Cheeses for dinner
Gratins, pastas, curries and the evening meal.
At dinner, cheese is cooked into the main dish: melted into pasta, baked in gratins, simmered in curries and stews, and grated over soups. Palak paneer and matar paneer in India, macaroni cheese in Britain and North America, lasagne and risotto in Italy, Käsespätzle in southern Germany and Austria, ema datshi in Bhutan and aligot in France are dinners in which cheese does the heavy lifting.
Paneer at the evening table
Paneer holds its shape in sauce, which makes it the centre of many North Indian dinners: palak paneer with spinach, matar paneer with peas, shahi paneer in a cream and nut gravy, kadai paneer with peppers, and paneer butter masala. For many vegetarian households, paneer fills the place meat might take elsewhere. In Bengal, chhena is cooked into a curry called chhanar dalna, and in Odisha into chhena tarkari, both made with potatoes and warm spices.
Pasta, rice and dumplings
Italy cooks Parmigiano, pecorino and Fontina into risotto, lasagne, cacio e pepe and baked pasta. Macaroni cheese, baked with cheddar, is a family dinner in Britain and the United States. In southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Käsespätzle layers soft egg noodles with mountain cheese and fried onions. Polish pierogi ruskie fill dumplings with potato and twaróg, and Georgian khinkali have a cheese-filled version beside the classic meat.
Cheese stews of the mountains
Bhutan's ema datshi cooks green or dried chillies with datshi into a sauce eaten with red rice, and kewa datshi does the same with potatoes. In Nepal and Sikkim, churpi is cooked with greens and tomatoes. France's aligot, from the Aubrac, beats young tomme into mashed potato until it stretches in long ribbons, and Savoy's tartiflette bakes Reblochon over potatoes, onions and lardons. These are dishes made to feed people after a cold day outside.
Worth knowing
- Palak paneer: Paneer in spinach
- Matar paneer: Paneer with peas in tomato gravy
- Macaroni and cheese: Baked pasta in cheese sauce
- Käsespätzle: Egg noodles layered with mountain cheese
- Ema datshi: Bhutanese chillies with cheese
- Aligot: Stretchy cheese and potato of the Aubrac
- Tartiflette: Reblochon baked over potatoes
- Pierogi: Polish dumplings with potato and twaróg
Sources and further reading
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.
Dinner on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreParmesanParmigiano Reggiano
A hard, granular cow's-milk cheese aged at least a year in northern Italy.Cow · Hard · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreGorgonzola
A creamy Italian blue cheese from Lombardy with two distinct styles.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇲🇽 MexicoPanela cheeseQueso panela
A fresh, white Mexican cow's-milk cheese that holds its shape when fried.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreGruyère
A hard, pressed Swiss cheese made from raw cow's milk, aged for several months.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 ItalyGrana Padano
A hard, grainy Italian cow's-milk cheese aged for at least nine months in the Po Valley.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇬🇪 Georgia and 1 moreSulguniსულგუნი
A brined, elastic Georgian cheese from Samegrelo, often deep-fried.Cow · Brined · Salty
🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreAkkawiجبنة عكاوي
A white brined cow's milk cheese from the Levant named after Acre.Cow · Brined · Salty
🇪🇸 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
🇧🇷 BrazilMinas cheesequeijo minas
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Brazil with fresh and aged varieties.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇪🇸 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
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreWeisslackerWeißlacker
A pungent German cow's-milk cheese aged seven months with a whitewashed rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇵🇾 ParaguayParaguay cheesekesú Paraguái
A soft, creamy cow's-milk cheese from the eastern wetlands of Paraguay.Cow · Fresh · Salty
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreRomano cheese
A hard, salty American grating cheese made from cow, goat, or sheep milk.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇮🇹 ItalyGrana
A family of hard, granular Italian cow's-milk cheeses known for grating.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇲🇽 MexicoCotija
A salty, aged cow's milk cheese from Michoacán that crumbles but does not melt.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇧🇷 BrazilColony cheesequeijo de colônia
A semi-hard cow's-milk cheese from southern Brazil with a yellow crust and creamy interior.Cow · Semi-hard · Tangy and lactic
🇮🇳 IndiaBandel cheese
A small, smoked cow's-milk cheese from West Bengal with a crumbly texture and tangy taste.Cow · Fresh · Salty
🇬🇧 United KingdomStichelton
A raw-milk blue cheese made in Nottinghamshire using traditional unpasteurised methods.Cow · Blue · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇸 SpainMallorcaformatge mallorquí
A semi-hard cow, goat or sheep milk cheese from the Balearic Islands with an olive-oiled rind.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇽🇰 Kosovo and 2 moreSharr cheeseDjathë i Sharrit / Шарски сир
A hard, salty cow and sheep milk cheese from the Šar Mountains of Kosovo.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇳🇱 NetherlandsParrano
A semi-firm Dutch cow's milk cheese aged five months with a nutty, salty-sweet profile.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇨🇿 Czech Republic and 1 moreGran Moravia
A hard, long-aged cow's-milk grana-style cheese from the Czech Republic.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇮🇩 IndonesiaDangke
A fresh cottage cheese from South Sulawesi made with buffalo or cow milk and papaya leaves.Buffalo · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇮🇹 ItalyProvatura
A fresh pasta filata cheese from Lazio, shaped like an egg and made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Minas cheese: The original uploader was Hellkt at German Wikipedia . ( Original text, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Akkawi: Paul Joseph, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tetilla: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Gruyère: Rolf Krahl ( Rotkraut ), CC BY 4.0, source
- Romano cheese: Brian Boucheron, CC BY 2.0, source
- Sharr cheese: ThinkTank123, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Parmesan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cancoillotte: Popo le Chien, CC0, source
- Grana: MOs810, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sulguni: Georgian Recipes at Georgia About, CC BY 3.0, source
- Grana Padano: Claudia Castaldi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gorgonzola: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Weisslacker: Langinger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cotija: Leslie Seaton, CC BY 2.0, source
- Bandel cheese: Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stichelton: Jeremy Keith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mallorca: Tamorlan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Panela cheese: Pyb, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dangke: RianHS, CC BY-SA 4.0, source