extra milk, though you’ll lose some of the malty depth that the beer brings to the rarebit.
Why roast the vegetables instead of just simmering them for the soup?
Roasting lets the tomatoes lose some moisture, which is why I turn them all face up in the tray. Roasting the tomato puree with the vegetables for a final 5 minutes then gives the soup a deeper colour and a stronger tomato flavour.
Can I make the soup ahead and reheat it?
Yes, the soup keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days and reheats gently on the stove: just make the rarebit fresh to serve, since it’s best straight from the grill.
Welsh Rarebit and Roasted Tomato Soup (Grilled Cheese the Welsh Way)
Equipment
- Baking / Roasting tray
- Blender (jug, liquidiser)
- Mixing bowl / Bowl
- Box grater
- Chef’s knife
- Chopping board
- Digital scales
- Measuring jug
- Measuring spoons
- Shot glass / Measure
- Serving bowl / Dish
- Spatula (silicone, general)
Ingredients
Rarebit
- 125 g mature cheddar cheese also called sharp cheddar, grated
- 35 ml dark beer stout or ale, about 3/4 of a shot glass
- 15 ml Worcestershire sauce 1 tablespoon
- 10 g unsalted butter about 1 teaspoon
- 1 heaped teaspoon English mustard or 1/2 teaspoon English mustard powder; wholegrain works if you have no English mustard, avoid Dijon and American yellow mustard
- 2 thick slices of bread
Tomato soup
- 1 kg tomatoes 6 to 8 Roma tomatoes
- 2 red onions
- 3 carrots
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 heaped tablespoons of tomato puree
- 500 ml hot vegetable stock about 2 cups, added a little at a time until the soup is as thick as you like
Instructions
Rarebit
- Heat the beer until it’s steaming, about 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave or in a small saucepan, then take it off the heat.
- While the beer is still hot, add the butter, English mustard, Worcestershire sauce and grated cheddar and mix until well combined.
- Lightly toast the bread on both sides.
- Spread the rarebit mixture generously onto the toast, corner to corner, and mound it up in the middle. Set to one side.
Tomato soup
- Slice the tomatoes in half, peel and slice the onions into quarters, take the tops off the carrots and peel the garlic.
- Place everything into a roasting tray with some olive oil and salt, give everything a good mix so it’s evenly coated in oil, then turn the tomatoes so they are all facing up.
- Roast at 180C (355F) for 20 to 30 minutes until the carrots and onions are soft.
- Spread 2 heaped tablespoons of tomato puree over the vegetables and roast for another 5 minutes.
- Place everything into a blender or liquidiser (you may have to divide it into 2 or 3 batches), starting on slow and building up to high speed, and crack the lid so hot steam can escape.
- Blend until smooth, then add the hot vegetable stock a little at a time (about 500ml in total) until you are happy with the thickness.
- Grill the rarebit under a hot grill (broiler) for about 5 minutes, until bubbling and golden in places.
- Serve the soup straight away in warm bowls with the rarebit.
Video
Nutrition
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