6 Store-Bought Blue Cheeses, Ranked Worst To Best

Blue cheese is one of those cheeses that people either really love or really hate. That’s likely because it has such a strong flavor: ultra-tangy, supremely salty, and inarguably funky. There’s also the fact that it’s made in a way that some people find, well, a little off-putting — it’s actually a specific strain of mold that gives blue cheese its signature blue hue. Understandably, many cheese lovers are hesitant to eat something moldy.

But for those who love blue cheese, it’s unlike any other, with a distinctive flavor that sets it apart from so many other crumbly and creamy cheeses out there. I happen to fall into this camp. Although I was once a blue cheese skeptic, I’m now fully onboard with this type of cheese. That’s why I decided to try out six different blue cheeses from a few local grocery stores in my area to determine which brands have the best-tasting varieties, evaluating for both flavor and texture. Everyone has different palates when it comes to cheese, so I don’t expect you to fully agree with me on every single point on this list. But by having a better sense of what I tasted when I tried each of these blue cheeses, you can better select one that’ll shine in all of your favorite blue cheese recipes (even if that’s just cheese smeared onto crusty walnut wheat bread).

If you’ve spent much time in grocery store delis, then you’ve undoubtedly come across plenty of Boar’s Head products before. The brand’s deli meat can be popular, but it also sells plenty of different types of cheese. Although many of these products might be worth checking out, I recommend skipping Boar’s Head Creamy Blue Cheese. Out of all the blue cheeses I tried for this ranking, this one was by far my least favorite.

There were two main problems here. First of all, this cheese is really, really funky — like far too funky for my taste buds, and I’m someone who generally loves funky cheese. Strangely enough, the product page for this cheese says that it’s “less pungent and more nuanced than traditional varieties,” yet I found it more pungent than any blue cheese I can remember having in the past, and it’s certainly more pungent (in a bad way) than any of the other cheeses on this list. Additionally, I found the texture quite dry and crumbly, lacking any of the creaminess that makes this type of cheese spreadable.

I’ll give credit where it’s due: Treasure Cave has excellent product branding, which immediately attracted me to this cheese when I found it in the supermarket. Unfortunately, though, the package design didn’t accurately reflect what was inside. I wouldn’t say that Treasure Cave Crumbled Blue Cheese is actively bad, but compared to most of the other cheeses on this list, it’s not very interesting. Yes, you get some of that signature tang you’d expect from blue cheese, but it’s not salty enough for me, which leads to a somewhat lackluster flavor.

This variety of blue cheese suffers from excessive dryness, like Boar’s Head. This generally seems like a problem with crumbled cheeses I’ve tried in the past, but other brands featured on this list deliver a creamier blue cheese experience. Personally, I probably wouldn’t buy this specific cheese again, although I’d be open to trying some of Treasure Cave’s blue cheese wedges to determine whether they have a better texture.

365 is a Whole Foods store brand, and even though it could be considered a higher-end store brand than many others, I still don’t trust it to specialize in something as finicky as cheese. As I expected, 365’s Crumbled Blue Cheese fell in the middle of the pack. I didn’t find anything particularly notable about this cheese, except for the fact that it was a relatively affordable option. It has a subtle tanginess and saltiness, but those flavors aren’t bold enough to shine in a recipe where cheese isn’t the star of the show. The crumbly texture is fine, and the cheese is moister than some other crumbled varieties, but I certainly wouldn’t describe it as creamy.

Ultimately, this blue cheese is solid, but it’s not anything special. It’s the kind of product you pick up when a recipe is calling for a bit of blue cheese, and you’re trying not to spend a lot of money. On both the flavor and the texture front, though, it falls somewhat flat — it’s not very interesting.

Frigo Crumbled Blue Cheese is another one of the cheaper blue cheeses featured on this list, and I appreciate its approachable price point. But the real reason it makes it into the top half of this ranking is that it’s so intensely salty. Now, let me preface this by saying that I love extremely salty food, so the degree of saltiness you’ll find in this cheese may not be for everybody. But the concentrated salty note makes this cheese shine, especially when it’s paired with contrasting flavors. I think it would work well with sweet ingredients like dried fruit and honey, where all that salt can play a balancing act with the other flavors in the mix.

Texture-wise, this cheese isn’t that different from any other crumbled cheese, but I noticed slightly more creaminess than in other brands. Ultimately, it’s a good choice if you’re looking for a more affordable blue cheese option.

If you’re new to the world of blue cheese, then you may want to start with BelGioioso’s Gorgonzola Italian Blue Cheese. Gorgonzola is a type of blue cheese that tends to be milder and creamier than other varieties. This makes it an excellent entry point into the category and a solid selection when you want to add blue cheese to a dish without overpowering the other ingredients in the mix.

BelGioioso Gorgonzola Italian Blue Cheese is a great example of this kind of cheese. I find it rather mild, although it still delivers enough funk to keep things interesting. This is by far the creamiest crumbled blue cheese I tasted for this ranking, with a moistness that gives it an almost spreadable texture. I think it would work especially well in this recipe for blue-cheese stuffed burgers, especially when paired with sweet fig for a delicious, balanced flavor note.

I’ll be honest — it wasn’t even a competition for which blue cheese would take the top spot in this ranking. As soon as I took my first taste of Kingston Creamery’s Breezy Blue Mixed Milk Blue Cheese, I felt like I momentarily died and went to cheese heaven. It’s supremely creamy, with a spreadability that’ll make you want to slather it on every piece of bread you can get your hands on. Not only is the texture top-notch, but the flavor is also incredible. It’s quite funky but not overly so, and it delivers just the right amount of saltiness. You also get a lovely, clean dairy flavor that provides a flavor counterpoint to that bold funk. Honestly, it feels like a treat — I think you could absolutely justify eating a piece of this cheese for dessert.

I’m not alone in my love for this cheese, either. It’s won multiple awards and comes in the No. 2 spot in another blue cheese ranking. If you’re on the hunt for a quality grocery store blue cheese, Kingston Creamery’s blue is absolutely the way to go.

I chose these blue cheese brands based on the varieties that were available at a few of my local supermarkets. The criteria I used for this ranking include both flavor and texture. On the flavor front, I was looking for cheeses that delivered a decent amount of funk, but that had a nice balance — not too funky or salty, but not bland. The cheeses that are ranked near the top of the list provide just that. Texture-wise, I prioritized creamier cheeses over drier, crumblier varieties.