A Visit to the Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship

Updated: Apr 22

You love a grilled cheese don't you? I mean, who doesn't? Here in Wisconsin, it's the perfect creation to feature our world-known cheese.

Enter: The Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Championship. This annual event is held in Dodgeville, WI every April. We visited during the 11th celebration and while it was 30 degrees outside, the competition was HOT!

The Grilled Cheese Competition

Competitors are divided into a professionals and amateurs with multiple categories for each, including a dessert round. There is also a youth competition for the younger chefs. Folks from all over, including California, come to compete. They have a little time to prep and then 12 minutes to create their best grilled cheese for the judges.

Just a few of the grilled cheese categories:

Classic: any type of bread, real Wisconsin butter, and only one kind of real Wisconsin cheese. No additional ingredients.

Classic Plus One: a savory sandwich with any type of bread, “butter,” and only one kind of real Wisconsin cheese plus one additional ingredient (note: compound ingredients such as jams, spreads, etc. can be counted as one).

Classic Plus Extras: a savory sandwich with any type of bread, “butter,” and real Wisconsin cheese (multiple cheeses accepted) plus unlimited additional ingredients. However, the interior ingredients must still be at least 60% cheese.

Classic Dessert: any kind of bread, “butter,” and real Wisconsin cheese (multiple cheeses accepted) plus additional ingredients to create an overall sweet (as opposed to savory) flavor that would be best served as a “dessert” grilled cheese sandwich. However, the interior ingredients must still be at least 60% cheese.

Interested in competing? Learn more here!

For Grilled Cheese Visitors

General admission to the event was $5, which we chose as our first time attending. This included admission, tomato soup, and a bottle of water. There is also a VIP option that includes everything in the general admission plus tastings of the competitors' grilled cheese.

The event started at 10:45am and concluded around 4pm. Many attended for a short time to watch a couple of the competitions. All awards, including the Lorin Toepper Best in Show award, are awarded at the end of the day.

There was a great variety of vendors at the event. We got our cheese curd fix from the Dodgeville FFA booth. Mike got a classic cheddar and I got a muenster grilled cheese, which is my favorite cheese. Even with the competition right there, these were not to miss.

We enjoyed some other goodies too, including a cheeseburger and fried pickles from Any Street Grill, 1919 Root Beer, a Monster Mash from Little Wolf, and baked goods.