Cheese salad with the Thermomix® stands or falls on a single decision: we dice the cheese, we do not grate it. If you finely grate the Emmental and Gouda, you end up with a claggy mass that barely feels like a salad any more.
The second decision is just as important and is often skipped: after mixing, we leave the salad to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Only during that half hour does the cheese absorb the acidity from the lemon, the aroma from the garlic and marjoram, and the seasoning from the salt and paprika. Serve it before then and you have dry cheese cubes sitting in a wet dressing. After 30 minutes it is a proper salad.
We have been making this cheese salad for years as a side dish for a hearty snack spread, with crusty farmhouse bread, and sometimes as a cold snack in front of the television. By now we know exactly where it goes wrong and which adjustments make all the difference. The recipe comes from our will-mixen.de wall calendar but has become our go-to version because it does not rely on shop-bought mayonnaise.
Cheese Salad with the Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 12 ✓
- 2 garlic cloves
- 150 g Emmental
- 150 g Gouda
- 1 egg
- 10 g lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 180 g sunflower oil
- 1 spring onion
- 100 g cream cheese (full fat)
- 1 tsp dried marjoram
Instructions 0 / 5
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1
Chop the garlic.
Peel the garlic, place it in the mixing bowl and chop for 3 seconds / speed 8.
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2
Chop the cheese.
Cut both cheeses into pieces, place them in the mixing bowl and chop for 5 seconds / speed 5. Set aside.
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3
Make the mayonnaise.
Add the egg, lemon juice, salt, pepper and paprika to the mixing bowl. Set to speed 4 and pour the oil slowly onto the lid with the measuring cup in place. The mayonnaise is ready once all the oil has dripped in and combined with the other ingredients.
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4
Slice the spring onions.
Wash and trim the spring onion and cut into rings. Add the spring onion rings, cream cheese and marjoram to the mixing bowl and mix for 7 seconds / speed 4.
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5
Combine the ingredients.
Add the reserved cheese and mix for 5 seconds / speed 2.
Tip: Please use only very fresh eggs and store the salad covered in the fridge. Using a variety of different cheese types, to your taste, adds a nice twist to the cheese salad.
Nutrition per serving
What makes this cheese salad work
1. Cheese as cubes, not as shreds. The 150 g of Emmental and 150 g of Gouda go into the mixing bowl in rough pieces and run for just 5 seconds at speed 5. The result is uneven, small cubes with a bit of bite. If you go to speed 8 or run it longer, the cheese becomes almost grated and will immediately clog the homemade mayonnaise. This short, low speed is the single most important step in the whole recipe.
2. Mayo from the mixing bowl rather than from a jar. In the Thermomix® we make the mayonnaise directly afterwards from 1 egg, 10 g lemon juice, half a tsp of salt, a quarter tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of sweet paprika and 180 g of sunflower oil. At speed 4 the oil drips in through the measuring cup placed on the lid and runs in slowly. Once no oil remains on top, the mayo is done. Homemade tastes fresher and complements the seasoning of the cheese rather than overpowering it.
3. Spring onion and marjoram as a flavour bridge. Before we add the cheese back in, we run the sliced spring onion with 100 g of full-fat cream cheese and 1 tsp of dried marjoram for 7 seconds at speed 4. The cream cheese binds the mayo, softens the acidity and gives the dressing its creamy character. The marjoram is the secret lead ingredient. Without it the salad tastes flat and forgettable. With it you get the savoury note that makes it perfect for a snack spread.
The 30-minute resting time is not optional
If there is one point that is non-negotiable, it is this: after the final mix, cover the bowl, place it in the fridge and wait at least 30 minutes. Cheese has a closed surface and does not absorb flavours straight away. In the first few minutes the seasoning base is still sitting on the outside of the cubes and slowly dripping off. Only once the salt crystals and the acidity have had time to penetrate the cheese does every bite taste consistently of cheese salad rather than of cheese with a dressing beside it.
If you have more time, leave the salad for an hour or overnight. On the second day it is even better than on the first. That is also why we like to prepare the cheese salad in the morning and serve it in the evening, not the other way around.
Where we have gone wrong before
Cheese crumbled too fine
If you choose speed 7 or 8, you have cheese flakes instead of cheese cubes within two seconds. The mayo then binds the whole thing into a paste that we would no longer call a salad. Our solution: stick strictly to speed 5, slightly too short rather than two seconds too long. If any individual pieces remain too large, take them out with a knife and chop them by hand.
Mayonnaise splits
If the egg and oil are at different temperatures, the emulsion breaks. The oil sits on top and does not combine with the egg. Our solution: take the egg, lemon juice and oil out of the fridge in good time and bring them to room temperature. If the mayo still does not come together, add a second egg yolk and run speed 4 again. That works almost every time.
Salad tastes bland
If the cheese salad is served straight after mixing, the typical flavour is missing. The aroma is still in the dressing rather than in the cheese. Our solution: leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. If you taste it halfway through and think something is missing, wait out the resting time first and only season afterwards. If we salt too heavily before the resting time, the salad will be too salty after 30 minutes.
Other cheese varieties and variations
With mountain cheese instead of Emmental: If you prefer a stronger flavour, replace the 150 g of Emmental with young Bergkäse or Allgäuer. The salad becomes more robust and needs less salt, as mountain cheese is already quite salty.
With gherkins: Folding in two finely diced gherkins at the end gives the salad a tangy edge and is reminiscent of a classic wurst salad. In that case leave out the lemon juice from the mayo, otherwise it becomes too sharp.
With walnuts: A handful of toasted walnut pieces added at the end gives a satisfying crunch and pairs well with mountain cheese. We toast the nuts in a dry frying pan for 3 minutes before adding them cold to the salad.
Spicier version: Half a tsp of smoked paprika in addition to the sweet paprika, or a pinch of cayenne in the mayo, gives the salad a grown-up kick. This is our adult version for when the children are already in bed.
What we serve alongside it
Cheese salad is a classic companion to a snack spread at ours and rarely appears on the table on its own. We love it on a slice of fresh bread made with the Thermomix® or alongside hearty farmhouse bread. If you want to lighten the cheesiness a little, serve it on crisp romaine lettuce leaves and it becomes a starter salad.
On a snack board we like to pair the cheese salad with our wurst salad made with the Thermomix® and a bowl of our potato salad made with the Thermomix®. Three salads, a few pretzels, dark bread and butter and you have a snack spread for four to six people. A pasta salad made with the Thermomix® rounds it all off when guests arrive and a bit more substance is called for.
3 days in the fridge, and it actually improves with time
In the fridge, the cheese salad keeps for about 2 days in a covered bowl or sealed jar. As we use homemade mayonnaise with a raw egg, we deliberately do not go beyond that. Fresh eggs are essential here and they should be no more than a week old.
Freezing does not work. The mayonnaise and cream cheese separate when thawing, the cheese loses its texture and the salad turns watery. We prefer to make a smaller batch and keep it fresh.
How our cheese salad differs from Cookidoo and other recipe sites
On Cookidoo the cheese salad version uses Gouda, Emmental and Cheddar plus sun-dried tomatoes in oil. Other recipe sites combine Gouda with peppers and sweetcorn stirred into ready-made light mayo from a jar. Both serve immediately. We take a different approach: just two types of cheese, but a mayonnaise made fresh in the mixing bowl, cream cheese as a binder, and marjoram as a flavour anchor. And we take the 30 minutes of resting time during which the salt and acidity actually penetrate the cheese. That way every cube tastes consistently of cheese salad rather than of cheese with a dressing beside it.
Goes well with: Farmhouse bread and baguette.
