Meat and Cheese Platter

All hail the meat and cheese platter

The meat and cheese platter is truly the king of party spreads. Commanding the center of the table, it draws its subjects near with the promise of a parade of flavor. From the meats to the mustards and the olives to the nuts, a meat and cheese platter delivers a bright array of colors, textures, and tastes in delicious combinations, all made more majestic by the choicest of cheeses. When you want to delight your party guests, the right meat cheese platter will royally get the job done.

In Wisconsin, we're not much for pomp and circumstance. We've got our hands full producing the world's finest cheese. But if you stock a meat and cheese platter with a few chunks of our award-winning cheddar blue, goudaor muenster cheese, well heck, we'll always bend the knee to that.

Browse through the recipes on our website to find your next great meat and cheese platter idea or scroll down for a few tips on building a killer meat and cheese platter of your own.

Inspiration for your next meat and cheese platter

A great meat and cheese platter is all about variety in taste and texture and interesting combinations of flavor.

For cheese, that means different types of cheese that might include:

• Firm cheeses like gouda, and chunks of parmesan
• Soft cheeses like burrata and stracchino
• Crumbly cheeses like feta
• Semi-soft cheeses like brick and muenster cheese
• A specialty cheese or two like cheddar blue or the blue jay.

When it comes to the meat, try a selection of:

• Cured sausages like salami, saucisson sec, soppressata, and chorizo
• Whole-muscle cuts such as thinly sliced prosciutto, bresaola, coppa, and Spanish jamón
• Patés and spreads, such as pork rillettes, chicken liver mousse or bluefish paté

For flavor and texture accents, consider a mix of these ingredients:

• Nuts: pine nuts, pistachios, candied pecans or hazelnuts, Marcona almonds, and macadamia nuts
• Bread: baguette slices, toasted crostini, or a selection of hearty crackers
• Mustards: stone-ground mustard or hot sweet mustard
• Fruit: sliced apples, pears, grapes, berries, pomegranates or dried fruits like dried cherries and sun-dried tomatoes
• Jams and spreads: fig preserves, olive tapenade, honey or fresh honeycomb
• Dips: hummus, roasted red pepper or artichoke dip
• vegetables: sweet cherry red peppers, pickles, olives, artichokes

Wisconsin makes the meat and cheese platter matter

When you want your meat and cheese platter to stop the conversation, make sure your guests are filling their plates with Wisconsin cheese. Because when you're eyeing a slice of Wisconsin cheese, it's hard to think about anything else.

See, we've been making cheese here for over 175 years, which means we've been the state of cheese longer than we've been the state of Wisconsin. And with 1,200 licensed cheesemakers and the only Master Cheesemaker program in the world (outside of Switzerland), it turns out we know how to make some pretty dang good cheese. We've got 5,552 awards on our (mile-long) mantle to prove it.

That's what happens when a whole state is dedicated to doing one thing better than anybody else – making the tastiest, highest-quality cheese in the universe. So, next time you're shopping for an epic meat and cheese board, look for the Proudly Wisconsin Cheese™ badge on the label.