Cooking with cheese

Cheese makes a wonderful addition to hundreds of dishes, sweet and savory alike. Whether it’s the star of the show — think Welsh rarebit, fondue, or a cheese soufflé — or a quiet supporting act sprinkled over pasta or stirred into a sauce, knowing how to handle it in the kitchen makes a real difference. The good news is that once you understand a few basic principles, you can cook with almost any cheese with confidence. 

Choose the right cheese for the job 

Not all cheeses behave the same way under heat. The difference comes down to fat content, moisture level, and age. Younger cheeses tend to be creamier and melt smoothly, but often have a milder flavor. Older, more aged cheeses pack more taste, but can turn grainy or oily if overcooked. A middle-ground cheese like Cheddar — even an extra-sharp one — melts beautifully and works well across a wide range of dishes. 

Here is a quick guide to choosing cheese by cooking purpose: 

How to melt cheese properly 

Treat cheese with the same care you would chocolate: it dislikes high heat and rushing. When cooked too quickly, the fat separates from the proteins and you end up with a rubbery or greasy result. Low and slow is the rule. 

For the smoothest melt, grate or thinly slice the cheese before applying heat. If you are melting cheese on its own — for a sauce base or a fondue — a double boiler gives you the most control. It also melts easily in the microwave, in short bursts of 20–30 seconds, stirring between each one. 

Soft cheeses like Brie or Camembert become liquid very quickly because of their high moisture content. Harder aged cheeses like Parmesan can turn grainy if overcooked. Mozzarella melts into long, elastic pulls — ideal for pizza, but not ideal if you want a smooth, even result. For that, reach for Raclette or Gruyère instead. 

Cooking cheese in the oven 

Oven dishes are where cheese really comes into its own, from the golden crust on a gratin to the bubbling top of a lasagna. A few principles to keep in mind: 

• Cook at a moderate temperature. High heat browns cheese quickly but can also make it hard, bitter, and dry. 
• For long-cook dishes, hold the cheese back. Add it for the last 10–15 minutes so it does not overcook or dry out before the rest of the dish is ready. 
• For a smooth, even melt rather than a browned crust, cover the dish with foil for most of the cooking time and remove it at the end. 
• Sliced cheese on top of a baked dish tends to go rubbery or stringy. Grated cheese gives a smoother, more even finish — unless the stringy effect is exactly what you are going for. 

Grating cheese

Cheese grates most easily when it is cold and firm. Pop it in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before grating; 30 minutes for harder varieties. As a general rule, half a pound of cheese will give you around 2 cups of grated cheese. 

When adding grated cheese to a hot sauce, stir it in at the very end of cooking — or even after you have taken the pan off the heat. The residual warmth is usually enough to melt it through, with no risk of it turning grainy or clumping. The same logic applies to omelets: add the cheese when the egg is almost set, just before folding. 

Serving cheese on its own 

When cheese is the star — on a cheese board, as a course after the main meal, or in a sandwich — it should always be served at room temperature. Cold cheese is harder to slice and has noticeably less flavor. Take it out of the refrigerator 30–45 minutes before serving. 

If you are watching calories, it helps to know that fat content in cheese is measured dry weight. Soft cheeses like Brie have a high moisture content, so they actually contain less fat per unit of weight than a hard aged cheese. A strongly flavored cheese, on the other hand, lets you use less of it and still get plenty of taste. About 2 ounces per person is a good benchmark for cooking. 

Ways to use cheese in the kitchen

Cheese fits into a remarkable range of dishes: 

• On its own as an appetizer, cheese course, or dessert 
• In sandwiches and toasted cheese dishes 
• In salads, crumbled, shaved, or thinly sliced 
• On pizza and flatbreads 
• In pasta and baked pasta dishes 
• In fondue 
• In soufflés and quiches 
• In omelets and egg dishes 
• In enriched doughs and savory pastries 
• In gougères (cheese choux puffs) 
• In cheese sauces, both béchamel-based and others 

Don’t waste leftover cheese 

If you have odds and ends of cheese that are past their best for eating, grate them and freeze in a zip-lock bag. Frozen grated cheese can go straight from the freezer onto any dish that is heading into the oven — a gratin, a pasta bake, a pizza. It will not be suitable for eating raw once thawed, but for cooking it works perfectly well. 

Cheese from around the worl

One of the pleasures of cooking with cheese is that almost every food culture has developed its own variety — each with its own cooking personality. Indian cooking uses paneer, a fresh cheese that holds its shape beautifully when fried or grilled. Mexican and Central American cuisines rely on queso fresco, cotija, and queso blanco for crumbling, melting, and frying. Greek cooking leans heavily on feta and kasseri. In the Middle East and increasingly worldwide, halloumi has earned a devoted following for its ability to be grilled or pan-fried without melting. Exploring these cheeses opens up a whole new world of dishes. 

Cheese and wine 

Cooked cheese tends to be gentler on wine than a raw wedge on a cheese board — the heat softens some of its sharper, more pungent notes. That said, the cheese still sets the tone for the dish, and the right wine pairing makes everything taste better. For a full guide, see our cheese and wine pairing page.

Some care is required when cooking cheese, since most cheeses will brown, then burn, in high heat. Some of that effect may be desired to bring out a certain flavor profile. But overdoing it just leads to hard, tasteless, carbonized cheese. So, think about adding the cheese later during the cooking time.

Cheese is a tasty and nutritious food, raw or cooked. But used in cooking it can have an entirely new flavor essence from the raw version. Experiment!