Antimicrobial packaging is an innovative way of inhibiting microbial growth on the foods. There has been a rising interest in the researches about biopolymeric materials and natural antimicrobial compounds which are environmentally friendly. Antimicrobial films reduce the growth rate of specific microorganisms by direct contact of the package with the surfaces of foods. Poor sanitation, unhygienic practices and unsuitable storage can cause growing pathogenic microorganisms on the surface of the food. Staphylococcal food poisoning caused by Staphylococcus aureus is a worldwide problem. Although S. aureus shows high sensitivity to thermal processing, they produce thermal resistant toxin, caused human poisoning. Naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds have good potential to be applied as food preservatives. Propolis is a brownish resinous material collected by worker bees and has antimicrobial effect on many food pathogens. Antimicrobial packaging can be prepared with polysaccharides which they have many advantages as biodegradability, edibility, biocompatibility. The usefulness of cellulose as a starting material for biodegradable films can be extended by its chemical modification to methylcellulose (MC), which is a nonionic, water-soluble ether with good film forming properties. The purpose of this study was to form methylcellulose films with propolis and demonstrate the physical properties and antimicrobial efficiency of the films. In this study, MC based antimicrobial films containing 3.75–6% (w/v) ethanolic extracted propolis (EEP) were produced. The effects of EEP amount on the water vapour permeability (WVP), mechanical and antimicrobial properties of the films were investigated. The EEP in the film solution caused a decrease in WVP and elongation, and an increase in tensile strength. The MC films containing 4.5% (w/v) EEP were applied on salami slices inoculated with S. aureus. The count of S. aureus was decreased 0.78 log cycle during 14 days storage.