Craft a Dope Grilled Cheese and You Could Win $15K

The Wisconsin Milk Board sponsors a competition of meltable proportions.

By Ethan L. Johns
April 03, 2018

Image: Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board

For some, a grilled cheese is a simple sandwich, made with two slices of bread and a nicely unwrapped piece of process cheese. For others, this idea is complete and utter nonsense.

If you fall in the latter camp—with all of its crispy-bacon-and-gruyère glory—this one’s for you. The Wisconsin Milk Board is here to let you know that your culinary capacities could win you some serious cash (up to $15,000) in this year’s Wisconsin Grilled Cheese Recipe Showdown.

The competition, which runs from April 2nd until May 15th, is an opportunity for fondue-ish aficionados to put their best grilled cheese recipes to the test. The only catch? You’ve got to use one of the state’s many different varieties of cheese.

The competition is divided into four different categories, so everybody can snag a piece of the action. Four winners will receive prizes of $1,000 for recipe video submissions. In the Junior Class competition, one under-18 chef will win $5,000 for gold, while a silver medalist will grab $2,000. The Classic Class competition showcases grilled cheese recipes with less than six ingredients. For this, a gold medalist will win $7,000 and a silver medalist will win $2,000.

Finally, the Open Class competition is the no-holds-barred competition, where the grilled cheeses get cheesier, crazier and taller, and the winner hits the jackpot. The best grilled cheese in this competition will win $15,000, with the runner-up winning a $5,000 prize.

Last year’s grand prize winner featured cheddar and fontina cheeses with fried okra and a special comeback sauce. A complete list of winners and runners-up can be found on the website, and boy do those things look like exactly what we want to eat at 4 a.m. after a long night of drankin’.

Think you’ve got what it takes to take the cheesy crown? Time to get griddlin’.

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About Ethan L. Johns

Ethan is the Food News Writer at Genius Kitchen. An expert on the Parisian bistrot, he likes bitters and salted butters, and is no fan of dessert unless it's made with fruit. His hobbies include reading up on the history of borscht and attempting to roll perfect couscous by hand. Twits & Instagram @EthanLJohns