Top 11 Brick Cheese Substitutes That You Must Try
Brick cheese is such a tasty, creamy, and delicate food to add to any recipe. The cheese is commonly used in daily cooking and has a pleasant texture and flavor.
However, there are times that you run out of brick cheese in the kitchen. Are there any other cheeses that work well as a brick cheese substitute then?
11 Best Brick Cheese Substitutes For You
Cheddar Cheese
Cheddar must be the most commonly used cheese in the US in specific and North America in general. The food is easy to cook, easy to find in any supermarket at an affordable price.
We choose cheddar cheese as a brick cheese substitute since it is versatile enough to combine with literally any ingredient. The cheddar can increase the sweet and gooey taste of any brick cheese recipe available with mild cheesiness, delicate texture, and neutral smell.
In short, it is compatible with substituting the brick cheese. As it matures, the flavor will slowly intensify.
Typically, cheddar cheese is used in burgers, sandwiches, noodles, casseroles, and salad. However, you can use it in any recipe (even as a Havarti cheese substitute), and its taste will not disappoint you.
Tilsit Cheese
Tilsit cheese seems strange to the public, but, in fact, it is one of the best cheeses on the recommendation list.
Extracted from cow’s milk, this special cheese surprises us with strong cheesiness and sweetness. In terms of texture, the Tilsit is hard or semi-hard.
There are two types of Tilsit cheese available in the market: unpasteurized and pasteurized. The unpasteurized may cause diarrhea for some people, but it is fattier and sweeter. Meanwhile, the pasteurized is a safer one, yet blander.
Tilsit cheese is a great choice for grilling and baking since its strong taste can push the sugariness and butteriness every baker demands in a cake.
There is one thing you need to be aware of: Tilsit cheese can only last for 2 to 6 months, which means you must use up the ingredients within this period.
Mozzarella Cheese
Another option to substitute brick cheese is mozzarella. There is no need to introduce more about this type of cheese since it is so famous, right?
When choosing a substitute ingredient for brick cheese pizza, people will automatically think of mozzarella for its delicate texture and mild cheesiness. It is well-blended into any ingredients provided. Hence, mozzarella is the best substitute for brick cheese when all the bricks have been used up.
In our opinion, mozzarella is good for grilling and frying dishes to add-in. It provides the gooey and cheesy flavor that is enough to season the overall dish, but not overly cheesy to make us overwhelming.
Finally, the mozzarella is cheap and easily founded in any supermarket. Such an ideal Wisconsin brick cheese substitute, right?
Tuma Cheese
Don’t get confused; tuma cheese and mozzarella cheese are two different foods; they just have similar shapes and colors!
Like the mozzarella, tuma cheese is delicate, quickly melts with a light yellow scent. In terms of taste, the cheese is strongly creamy and cheesy with a bit of gooey. Since the tuma cheese comes from “the land of sheep” Sicily, it is quite understandable that the cheese is made from 100% sheep’s milk.
Compared to mozzarella, tuma cheese feels thicker and harder. Regarding the flavor, mozzarella seems less intense than tuma.
Provolone Cheese
Provolone cheese may not be famous in the States, but it is the top commonly used cheese in the northern part of Italy. Its various flavors are what impresses us the most.
According to how old the provolone cheese is, the taste varies. If the cheese is immature, it may taste sweet. The older the provolone is, the spicier it becomes. Therefore, you must eat the provolone as soon as possible, since it can become spicy after a long storage time.
What about the provolone’s texture? Fortunately, provolone cheese is delicate, creamy, and easy to melt. It is suitable to cook in any form, from frying, grilling, grating, stirring, etc.
Let us guide you on how to classify the young and old provolone. Just take a look at cheese’ rind. If it is white, that cheese is about 2 to 3 months old with a sweet taste.
Meanwhile, if the rind is yellow, then you see an old provolone cheese. It may be four months old, and the flavor is savory yet spicy.
Additionally, with such versatile features – delicate texture, sweet and cheesy taste – the provolone can work well not only as a brick cheese alternative but also as a substitution for mozzarella cheese.
Limburger Cheese
Limburger cheese is the German locality that we want to introduce to you. Made from cow milk and incubated with a special yeast, the Limburger literally shocks us from the first scene.
We believe that everybody who has “experienced” Limburger cheese must agree that the most special thing about it is the strong smell. The intense, bad, unpleasant smell of the cheese may make you worry at first, but if you gain all bravery and try tasting it, you may realize it is tasty!
Additionally, the unpleasant “aroma” of the Limburger will get stronger and stronger over time. Hence, we think that it is not a good cheese to blend in with other ingredients. However, if you eat it raw and immature, then the smell is acceptable enough.
Havarti Cheese
Havarti cheese is the first Danish dish on this recommendation list. Originated from vegetables, this cheese is suitable for vegans or those seeking food with a low-fat rate.
What is so special about Havarti cheese that makes it chosen to this list? Well, we want to mention the creaminess and sweetness of this ingredient. When tasting the cheese for the first time, you may be surprised by the strong sugar taste and slight acidity!
With such a distinctive flavor, Havarti cheese is widely used in making desserts, cakes, appetizers, or sometimes cocktails. You can even eat it raw to experience its integrated taste better.
Unlike other cheeses, the more mature the Havarti is, the saltier it gets. Hence, please pay attention to the longevity of your Havarti, as yours may be too salty to cook!
Muenster Cheese
Muenster cheese impresses people at first for its red and orange crust. Made from whole cow milk, the muenster is quite fatty and creamy.
Typically, muenster is sold in solid form, but it is easy to melt with just average heat. Given that fact, muenster cheese is suitable for grilling and frying brick cheese recipes since the high heat will quickly provoke the cheese to melt down, absorbing into other ingredients.
The most commonly used recipe for Muenster cheese is mac & cheese. As mentioned above, the cheese will quickly melt, blend into the meat and eggs, providing a buttery flavor to mac & cheese.
You can also mix the muenster with mozzarella, cheddar, or blue cheese to increase the cheesiness if you’d like to.
Monterey Jack Cheese
Jack cheese is also a great Wisconsin brick cheese alternative. Its texture is semi-hard, the taste is sweet and fatty. So similar to brick’s, right?
Originated from cow’s milk, Monterey jack cheese has a slight dairy smell that every cow’s dairy products have. To add-in, it is sweet, creamy, and a bit pungent.
What is distinctive about Monterey jack cheese is that its typical texture is quite hard. However, just after a bit of cooking, jacks will quickly melt down and blend into other ingredients in the recipe.
If you plan to substitute brick cheese with Monterey Jack, then we advise you to mix it with mozzarella for the best effect. In case you let the jack cheese age, it will slowly have a similar flavor to cheddar.
Butterkase Cheese
Butterkase is commonly known by the name “Wisconsin butter cheese” or Wisconsin brick cheese substitute in the States. The original version from Germany is stronger in taste, but the most commonly sold butterkase cheese now is the American adapted version with a lighter flavor.
Originally, butterkase is a mild buttery cheese, which is easy to taste and cook with other ingredients. If we have to compare, the Monterey jack must be the most similar.
If you are asking, “What is brick cheese similar to?”, then the answer must not be butterkase. The brick cheese is stronger and richer than butterkase, and the texture of butterkase is also softer!
However, we believe that such a difference makes butterkase a strange but worth-looking-forward-to substitute for brick cheese. When replacing the bricks, butterkase can surprise you with its lighter taste, and maybe you may think that it is better to use butterkase at the beginning than the brick cheese!
Danish Fontina Cheese
The fontina cheese is famous for having a high-fat content (45%). That being said, this food is suitable for baking or making desserts.
There are two types of fontina cheese: immature and mature. While the immature is soft, creamy, fatty, and slightly sweet, the older version is richer and nuttier.
Commonly, the Danish fontina cheese is used for making fondue because of its fattiness and cheesiness. For similar fondue recipes, you can choose danish fontina to season.
In the States, we can only find the American-styled fontina cheese with a sweet and creamy taste. If you come to Danish or Italy, you will have a chance to experience a wider variety of spicy, nutty, sour fontina.
Besides being a brick cheese replacement, fontina works well as one of the best Havarti cheese substitutes. Its fattiness and creaminess can satisfy the taste Havarti provides.
Wrapping It Up
We have analyzed each brick cheese substitute in-depth to find out which is the most suitable choice for you.
In our opinion, the Havarti cheese is the best option, since it is available for both meat-eaters and vegans. The taste and the texture are suitable to melt and stir, either.
I hope this post is helpful for you. Happy cooking!
