Buttery and creamy
Rich and rounded: Brie, Havarti, young Gouda, Fontina and burrata.
Buttery cheeses are rich, round and smooth, with the taste of fresh butter or cream and a texture that melts on the tongue. The flavour comes from milk fat and from diacetyl, the compound that gives butter its scent, which some cheese cultures make. Brie, Havarti, Butterkäse, young Gouda, Fontina, Brillat-Savarin, Torta del Casar and burrata are among the best-loved buttery cheeses.
Fat and diacetyl
The more fat a cheese holds, the creamier it feels. Double- and triple-cream cheeses have extra cream added to the milk; under French rules they must reach at least 60 and 75 per cent fat in the dry matter. Some starter cultures, among them certain strains of Lactococcus and Leuconostoc, turn the citrate in milk into diacetyl, adding a buttery aroma. Cheeses made with these cultures, such as Havarti and many Goudas, taste of butter even when their fat is moderate.
Buttery cheeses of the world
Havarti from Denmark and Butterkäse from Germany, whose name means butter cheese, are mild slicing cheeses. Fontina from the Aosta Valley melts into fonduta. Brillat-Savarin and Chaource are rich bloomy cheeses of France, and young Gouda is supple and sweet. Spain's Torta del Casar, a sheep's milk cheese set with thistle, is so soft when ripe that the top crust is sliced off and the inside spooned out. Burrata, broken open, pours cream across the plate.
Serving and pairing
Buttery cheeses are best at room temperature, when the fat softens and the aroma opens. They suit crisp bread, plain crackers and fruit with some acidity, such as apples, grapes or berries, which cut through the richness. Sparkling wine is a classic match, as with Champagne and Chaource from the same region, as are light lagers and a pot of tea. A spoonful of honey or a few toasted nuts adds contrast without hiding the cream.
Worth knowing
- Brie de Meaux: Creamy bloomy rind of Île-de-France
- Brillat-Savarin: Triple-cream cheese of Burgundy and Normandy
- Havarti: Danish washed-curd cheese
- Butterkäse: German butter cheese
- Fontina: Melting cheese of the Aosta Valley
- Gouda: Sweet and supple when young
- Torta del Casar: Spoonable sheep's milk cheese of Extremadura
- Burrata: Cream-filled mozzarella of Apulia
Sources and further reading
About this page
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Buttery and creamy on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇺🇸 United StatesBergenost
A triple-cream Norwegian-style butter cheese from New York with green wax.Mixed · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreGorgonzola
A creamy Italian blue cheese from Lombardy with two distinct styles.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇮🇹 ItalyCastelrosso
A rare semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Piedmont with a gray rind and mild lactic flavor.Cow · Semi-hard · Buttery and creamy
🇦🇹 AustriaChorherrenkäse
A mild, semi-hard Austrian cow's milk cheese with a buttery taste and white rind.Cow · Semi-hard · Buttery and creamy
🇦🇱 AlbaniaMishavin
A soft, crumbly Albanian cheese aged in skins and wood from sheep or cow milk.Sheep · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyPecorino
A family of Italian hard sheep's-milk cheeses with protected status.Sheep · Hard · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyBurrata
A fresh Italian cheese with a solid mozzarella pouch filled with cream and stracciatella.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreCottage cheese
A fresh, unaged curd cheese made from skimmed milk and dressed with cream.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreCream cheese
A soft, unripened cow's-milk cheese made with added cream and eaten fresh.Cow · Fresh · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceBeaufort
A firm, hole-free Alpine cow's milk cheese from the French Savoie region.Cow · Alpine · Buttery and creamy
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHavartiflødehavarti
A semi-soft Danish cow's-milk cheese with a buttery taste and small irregular eyes.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceCoulommiers
A soft cow's-milk cheese with a bloomy rind from the Seine-et-Marne department of France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Nutty
🇬🇧 United KingdomCaerphilly
A hard, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from South Wales with a mild lemony taste.Cow · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇩🇪 GermanyCambozola
A mild German cow's-milk blue cheese with a creamy texture and white rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇸 SpainIdiazabalIdiazabal gazta
A hard, pressed sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country with a dark rind and optional smoke.Sheep · Hard · Nutty
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreBel Paese
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Italy with a mild buttery flavor and pale yellow color.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreVacherin Mont d'Or
A soft, seasonal cow's milk cheese wrapped in spruce bark from the Jura mountains.Cow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMonterey Jack
A mild, semi-hard cow's-milk cheese from California with a creamy texture and slight sweetness.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇪🇸 SpainTetillaQueixo Tetilla
A soft, conical cow's-milk cheese from Galicia with a distinctive nipple-like peak.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCancoillotte
A runny French cheese made by melting metton, served hot or cold in the east.Cow · Processed · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceBrie de Meaux
A soft-ripened cow's milk cheese with a white rind from the Brie region of France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇵🇹 PortugalSerra da EstrelaQueijo Serra da Estrela
A soft Portuguese sheep's milk cheese coagulated with thistle and aged for at least a month.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceGaperon
A dome-shaped Auvergne cheese with a white mold rind and garlic-pepper filling.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomDunlopcàise Dhùn Lùib
A mild Scottish cheese from Ayrshire made with unskimmed cow's milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇪🇸 SpainMahónformatge de Maó / queso de Mahón
A cow's-milk cheese from Menorca that ranges from soft and mild to hard and sharp.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreStracciatella
A fresh Italian shredded curd cheese mixed with cream, made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FrancePetit suisse
A fresh, creamy French cow's milk cheese from Normandy, often sold in small cups.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇬🇧 United KingdomWensleydale
A medium, crumbly British cheese originally from sheep's milk in North Yorkshire.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-PaulinSaint Paulin
A semi-soft French cow's milk cheese with a washed orange rind and buttery flavour.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Tamié
A soft cow's-milk cheese aged in the cellars of a Savoyard abbey by monks.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceChaumesPalhas
A soft, washed-rind cow's milk cheese from the Périgord with a tangerine-orange rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Savoury and brothy
🇪🇸 SpainGamonéuQueso de Gamonéu
A lightly smoked, mixed-milk cheese from the mountains of Asturias with a moulded rind.Mixed · Smoked · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇧 United KingdomCaboc
A Scottish cream cheese made from double cream and rolled in toasted oatmeal.Cow · Fresh · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTeniliტენილი ყველი
A stuffed string cheese from Georgia's Meskheti region, made from sheep's milk and aged in clay pots.Sheep · Stretched curd · Savoury and brothy
🇪🇸 SpainMajorero
A semi-hard goat milk cheese from Fuerteventura with a nutty, buttery taste.Goat · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇵🇾 ParaguayParaguay cheesekesú Paraguái
A soft, creamy cow's-milk cheese from the eastern wetlands of Paraguay.Cow · Fresh · Salty
🇬🇷 GreeceLadotyri MytilinisΛαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης
A hard Greek cheese from Lesbos preserved in olive oil since ancient times.Sheep · Hard · Savoury and brothy
🇪🇸 SpainGarrotxa
A semi-soft Catalan goat cheese with a powdery gray rind and earthy flavor.Goat · Semi-soft · Earthy and cellar
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-Félicien
A creamy cow's milk cheese from France with a flower-patterned rindCow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceMottin charentais
A cylindrical French soft cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk with a creamy taste.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceDélice de Bourgogne
A soft triple-cream cow's milk cheese from Burgundy with a bloomy rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇧 United KingdomStichelton
A raw-milk blue cheese made in Nottinghamshire using traditional unpasteurised methods.Cow · Blue · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomCrowdiegruth
A soft, fresh Scottish cow's-milk cheese set by lactic acid without rennet.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇧 United KingdomDerby
A mild, semi-firm cow's milk cheese from Derbyshire with a buttery taste and smooth texture.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceExplorateur
A soft-ripened triple cream cow's milk cheese from France with a squat cylindrical shape.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇨🇦 CanadaLe Riopelle de l'Isle
A soft triple-cream cow's milk cheese from Isle-aux-Grues in Quebec.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇦🇷 ArgentinaCremoso
A mild, semi-soft Argentine cow's milk cheese with no rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomSuffolk Gold
A semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Suffolk with a buttery taste.Cow · Semi-hard · Buttery and creamy
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dunlop: Rosser1954 Roger Griffith, Public domain, source
- Havarti: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Brie de Meaux: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gamonéu: Jrfdiaz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Coulommiers: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Caerphilly: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Tenili: Georgian Recipes at Georgia About, CC BY 3.0, source
- Beaufort: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bel Paese: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Monterey Jack: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tetilla: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Petit suisse: Chtfn, CC BY 2.5, source
- Vacherin Mont d'Or: Zubro, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pecorino: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chaumes: Robin dubois, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Serra da Estrela: Adriao, Public domain, source
- Cancoillotte: Popo le Chien, CC0, source
- Majorero: Mumumío ( www.mumumío.com ), CC BY 2.0, source
- Mishavin: Tizilohja25, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bergenost: Jon Sullivan, CC0, source
- Stracciatella: Florixc (original version) ; Off-shell (reprocessed version), CC0, source
- Idiazabal: Xavigivax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cottage cheese: F ASTILY (T ALK ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gaperon: Pymouss, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gorgonzola: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cream cheese: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burrata: Popo le Chien, CC0, source
- Saint-Paulin: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wensleydale: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Cambozola: Jorchr, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Abbaye de Tamié: Tangopaso, Public domain, source
- Saint-Félicien: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ladotyri Mytilinis: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Garrotxa: Government of Catalonia, Attribution, source
- Derby: Compro, Public domain, source
- Mottin charentais: Cobber17, CC BY 3.0, source
- Délice de Bourgogne: Beprost, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stichelton: Jeremy Keith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Le Riopelle de l'Isle: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source