My Surprising One-Ingredient Party Trick for Serving Goat Cheese

published Dec 8, 2023
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package of goat cheese
Credit: Cory Fernandez

At just about any holiday party, you’ll likely be met with lots of festive cookies, fun holiday drinks, and, of course, the must-have cheese board. If you plan on putting out a bountiful cheese spread this year, make sure you include a quality log of goat cheese in addition to the typical Brie and cheddar.

But don’t just put the goat cheese out on the cutting board as is: Give it a tasty and easy upgrade by coating the log in chopped trail mix! Yes, trail mix is the perfect portable snack mix, but it also transforms a regular log of goat cheese into something even more special!

Credit: Cory Fernandez

Here’s how I like to make it: If you frequent Trader Joe’s nut and snack mixes often, pick out one variety or flavor that you like. Otherwise, your favorite brand of trail mix or nut mix works fine for this, too. Just don’t use a mix that has M&M’s or other types of chocolate-coated candies because it just isn’t the best pairing with goat cheese’s tart flavor profile.

Credit: Cory Fernandez

Chop the entire mix, including the dried cranberries if it has them, on a cutting board until it’s in small pieces. Roll the log of goat cheese in the mix and then immediately put it in the fridge to help it set up. If you want, you could even reshape the goat cheese to whatever shape you like, although a log is most traditional!

Credit: Cory Fernandez

If you do this trick, just be sure to take the goat cheese out of the fridge around an hour before you plan to serve it, so that it will be easy to slice or scoop with a cracker or crisp.

What’s great about this hack is that you can really customize the end result by using whatever type of mix you like. You can use honey roasted peanuts for something on the sweeter side, or a Cajun-style trail mix for something with more heat. It’s all up to you!