25 Types Of Cheese – Common Cheese Types

Ahh, a mainstay in the U.S. You’ll see it at the deli counter or pre-packaged in plastic. It is more processed than other cheeses and is sometimes made with a combination of cheddar and Colby jack. American cheese has unmatched meltability, is super creamy, and is perfect on a burger.

Asiago cheese is an Italian cow’s milk cheese that comes in two forms: pressed or ripened. Ripened asiago is a saltier, harder, more aged cheese that’s similar to parmesan. Pressed is a fresh, mild, semi-soft cheese. Put it on your meat and cheese board with some apples or smother tortellini in it.

Blue cheese is known for its moldy pockets of blue color. It includes French roquefort, English stilton, Italian gorgonzola, and Spanish cabrales. It’s almost always made with cow’s milk.

Blue cheese is creamy and soft, sometimes spreadable, and has a funky, intense flavor that most people either love or hate. Use it to make blue cheese dressing, top a steak, or mix in potato salad.

This soft, spreadable cow’s milk cheese is made with extra cream to give it a silky texture. Serve at room temperature with some crusty bread and fruit jam.

Burrata is a semi-soft white cheese made from mozzarella stuffed with cream. From the outside, it looks just like mozz, but slice into it and a cottage cheese-like interior is revealed.

It’s great smeared on a slice of bread or in salads. “Burrata and caviar is a great pairing, even though on paper may seem slightly unorthodox,” Pristine said. You should also try it in this peach caprese salad.

Camembert, from France, is similar in shape and texture to brie, but has a more intense, earthy flavor. It isn’t as runny or spreadable, but still pairs nicely with jam.

This cow’s milk cheese originally comes from England and varies in texture and flavor. Cheddar made in the traditional way is crumbly, sharp, and nutty. American cheddar cheese is creamy, melty, and mild. Cheddars also range in color, from white to a deep, buttery yellow. It’s a classic choice for topping a burger or potato dishes.

This dry, crumbly, cow’s milk cheese from Mexico is a staple in the country’s cuisine. It has a mild, salty zing to it and doesn’t melt well. It is fantastic over enchiladas, nachos, tacos, chilaquiles, or posole.

Feta cheese hails from mainland Greece or Lesbos and is made with at least 70 percent sheep’s milk, with the rest from goat’s milk. The curds are soaked in a saltwater brine to give it the tangy, acidic flavor. Try it in a watermelon salad for a sweet and salty combo or in the viral baked feta pasta.

This cow’s milk cheese is mild and hard. Originally from Italy, fontina is now also made in Denmark, Sweden, and the U.S. Young fontina cheese is creamy, perfect for French onion soup or a panini. More aged selections have a harder, crumbly texture that works well as a finishing cheese.

In the U.S., goat cheese, or chèvre, is a term used to describe a fresh, soft, goat’s milk cheese. It’s pungent and bright in flavor and often comes in log form. Great on a charcuterie board with jam, goat cheese also plays well in salads and sprinkled on top of pasta.

Gouda is a cow’s milk semi-hard to hard cheese that originates in the Netherlands. The flavor ranges based on how long it has been aged, with younger goudas tasting creamy and mild, and more aged goudas having a sharpness to them.

“A grated two- to four-year-aged gouda is awesome to add to different pasta dishes,” Pristine said. Try it in this three-cheese spaghetti recipe.

Grana Padano is Italy’s most-produced cheese. It’s made from skim milk from a cow, so it matures faster than parmesan. You can use it anywhere you would use parmesan cheese—in pastas, on salads, and over pizza.

Halloumi is one of the only cheeses that will keep it shape when you grill it. You’ll find grilled halloumi on a lot of Mediterranean restaurant menus. It comes from Cyprus, is made from sheep’s or goat’s milk, and is a squeakier, bouncier version of mozzarella. The flavor is a little tangy and salty and so delicious.

Manchego is a sheep’s milk cheese from Spain that’s aged for 60 days to two years. It’s a hard cheese with a buttery flavor and little air pockets throughout. It’s delicious in grilled cheese sandwiches or potato gratin.

Monterey Jack is an American cow’s milk cheese that has a super mild flavor. It’s often used as the base for other cheese, like pepper jack and colby. It normally comes in block form, cubes, or slices and is white in color. Try it in this queso recipe.

Muenster is most recognizable by its orange exterior that comes from a vegetable coloring added during the cheesemaking process. The flavor is mild and creamy and the texture is soft. Try it melted on a burger or in mac and cheese.

Mozzarella is an Italian cheese made from buffalo’s milk. A special curd is melted and stretched in hot water to form a ball shape. The flavor is creamy and mild, and the texture pulls apart like string cheese. Use in a caprese salad or on pizza.

Paneer is a fresh cheese made from cow’s or buffalo’s milk that hails from the Indian subcontinent. It doesn’t melt, so it does well in curries and on the grill. The texture is spongy, so it absorbs a lot of the flavors it is cooked in. Try it in sag paneer.