Best Cheeses for Snacking, According to Cheese Pros
Snacking cheeses
With the right attitude and level of craving, any cheese can be a good snacking cheese. The best snacking cheeses, however, may have a specific attribute or two that sets them apart. If a cheese is at its best, completely unadorned, without even a cracker to bolster it? That’s a great snacking cheese. If a cheese is still magnificent when it’s cold, when you may be eating it while still illuminated by the light of the open refrigerator door? That’s a great snacking cheese. If a cheese is portable, and you can toss a wedge of it in your backpack or even your pocket for a munch later? Definitely a great snacking cheese.
Those who love cheese love it for all occasions, but there’s something about a cheese that hits hardest when a snack is in order. We asked 12 cheese pros — from cheesemakers, cheesemongers, cheese educators, cheese content creators, and cheese writers — for their favorite go-to snacking cheese, and here’s what they came up with.
Comté
Hailing from the foothills of France’s Jura Mountains, always-classic Comté was basically born, not for indulgence — though it can certainly strike that chord as well — but to fortify. “My perfect snacking cheese is an aged Comté,” says Barbara Marriner, owner of The Cheese Lady in Rochester, Michigan. “It’s like a welcome hug or a warm blanket on a cold night.”
Comté’s complexity also makes it not unlike a meal in a single bite, another hallmark of a great snack when you need something to sustain you between sitting-down-and-eating occasions. “Velvety and luxurious, it invites you along a flavor journey with many destinations on the way — fruity, nutty, brothy and spicy,” she says. “But it’s also a well behaved traveller, slicing and dicing well for easy snacking.”
Mahón
While Manchego undeniably makes for an excellent snacker, it’s a less ubiquitous Spanish selection that was nominated by Michael Scott, ACS CCP, and cheesemonger at Whole Foods Market in Wellsesley, Massachusetts. “Spain’s Mahón is my favorite snacking cheese,” says Scott, “creamy, nutty, and always a hit.”
Mahón DOP is made from thermalized cow’s milk on the island of Menorca. “It’s aged just four months for a moist, buttery texture that melts on your palate,” says Scott. “I often tell customers: Spain doesn’t make cheddar, but if they did, this would be it. It’s versatile, kid-friendly, and affordable — perfect for grilled cheese, snack boards, or straight from the wedge.”
Cello Copper Kettle Parmesan
If you’ve only ever enjoyed Parmigiano-Reggiano in culinary applications, this is your invitation to nibble on a hunk straight from the wedge. As follows, its domestic doppelganger also makes for good snacking, on a more affordable scale. “I love Cello Copper Kettle Parmesan with coffee,” says Shannon Bonilla, Wisconsin Cheese Expert, Licensed Wisconsin Cheesemaker and ACS CCP. (As the state that popularized cheese curds, you know that Wisconsin’s cheese snack game is top tier.)
“Any cheese makes a good snack, but some bring a little extra character, like the texture you get from tyrosine crystals in aged cheeses,” Bonilla explains. Cello’s take on Parmesan is cooked in copper kettles, per its Italian lineage, and aged for 16 months, providing plenty of those crystals to crunch on, just as one would a bag of chips during a snack attack. It's also a bit sweeter and less salty than Parmigiano Reggiano.
Chällerhocker
No stranger to superlative roundups no matter the topic, “my perfect snacking cheese is Chällerhocker, created by cheese mastermind Walter Räss,” says Katherine Korsnick Barrus, the Virginia-based cheesemonger behind cheesemergency. Chällerhocker’s vibe, a raw-milk, Alpine cheese that eschews the bounds of any AOP, leans into snacking sensibilities in the same way: who needs rules when a satisfying snack is in order?
“This cheese is mildly nutty and creamy with a flavor reminiscent of brown butter,” says Barrus. “It’s perfect on its own or with a jam. I have been known to carry it in my pocket with me; I call it my “pocket cheese”. It just brings joy.”
Widmer's Cheese Cellars Brick
Naturally, a cheese that exists as a spread is a great snacking cheese by definition. “My favorite not-so-guilty pleasure is Widmer’s Aged Brick Spread, preferably on a club cracker or saltine,” says cheesemonger Steve Jones, formerly of Cheese Bar and Gourmet Imports. Another selection from a state that definitely knows how to snack, Wisconsin’s Widmer’s has been in the American cheese game since 1922. Its Brick Spread combines creamy brick cheese — a Wisconsin original — with a savory punch of aged cheddar. “It’s super satisfying,” says Jones, and “loaded with childhood memories of forays into forbidden cheese balls.” Snacking is always the most satisfying when it brings a touch of the forbidden, no?
Stonetown Grand Trunk
Another hallmark of a great snacking cheese, “Grand Trunk goes with anything, or nothing at all,” says Tracey Johnson, owner of Cheeseneeds, ACS CCP, and Certified Cheesemaker through Canada’s University of Guelph. “I always try and get it to room temperature,” she says, but when the urge to snack is real, “I normally fail and eat it cold.”
Made by Stonetown in Ontario, Canada, Grand Trunk is a raw milk Alpine style cheese whose recent accolades include best in its category and third place overall at the 2025 American Cheese Society Awards. The rind is smeared with wine yeast during its 15-plus months of aging, resulting in a cheese with the infinitely snackable flavors of roasted nuts and salted butter.
Ossau-Iraty
As both sheep and humans are inclined to graze, it follows that a sheep’s milk cheese would need to be represented among the top snackers. "My ultimate snacking cheese is Ossau-Iraty, an aged, nutty, ewe's milk cheese from the Pyrénées,” says Jennifer Greco, Academy of Cheese Level One Associate, and owner of Chez Loulou French wine and cheese tastings in Paris. “I prefer cheeses made on farms,” she says, “but Ossau-Iraty is a wonderful alternative.”
Rich and nutty, Ossu-Iraty’s origins go back about as far as cheeses go, making it possibly one of the original snacking cheeses. And its craveability is on par with its snackability. According to Greco, “I can never get enough of the rich, complex flavors of toffee and caramel in these cheeses."
Dunbarton Blue
In the comforts of home, any blue cheese can be made to snack, but easily portable, handheld versions of blue cheese are harder to come by. Enter Dunbarton Blue. “Chris Roelli makes hands down one of the best cheeses in the U.S.,” says Sheana Davis,” cheesemaker, cheese educator, and owner of Sonoma’s The Epicurion Collection. “I love Dunbarton Blue’s combination of blue and cheddar,” she says, bringing the attitude of blue with “a texture which is perfect to snack on.”
A pasteurized cow’s milk cheese, its English cheddar pedigree brings about notes of horseradish and mustard — creating the sensation of a meal when only a snack is available — with an extra sting from its deliberately sparse blue veining.
Marieke Holy Trinity Melange Gouda
Lee Anderson, ACS CCP and cheese professional at Hy-Vee offers up Marieke’s Holy Trinity Melange Gouda as a perfect snacking cheese with a simple, enthusiastic testimonial: “I loved cutting that wheel!” he says. (Further adding to its ideal as a snacking cheese, as something that’s appropriate even when you’re in the middle of work.)
Pick any one of Marieke Penterman’s exceptional, Wisconsin-made goudas and just take a bite right from the hunk, but Holy Trinity delivers on its divine promise with the inclusion of bell peppers, celery, and onions, giving you veggies and dip all together in one sturdy bite.
Cabot Creamery Extra Sharp Cheddar
Speaking of holy trinities, cheddar came up in a trio of recommendations; for many cheese pros, a simple, grocery-store cheddar often represents our original snacking cheese, and can still hit the mark for a good, go-to snack. “One that's always in my fridge is Cabot Extra Sharp Cheddar,” says Alexandra Jones, author of “Stuff Every Cheese Lover Should Know.” “It's the most flavorful of their blocks without being too crumbly or bitey.”
She also recommends a composed combo for snacking perfection: “crackers —Triscuits if I'm being fancy, saltines if I'm not — garlic dill pickle slices, and slices of this comfort cheese arranged in little stacks,” says Jones. “It's an after-school snack that has stuck with me into adulthood and still one of my favorite ‘perfect bites’ to this day.”
Tillamook Medium Cheddar
The second of three similar nominations, Tillamook capitalizes on cheddar’s inherent snackability by offering individually-wrapped slabs of its medium sharp cheese in snack-appropriate packaging. Cheese educator Anne-Marie Pietersma, ACS CCP, owner of Trust Your Taste and author of “I’ll Have What Cheese Having,” recommends having these on hand when you’re on the move. “My whole family loves them for a quick hit of protein in-between meals,” she says. “They’re simple without being boring, and a great cheese for on-the-go.” (Also evidenced by the fact that you might be so lucky to occasionally encounter them on an airplane.)
Tesco Extra Mature Cheddar
England’s grocery store cheddars tend to more-closely resemble their bandaged-wrapped cousins, with pronounced sharpness and tyrosine crunch, so much so they are prized even by French cheese experts. “As someone based in France, I might get a bit of a hairy eyeball when I admit that my all-time favorite snacking cheese is the extra sharp cheddar from Tesco, but I can’t help it!” says Emily Monaco, owner of Emily in France and That Cheese Girl Parisian food tours. “I find most of my favorite French cheeses are eons better when I take them out of the fridge at least an hour before enjoying them,” she says, “but cheddar is delicious at any temperature.”
“For a real treat, I dip into my stash of Triscuits, which I bring back from the U.S. every time I travel,” she says, and in a sentiment also shared above: “Triscuit plus cheddar equals the perfect snack.”