Cheese and crackers, also known as cheese and biscuits in the UK,
is the
pairing
In mathematics, a pairing is an ''R''- bilinear map from the Cartesian product of two ''R''- modules, where the underlying ring ''R'' is commutative.
Definition
Let ''R'' be a commutative ring with unit, and let ''M'', ''N'' and ''L'' be '' ...
of
cracker
Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to:
Animals
* ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies
* '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker"
Arts and entertainment Films ...
s with
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
. Historically the fare of sailors, soldiers, and pioneers, cheese and crackers had become a common menu item in American restaurants and bars by the 1850s. Many different types of cheeses and crackers are used and the food is often
paired with wine. Cheese and crackers may also be served with
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
preparations or
preserves,
pickles
Pickle, pickled or Pickles may refer to:
Food
* Pickle, a food that has undergone pickling
* Pickled cucumber
* Pickle, a sweet, vinegary pickled chutney popular in Britain, such as Branston Pickle, also known as "sweet pickle" or "ploughman's ...
,
stuffed olives and
preserved meats, such as
salami
Salami ( ; : ''salame'') is a ''salume'' consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature fo ...
,
pepperoni
Pepperoni is an American variety of spicy salami made from cured pork and beef seasoned with paprika and chili peppers.
Before cooking, pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red. Sliced pepperoni is one of the ...
or various
sausages
A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with Edible salt, salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or ex ...
.
Mass-produced
Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...
cheese and crackers include
Ritz
Ritz or The Ritz may refer to:
Facilities and structures Hotels
* The Ritz Hotel, London, a hotel in London, England
** Ritz Club casino
* Hôtel Ritz Paris, a hotel in Paris, France
* Hotel Ritz (Madrid), a hotel in Madrid, Spain
* Hotel Ritz ...
,
Jatz,
Lunchables and
Lunchly
Lunchly (stylized in all caps) is an American brand of snack kits created and marketed by Lunchly LLC. The brand is promoted and founded as a joint venture between internet personalities Olajide "KSI" Olatunji, Logan Paul, and Jimmy "MrBeast" ...
.
Overview

Cheese and crackers is a common
snack food
A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...
or ''
hors d'oeuvre
An hors d'oeuvre ( ; ), appetiser, appetizer or starter is a small dish served before a meal in European cuisine. Some hors d'oeuvres are served cold, others hot. Hors d'oeuvres may be served at the dinner table as a part of the meal, or ...
'' consisting of
cracker
Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to:
Animals
* ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies
* '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker"
Arts and entertainment Films ...
s paired with various
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
s.
In the United States it has also been served as a dessert, with the addition of ingredients such as jam, jelly, marmalade or preserves.
It is also commonly served at parties in the U.S., and in the
Southern United States
The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...
, it is relatively common for hot chili
pepper jelly to be served atop
cream cheese
Cream cheese is a soft, usually mild-tasting fresh cheese made from milk and cream.Oxford English Dictionary Cream cheese is not naturally matured and is meant to be consumed fresh, so it differs from other soft cheeses such as Brie and Neuf ...
and crackers at cocktail parties.
Cheese and crackers has a relatively high amount of protein, per the cheese as an ingredient.
Cheese and crackers is a common
food pairing
Food pairing (or flavor pairing or food combination) is a method of identifying which foods go well together from a flavor standpoint, often based on individual tastes, popularity, availability of ingredients, and traditional cultural practices. ...
that can serve to complement various cheeses, and the dish can be
paired with
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
s.
The cheese can be sliced or cubed, and served separately with crackers or pre-placed atop the crackers.
History

Cheese and crackers has been consumed by various sailors such as immigrants, whalers and explorers before refrigeration existed, using
hardtack
Hardtack (or hard tack) is a type of dense Cracker (food), cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyage ...
crackers and cheese.
It has also been consumed by various land explorers.
United States

Cheese and crackers increased in popularity circa the 1850s, when bakers began producing thinner crackers with a lighter texture compared to hard tack.
During this time period, the combination was placed on restaurant menus as an after-dessert course and was also served in
saloons.
Cheese and crackers was a
food ration used by soldiers during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
(1861–1865).
Some soldiers at the time referred to cheese and crackers as a "square meal".
Cheese and hardtack was consumed along with dried venison meat by
Ezra Meeker
Ezra Morgan Meeker (December 29, 1830December 3, 1928) was an American pioneer who traveled the Oregon Trail by ox-drawn wagon as a young man, migrating from Iowa to the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. Later in life he worked to ...
during his time on the
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...
in 1852.
In 1915, mountaineer Philip Rogers consumed cheese and hardtack along with raisins and nuts during his expedition around
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...
in Washington state.
By the beginning of the 20th century, cheese and crackers was being prepared in homes and cooked by baking it and adding additional ingredients after cooking, such as paprika and mustard. At this time, the combination was sometimes served with soups and salads, and was used on salads for decades thereafter.
It was also commonly served at parties beginning around this time.
It was consumed as a dessert, rather than after-dessert by some during the
Great Depression in the United States
In the United States, the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and then spread worldwide. The nadir came in 1931–1933, and recovery came in 1940. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high u ...
, and was often consumed by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
and
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
in the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
for dessert and snacks, along with other foods.
Beginning in the 1950s, cheese and crackers was recommended as a snack for children by parenting experts,
home economist
Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and f ...
s and authors of cookbooks.
Consumption of the snack increased during the mid-1980s when
Oscar Mayer
Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut producer known for its hot dogs, bologna sausage, bologna, bacon, ham, and Lunchables products. The company is a subsidiary of the Kraft Heinz, Kraft Heinz Company and based in Chicago, Chicago, Illin ...
introduced its
Lunchables product, which included cheese, crackers and lunch meat, and occurred in part to boost the company's lunch meat sales.
Mass production

* Handi-Snacks are a
mass-produced
Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...
cheese and crackers snack food made by
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...
, prepared using
processed cheese
Processed cheese (also known as process cheese; related terms include cheese food, prepared cheese, cheese product, and/or government cheese) is a product made from cheese mixed with an emulsifying agent (actually a calcium chelator). Additiona ...
.
* "Fancy cheese and crackers" was a cheese and crackers lunch product purveyed by
Oscar Mayer
Oscar Mayer is an American meat and cold cut producer known for its hot dogs, bologna sausage, bologna, bacon, ham, and Lunchables products. The company is a subsidiary of the Kraft Heinz, Kraft Heinz Company and based in Chicago, Chicago, Illin ...
in the mid-1980s that included additional foods such as lunch meat and a dessert.
*
Lunchables is another Kraft brand launched in 1988 that includes cheese and crackers as ingredients in some of its products.
*
Lunchly
Lunchly (stylized in all caps) is an American brand of snack kits created and marketed by Lunchly LLC. The brand is promoted and founded as a joint venture between internet personalities Olajide "KSI" Olatunji, Logan Paul, and Jimmy "MrBeast" ...
is a 2024 product similar to Lunchables.
In language
The term "cheese and crackers" was used as a
minced oath
A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh ...
in the United States in the 1920s (from "
Jesus Christ!"), and as a
slang
A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...
term for
testicle
A testicle or testis ( testes) is the gonad in all male bilaterians, including humans, and is Homology (biology), homologous to the ovary in females. Its primary functions are the production of sperm and the secretion of Androgen, androgens, p ...
s in the United Kingdom circa the late 1990s.
It was the
catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
of the
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. comic
Billy Hagan.
See also
*
Bagel and cream cheese
*
Cheese cracker
*
List of cheese dishes
This is a list of notable cheese dishes in which cheese is used as a primary ingredient or as a significant component of a dish or a food. Cheese is a food derived from milk that is produced in a wide range of flavors, textures, and forms by coa ...
*
List of hors d'oeuvre
This is a list of notable hors d'oeuvre, also referred to as appetizers or starters, which may be served either hot or cold. They are food items served before the main courses of a meal, and are also sometimes served at the dinner table as a part ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
7 Spins on Cheese and Crackers Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...
{{Cheese dishes
Appetizers
Cheese dishes
Food combinations
Snack foods