Marinated Pickle Cheese - Cheese Platter Alternative

This marinated pickle cheese is the ultimate party appetiser and cheese platter alternative. Layers of red cheddar and gouda cheese are sandwiched with cream cheese then marinated in a tangy, herby pickle and caper dressing with dill, chives and a touch of chilli. The cheese absorbs all that briny savoury goodness so that it is even better the next day or even in 3 days! Serve with lavosh crackers for the best party app!

About This Marinated Pickle Cheese

Your party is about to get lit with these Marinated Pickle Cheese! Squares of red cheddar and gouda are sandwiched together with cream cheese and then marinated in an incredibly delicious pickle and caper mixture.

If you love pickles then you will LOVE this marinated pickle cheese. If you are the person that removes pickles, then you won't love this-sorry! May I suggest other ways to serve cheese like this salami and cheese charcuterie platter or herbed goats cheese.

I had an inkling that I'd love this from the first second that I saw this on allrecipes on Instagram. I love pickles and I love how they're becoming super popular lately and the pickle dressing really balances the richness of cheese. I actually saw this idea on instagram via allrecipes but I played with the proportions and added capers and more pickles (because I can never get too many pickles!).

Video How To Make Marinated Pickle Cheese

Video: How to Make Marinated Pickle Cheese

Ingredients For Marinated Pickle Cheese

Cheeses - We use three different types of cheeses here. First cream cheese is used to sandwich the two hard cheeses together. Then we use Gouda cheese and Red Cheddar cheese as the two main cheeses. These two cheeses work as they are different colours although you can make this with just the one cheese. See tips below for other cheese substitutes and tips.

Pickle Chips - I love spicy chipotle cucumber pickle chips but use non spicy if you don't like spicy. And we will also be using the brine from the pickles.

Apple cider vinegar - You can also sub this with a mild vinegar like rice vinegar

Extra virgin olive oil - You can also use a mild flavoured grapeseed oil or avocado oil.

Chives - I used chives but green onion also works.

Capers - Baby capers or full sized capers are good in this (not caperberries).

Dill - I use fresh dill but dried dill can also work as a sub.

Ranch or Caesar dressing - The original recipe calls for ranch powder which I have but is almost impossible to buy in Australia so just use actual ranch or Caesar dressing instead.

Chilli - I use red pepper powder which is Korean chilli powder. Regular chilli powder will also work just to give it a bit of spiciness.

Tips For Making Marinated Pickle Cheese

1 - It's important to avoid using crumbly cheese as these will not slice into squares and will fall apart. The best cheeses to use are Cheddar, Gouda, Edam and Havarti.

2 - Sometimes if the cheese is hard to slice, placing it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes helps. It depends on the cheese that you use and how "bendable" it is.

3 - If you like a stronger pickle flavour add more vinegar or pickle brine. I balanced this to my taste but you do you!

4 - This recipe can be easily doubled. I made this quantity for a small 23cm/9inch oval casserole dish (1.1litre/1.1quart capacity) but if you have a large one, double the recipe. This is the oval dish that I used (the small one out of the set).

5 - This cheese can marinate for anything from overnight to 4 days where the flavour will develop even further!

Other ways to use pickles creatively are this dill pickle dip or pickle soup.

Marinated Pickle Cheese Recipe

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Recipe Overview

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Serves: 8 as a cheese platter

This is best made 1-2 days ahead of time

Ingredients Needed

• 220g/7.7ozs Gouda cheese, rectangular block
• 220g/7.7ozs red Cheddar, rectangular block
• 100g/3.5ozs cream cheese

For Dressing

• 150g/5ozs chipotle cucumber pickle chips, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons/60ml/2flozs pickle brine from above
• 4 tablespoons/60ml/2flozs apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons/30ml/1floz extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
• 20g/1.4ozs baby capers, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill fronds
• 3 teaspoons ranch or Caesar dressing
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper or chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Step-By-Step Instructions

Step 1 DRESSING - Leave the Gouda and Red Cheddar in the fridge while you make the dressing but leave the cream cheese on the bench to soften. In a bowl add the pickles, pickle brine, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, chives, capers, dill, ranch or Caesar dressing, chilli powder and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Step 2 CHEESE - Slice cheese into 1/2cm or 0.2inch slices in the same size as the lavosh crackers. Sandwich a teaspoon or so of the cream cheese between the two types of cheese squares and place standing up on its side in a small oval baking dish. Repeat with the remaining cheese.

Step 3 POUR - Give the dressing one final stir and pour it over the cheese and allow to marinate. The cheese absorbs the flavours of the marinade and you can marinade the cheese for 1-2 days.

Personal Note

I brought this to some Christmas Eve and Christmas Day celebrations. If you love pickles and cheese then pickled marinated cheese will be your best friend!

It feels like Christmas was such a distant memory and I guess it has been almost a month since we celebrated it. We've had a relaxing January easing back into work and I love that you have loved simpler recipes because that's what I've felt like making too. Win win!

We took things slow but there was a little bit of drama that happened just after Christmas. Mr NQN's brother Manu and his girlfriend Manuela went bushwalking in the Blue Mountains during the void between Christmas and New Years. They love the outdoors and often go there if the weather is good.

One day Mr NQN got a call from his sister Araluen. Manu has a Garmin satellite messenger device and he had signalled that he and Manuela were in trouble. Garmin in America alerted emergency services in America who contacted his mother Tuulikki, his emergency contact. Unfortunately Tuulikki is really quite deaf and gets very stressed in emergencies so she wasn't able to hear what the issue was. So she passed the phone on to her daughter Amaya who luckily happened to be staying with her.

All of the Elliott kids were contacting each other to find out if Manu had told them where he was canyoning. He finally hiked to where he could get reception and gave their coordinates. It turned out Manuela had sprained her ankle and had to be airlifted out of the canyon! So 2025 did end on a very dramatic note!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever tried marinated pickle cheese? Do you like pickles? And have you ever been in a situation like that?

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