Cheeses similar to queso fresco

Question

Queso fresco is one of my most frequently purchased cheeses; among other things I like it crumbled over salads. I do like a lot of common salad cheeses - crumbly goat cheeses, blue cheeses, and feta - but I often want something more mild.

Unfortunately, queso fresco is not quite so common in stores away from Texas. Are there any common similar cheeses that are more widely available? The best my searches have come up with is "mild feta", but I'm hoping for something a bit better, since in my experience it can be a bit hard to identify mild enough feta in the store, and it's also more commonly sold already crumbled and more expensive.

Answer 1

I use paneer and queso fresco interchangeably. They are produced using pretty much the same technique.

It is also really easy to make it yourself. How do you make paneer?

Answer 2

Dry ricotta or even dry cottage cheese are similar. If you have access to an Indian grocery, paneer is a somewhat comparable choice.

Answer 3

Foodsubs.com has a nice list of types of cheese, including possible substitues.

For queso fresco it suggests:

Substitutes: Mix equal parts cottage cheese and feta cheese OR farmer cheese OR cotija cheese OR feta cheese (similar texture but saltier) OR queso anejo OR mild goat cheese OR paneer OR ricotta cheese OR jack cheese

Answer 4

It depends on what you mean by 'mild' ... Ricotta salata, a firmer version of ricotta, isn't too sharp, but it's quite salty.

Unfortunately, in my area, it's sold even fewer places than queso fresco, but if you're in an area with a large Italian population, it might not be.

You might also strain and press your standard ricotta to make it a little firmer.

Answer 5

I'd like to suggest Bocconcini Cheese, a fresh mild cheese that doesn't detract from the flavour of a recipe.