Dinner is the part of every evening where you get to unwind and enjoy a home-cooked meal. But, all too often, it turns into a scene where you stare at your fridge and pantry hoping for a flash of inspiration—or lower standards.
Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that way—not when you’ve got Wisconsin cheese on your side. Today we’re highlighting five of our favorite simple dinner recipes that are low on prep and high on cheesy satisfaction.
In fact, four of these recipes only require one pot from start to finish. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Slow-Cooker Potato Chowder
This one-pot wonder is exactly the kind of hearty meal you need to lift your spirits on a cold dreary day.
Loaded with red potatoes, bacon, and cheese, this chowder is rich and rustic without being overwhelming decadent. While this chowder might be loaded with flavor, it’s a recipe light on effort.
Toss everything in one pot, let it cook, top with freshly shredded Wisconsin cheese, and enjoy!
Featured Cheese
Ron’s Wisconsin Pepper Jack: This is what you’ll be grating on top of your steaming bowl of warm chowder. Ron’s Wisconsin Cheese blends a variety of hot peppers into their monterey-jack to create this smooth yet spicy cheese that works wonderfully for a variety of tasty dishes—but especially our one-pot chowder.
Recipe Tip: Feel free to add another cheese to the topping so your pepper jack doesn’t get lonely, or substitute the pepper jack entirely for another one of your favorites.
Get the full recipe and cooking guide here.
Butternut Squash Parmesan Pasta
Easy and elegant pasta dish—all in just in one pot.
It’s a scenario we see all the time; you’ve had a long day, you’re tired, and yesterday’s leftovers have lost their luster. One-pot pasta is the answer—specifically this Butternut Squash Parmesan Pasta.
Although this is a winter and fall staple, it’ll have you feeling cozy any time of year. Most importantly, this recipe features a generous serving of freshly grated Wisconsin parmesan on every bowl—the ultimate key to happiness.
Featured Cheese
Nordic Creamery Parmesan: If you ask us, grating fresh parmesan onto a bowl of warm pasta can be classified as a spiritual experience. Nordic Creamery’s Parmesan is younger than most traditional varieties which gives makes it particularly approachable flavor-wise, and extra meltable.
Recipe Tip: While pre-grated cheeses have their place, freshly grated cheese is a better choice in dishes like our Butternut Squash Parmesan Pasta where you’ll be tasting the cheese front-and-center.
Get the full one-pot Butternut Squash Parmesan Pasta recipe and cooking guide here.
Cheese Lover's Chicken Parmigiana
Love Wisconsin cheese and chicken parm? Combine your two favorite things onto one delish plate in just 20 minutes.
We’ve seen our fair share of chicken parmigiana but most of them are missing one crucial ingredient—Wisconsin cheese. Our Cheese Lover’s Chicken Parmigiana is simple, quick, and most importantly one of the most satisfying meals you’ll ever have.
Featured Cheese
Weyauwega Star Dairy Parmesan: Parmigiana literally means, “cooked or served with parmesan cheese” so naturally, it’s the centerpiece of this dish. Weyauwega Star Dairy’s parmesan is aged for over 10 months before being eagerly consumed by cheese lovers across the country. Flavor-wise this parmesan tastes buttery, nutty, and subtly sweet all at once.
Weyauwega Star Dairy Mozzarella: Topping off your Cheese Lover’s Chicken Parmigiana will be this masterful mozzarella. Made with a combination of traditional Italian and new-world Wisconsin cheesemaking techniques, this mozzarella has a rich yet mellow flavor with excellent meltability.
Weyauwega Star Dairy Provolone: While many people pick between provolone and parmesan for their chicken parm, we couldn’t bear that idea—so we included both, and we’re glad we did. Provolone and parmesan making a perfect pair. Provolone is mild and milky while parmesan is a little more intense and nutty—together they take our chicken parmigiana to the next level.
Fun-fact: Weyauwega Star Dairy has been making cheese for four generations and specializes in Italian-style cheeses like the parmesan, mozzarella, and provolone used in this recipe.
Get the Cheese Lover’s Chicken Parmigiana recipe and baking guide here.
Spicy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
A classic comfort food, now with a spicy twist—courtesy of some Ghost Pepper infused Wisconsin cheese.
Chicken Alfredo is one of our favorite go-to’s when we want an easy home-cooked meal that’s high on flavor and low on effort. But why not push the envelope a bit?
This recipe takes everything great about traditional chicken fettuccine Alfredo and kicks things up a notch with Kindred Creamery’s Ghost Pepper Colby Jack.
Besides the cheese, the best part of this recipe is its simplicity. It might sound too gouda to be true, but our recipe takes just ten minutes and three steps to prepare.
Featured Cheese
BelGioioso Parmesan: Made by BelGioioso’s Master Cheesemakers, this particular parmesan has won more awards than we have time to mention—it’s simply a must-try. Parmesan’s nutty and full flavor makes it an ideal partner for pasta, especially chicken fettuccine Alfredo.
Kindred Creamery Ghost Pepper Colby Jack: Here’s where your pasta gets extra interesting—and spicy. This colby-jack is basically Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde in cheese form. On one hand, you have mellow, mild, and creamy colby-jack, but on the other hand, you have intense heat from the ghost pepper and habanero pepper seasoning. It’s a beautiful contrast that makes this cheese and experience you won’t soon forget.
Recipe Tip: Can’t stand the heat? You’re not alone, and we understand. If reading about Ghost peppers is striking fear in your heart you can easily swap in a mellower pepper-jack, colby-jack, or even mozzarella instead.
Get or Spicy Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo recipe and cooking instructions here.
Turkey Cheeseburger Skillet
Turkey cheeseburgers and pasta are both great on their own but together they create a delicious and healthy one-pot meal that will have you feeling grate.
The simplest way to explain this recipe is to think of it as a home-made, healthy, cheesy version of hamburger helper. Let’s break it down. Our recipe uses turkey instead of beef to cut down on fat.
Turkey is a lean meat that acts as a great base to soak up all the great flavors that are getting to know each other in your skillet. Speaking of which, did we mention you only need one skillet for this whole recipe? Now we did.
What seals the deal for this recipe is the melty and smooth cheddar you stir in at the end.
Featured Cheese
Arena Mild or Medium Cheddar: Classic Wisconsin cheddar done right by Arena Cheese. Pick either mild or medium to suit your tastes. Mild and medium cheddars have similar flavor profiles, but medium cheddar just steps up the intensity of the flavor. We’d recommend getting both and doing a tasting to see what you like more. In fact, we have a whole guide devoted to cheese tasting so you can figure out exactly what you like and why.
Arena Colby Jack: Arena Cheese is known as the home and birthplace of colby-jack so you know you’re in the right place. Colby-jack is a close relative of cheddar but has an even milder taste, making it a great addition to nearly every recipe, including our Turkey Cheeseburger Skillet.
Fun-fact: Colby-jack goes by many names: colby-monterey jack, cojack, and our preferred, colby-jack. No matter what name you use, Colby-jack is a beautifully marbled, all-American blend of monterey-jack and colby cheese.
Get our Turkey Cheeseburger Skillet recipe and cooking guide here.
Conclusion
Your next homecooked dinner is just minutes—and one-pot away. Pick from the recipes above for your next dinner, or if you’re eager to pick something else that suits your style, choose from our selection of over 300 handcrafted recipes featuring Wisconsin Cheese. Share your new favorite dinner with us on Instagram or Facebook and become part of the largest cheese community in the world.
