What can I use instead of Asadero cheese? Oaxaca cheese, mozzarella, and string cheese are the best replacements for Asadero cheese, offering a similar stringy consistency and a mild taste. However, Monterey Jack falls short in texture but mimics Asadero’s flavor best. Lastly, replace Asadero cheese with provolone dolce or Fontina cheese.
Asadero cheese is made using a unique process that stretches and kneads the cheese to develop its distinctive stringy texture. Unfortunately, Asadero cheese isn’t always available in American supermarkets. Don’t allow your pantry shortage to limit your creativity. Instead, opt for the next best cheese – here are the six closest Asadero cheese substitutes.
The Best Substitutes For Asadero Cheese
Oaxaca Cheese
Oaxaca cheese is Asadero cheese’s close cousin, coming in as our first and best substitute. The cheese boasts a similar flavor and bouncy, stretchy texture.
Oaxaca cheese hails from its namesake, Oaxaca city in Mexico.
It’s a creamy, stretchy, stringy cheese with a mild, buttery, and slightly salty flavor. In comparison, Asadero cheese is somewhat drier, but both cheese taste divine!
Oaxaca and Asadero cheese are filata cheeses. Once the curds are heated, they are stretched, pulled into long strands, and wound into a ball.
You can pull Oaxaca cheese apart into fine shreds and add it to Mexican dishes like tacos, nachos, quesadillas, or empanadas.
You can also use Oaxaca cheese as a filling for poblano poppers or to make gooey queso sauce.
Mozzarella
Mozzarella is the second most popular substitute for Asadero cheese, offering a similarly rich, milky flavor and light, springy consistency.
Mozzarella – Italy’s white gold – is a mild, silky soft cheese with a light aroma of wholesome cream made from water buffalo or cow’s milk.
The softly spoken mozzarella turns into stringy, mellow cheese once melted. Consider substituting Asadero cheese with torn mozzarella pieces for Mexican dishes or melting it over your favorite dish.
String Cheese
String cheese, also known as braided cheese, is a lunchbox staple you can use as a substitute for Asadero cheese.
As the name implies, string or braided cheese is cheese intertwined into twisted lengths to create thick, round strips or braids that resemble a rope.
String cheese is mostly made using mozzarella. However, many cheesemakers also add cheddar and Colby Jack to the mix.
String cheese lends a rich, milky flavor with a hint of saltiness and a stringy (obviously) texture, similar to Asadero cheese.
You can indulge in the cheese on the spot or add it to your favorite Mexican-inspired dish.
Monterey Jack
Monterey Jack is a mild, meltable white cheese that lends a similar taste to Asadero cheese.
However, we recommend skipping the store-bought variety and paying a tad more for fresh Monterey Jack cheese at your local cheese deli to get the best flavor.
Monterey Jack has a high-moisture and low-moisture variety. Aim to use the semi-firm, high-moisture version. It melts easily and mimics Asadero cheese best.
Monterey Jack is only aged for a short period, allowing it to maintain a mild, inoffensive flavor that blends well with most dishes.
As a standard Tex-Mex cheese, you can add Monterey Jack to any queso dip, quesadilla, enchiladas, or recipes that call for Asadero cheese.
Provolone Dolce
Provolone is a unique, semi-firm Italian cheese made from cow’s milk. Despite different heritages, provolone dolce (the young variety) is an excellent substitute for Asadero cheese.
Provolone is a light yellow to golden brown cheese with an ivory-colored inside. It is hung by a cord to cure and age in a room with a wood fire for a subtle smoky flavor.
Provolone dolce further boasts a sweet, nutty, and buttery profile.
Its mild flavor sharpens with age, so ensure you use provolone dolce (young provolone) instead of provolone Picante (mature provolone) when substituting it for Asadero cheese.
Young Fontina Cheese
Fontina cheese has a different consistency from Asadero cheese. However, it lends a mild, nutty taste, allowing you to use it as a replacement for Asadero cheese.
Fontina is firm, light yellow, with tiny holes. While young Fontina makes a delicious “table cheese,” it becomes a grating cheese once mature.
Authentic Fontina cheese is a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese produced in the Valle d’Aosta in the Italian alps.
The knock-off versions are mild and lack the complexity of real Fontina cheese. Look for the Fontina Val d’Aosta DOP label and a Matterhorn Mountain stamp on the cheese’s rind to confirm its authenticity.
Use young Fontina cheese to make delicious gooey queso, or melt it over a bowl of nachos or quesadillas.
Resources
- https://www.gourmetsleuth.com/ingredients/detail/asadero-cheese#:~:text=If%20you%20don’t%20have%20Asadero%20Cheese%20you%20can%20substitute%3A&text=OR%20%2D%20Muenster%20cheese%20%2D%20similar%20flavor,found%20but%20it’s%20not%20great.
- https://anainthekitchen.eu/mexican-cheeses-what-can-we-replace-them-with/
- https://www.cooksinfo.com/asadero-cheese#:~:text=Substitutes,%2C%20Queso%20chihuahua%2C%20Queso%20manchego.