Mexican Cheeses: The Ultimate Guide

Mexican cuisine is rich and varied, as exemplified by the sheer number of different taco fillings, moles, and more you'll find across the country. But despite boasting just as varied a selection of cheeses, most experts agree that Mexican queso is phenomenally misunderstood abroad.

"I feel that outside of Mexico and even inside Mexico, we think about only four varieties of cheese," says Chef Carmen Miranda of Tacombi. Cheese Expert and Judge Carlos Yescas, founder of Cheese Spelunker Tours, agrees, noting that "Mexico has a diversity of climates and cheese is made almost in every region, so each area has its own terroir and own cheese."

More than just variety, Mexico is also home to phenomenal quality in cheese — something often lost to those familiar with industrialized versions of these otherwise excellent products.

"It is indeed disheartening that industrialization has led to the prevalence of fake, yellow-colored cheeses popularized under 'Mexican cheeses,'" explains Isabel Coss, the Pastry Chef at Lutèce and a native of Mexico City. "These cheeses often lack flavor and have a plastic-like texture, primarily suitable for melting in quesadillas."

"I think like almost every subject about Mexican cuisine, what people get wrong is the quality, intention, and integrity the citizens of Mexico have put into creating their cheeses," echoes Executive Chef Blaine Welsh of Destination Unknown Restaurants.

According to our experts, here are the must-try Mexican cheeses from coast to coast.

For Yescas, one of the biggest misconceptions about Mexican cheeses is that all of them are fresh. But standing in stark contrast to queso fresco is another category, that of queso añejo.

"Añejo means aged," he explains, "and it describes a cheese matured for over three weeks. Normally this cheese is drier. Many cheeses are considered añejos depending on where in Mexico you are."

"Anejo isn't necessarily a category, but more of a fact," adds Welsh. "It is cheese that is aged. Paradoxically, queso añejo can also refer specifically to queso fresco that has been aged. So it really depends on the context in which añejo is being used."

Depending on the region, then, queso añejo may refer to cheeses like chihuahua, adobado, manchego, cotija, or botanero — some of which, somewhat confusingly, can also be produced in fresh form. Depending on which añejo you're using, most will have more flavor and less moisture than queso fresco. Indeed, according to Coss, "These cheeses are perfect for adding flavor and giving contrast to certain dishes."

Queso Oaxaca is "probably the best-known Mexican cheese outside of Mexico," according to Yescas, who notes that it's popular not just in the U.S., but also in Canada, Spain, and even in India, where local producers have begun making the pulled-curd cheese themselves.

"It consists of salted cheese curds that can be pulled like noodles and shaped into a ball, similar to a rubber band," says Coss, who dubs this southern Mexican cheese "a prominent highlight of the local cuisine."

It also goes by the name quesillo or quesillo de hebra, a name referencing its thread-like appearance. But according to Yescas, seeing as it was popularized both in Mexico and in the U.S. by folks from the state of Oaxaca, it picked up the name — and it stuck.

"It is a cheese that is easy to melt, eat as a snack, and is relatively easy to make at home and by companies around the world," says Yescas.

Coss agrees that this cheese is the best-known Mexican cheese abroad.

"When consumed fresh," she says, Oaxaca "is an incredibly delicious cheese."

Cotija is a cow's milk cheese from the state of Michoacan that DeLeon dubs Mexico's best-known cheese, given its prevalence in Mexican restaurants around the world.

"We like to use it at SOL Mexican Cocina in a lot of our dishes like our Guacamole Granada, salads like our Shrimp Salad Esquites, and of course our tacos and burritos."

Miranda, too, loves using it in cooking, noting that when shredded and crumbled it's the perfect pair for esquites, sopes, and chilaquiles, and Coss notes that it's commonly used in street food in central Mexico thanks to its practicality, noting it adds "balance to any delicious masa dish found on the streets."

Welsh echoes DeLeon in noting that cotija is "definitely" the best-known and most beloved in Mexico, noting that when aged, it is comparable to Parmigiano-Reggiano in both texture and flavor.

"What's so interesting about this cheese is that the process of making it today is similar to when it was created," he explains. "It has a minimum aging time of 100 days and is sometimes aged up to a year. It is a cheese that is still made by hand. So while there are similarities in the way it must be produced, every cheese is unique."

And while Yescas says that cheese boards are less common in Mexico than in other parts of the world, he adds, "I do think Mountain Cotija should be in a nice board paired with bee or agave honey."

With a texture somewhere between that of ricotta and cottage cheese and a lactic, mildly salty flavor, requesón could be considered the Mexican answer to Italian ricotta or Corsican brousse. This mild, creamy cheese is one of Welsh's favorite Mexican cheeses for cooking — and, indeed, he dubs it his "desert island" Mexican cheese.

"It just bakes so well," he says. "It has a perfect balance of sweet and salty, and it very rarely loses its texture."

He's a particularly big fan of this cheese as a filling for baked pasta dishes with Mexican flavors, but it's also lovely as a filling for enchiladas. Requesón can even be enjoyed for dessert, for example, paired with fresh berries or stone fruit or as a filling for sweet crêpes, perhaps drizzled with a touch of Mexican chocolate. Essentially, anywhere you'd consider using ricotta, requesón would be the ideal stand-in.

Don't be surprised to see manchego on this list: While the term evokes a Spanish ewe's milk cheese for most, Mexico also boasts its own manchego. The two cheeses, however, couldn't be more different.

"Mexico's version is semi-firm, rindless, and becomes gooey and stringy when melted," says Welsh. "Spanish Manchego is named after a region and there's different age categories it can fall into."

"Spanish Manchego is made with sheep's milk cheese in three-kilo wheels," adds Yescas. "They are normally aged between three and six months. Mexican manchego is a cow's milk cheese that normally is made industrially in block form and sold at around three to four weeks. Mexican manchego was developed much later than traditional Spanish Manchego; however, they share their name because of colonialism. I think both cheeses have a space in the world."

"This subject is a topic of controversy between Spain and Mexico," says Coss, evoking not just the colonial history but the DPO protecting Spanish manchego, which has led, according to Miranda, to many Mexican manchego producers being forced to label their cheeses "manchego type" to avoid controversy.

"It originated from colonization and adaptation, and it has become a favorite for many due to its melting qualities and unique flavor," says Coss. "Mexico doesn't want to lose or change the name of their cheese, and Spain is protecting their farmers, so only time will tell."

There are quite a few Mexican cheeses that, according to Yescas, "don't get enough recognition outside of Mexico" — a category that he says includes "basically all Mexican cheeses other than Oaxaca." Specifically, however, he evokes Queso Bola de Ocosingo, a cheese that Coss deems one of her favorites. Known for its creamy texture and spherical shape, she dubs this cheese from the southern state of Chiapas, on the border with Guatemala, "an incredible double cream cheese."

"This cheese is truly special and unique in its taste and consistency," she adds, "providing a remarkable culinary experience."

Queso Bola de Ocosingo would be particularly at home on a cheese plate or platter, she continues, noting that it would add "a luxurious element" to the offerings.

But according to Yascas, this cheese is endangered, "bound to disappear" due to a lack of local support and protection. "It would be nice if people sought it out now," he says, so be sure to seek out a bola whenever you have the chance.

Many Mexican cheeses on this list are beloved for their versatility, but one of Yescas' favorites, Queso Corazon de Mantequilla, is remarkable for its uniqueness. Indeed, this multi-faceted cheese is truly like no other.

"It is a fresh cheese that is made in a block with one side kept natural, the other side mixed with Chile chiltepin and it is fused with soured butter in the middle," he says. "It is truly a unique cheese that is used in celebrations in Chiapas and its production is really limited."

Made artisanally on a small ranch in the village of Pijijiapan, this cheese was traditionally given as a wedding gift, with the butter-joined cheese a symbol of the new union. (Romantic, isn't it?) With a balanced, unique flavor, this creation is not the easiest cheese to find, but if you can track it down, you're sure to fall in love.