Lactose-free cheese is dairy cheese that has had its lactose removed. Lactose-free cheeses have the same good flavour and texture as their regular counterparts.
The lactose content in regular cheeses varies depending on how they are made and aged. In the table below, we have ranged some popular cheese types from highest to lowest in terms of lactose content. In most cases, you can also find them in lactose-free versions.
| Cheese type | Lactose content (per 100 grams) |
|---|---|
| Cream Cheese | 4-4.6 grams |
| Mascarpone | 3.5-4 grams |
| Quark | 3.3-4.5 grams |
| Ricotta | 3.2-5.1 grams |
| Cottage cheese | 3-4 grams |
| Queso Fresco | 2-5 grams (can vary widely) |
| Paneer | 1.2-3.2 grams(can vary widely) |
| Queso Blanco | 1-5 grams (can vary widely) |
| Provolone | 1-3 grams |
| Fresh mozzarella | 1-3 grams |
| Cheddar | 1-3 grams |
| Feta | 1-2 grams |
| Parmesan | 0-3 grams |
| Gouda | 0-2 grams |
| Swiss cheese | 0-1 grams |
| Brie | 0-1 grams |
| Camembert | 0-1 grams |
What makes a cheese lactose-free?
A cheese is lactose-free if it has had its lactose, in other words, milk sugar, removed. However, in some countries, cheeses are allowed to contain trace amounts of lactose and still be known as lactose-free. In others, it must be completely removed in a special process. So, remember to check the specifics of your country.
Difference between dairy-free and lactose-free cheese
As stated above, a lactose-free cheese is a cheese that has undergone a process to remove its lactose content. It can be made from, for example, cow’s, goat’s, sheep, or buffalo milk. Dairy-free alternative to cheese is plant-based and can be made from, for example, plants, seeds, or nuts.
Lactose occurs naturally in dairy, so plant-based products are not dairy and therefore does not contain any lactose either. However, the ‘lactose-free’ label is only valid for products where the lactose has been actively removed and dairy-free, i.e. plant-based, alternatives to cheese can therefore not be labelled lactose-free.
If you want to know more about this distinction, you should read our article ‘Is lactose-free dairy-free?’.
How can cheese be lactose-free?
The lactose content in cheese can be lowered or removed in two different ways – naturally or through a specialised process, respectively.
If naturally, during the cheesemaking process, most of the naturally occurring lactose in milk is converted into lactic acid by bacteria or other microorganisms. So, fermented or long-aged cheese generally contains less lactose than fresh varieties.
However, it is only 100 % lactose-free if it undergoes a specialised process to remove the lactose. You can read more about it in this chart of lactose in different cheeses.
Read more about cheeses with higher levels of lactose or check our chart of cheeses with low levels of lactose.
Popular and tasty lactose-free cheeses
On the lookout for some tasty cheese? Whether you love them soft or like to bite into the flaky, granular kind, enjoy fresh or aged cheeses, or want flavours from different dairy sources like cow, goat, or sheep, you have plenty to choose from without lactose.
The wide variety of delicious lactose-free cheeses allows you to create and relish in the perfect cheese board for you and your loved ones. What the best one is, you decide – get tasting to explore your favourites.
Soft cheeses
Soft lactose-free cheeses are known for their smooth and creamy texture. They come in various shapes, sizes, and flavours, offering a wide range of options to suit different tastes. Soft cheeses are often used as spreads or in sweet and savoury cooking.
Cream cheese
Spreadable cream cheese may be one of the most well-known soft cheeses. It comes in lots of different flavours, for example, natural or with herbs or spices, making it a popular choice for spreading on sandwich bread, toast, and bagels.
It is also the most popular choice for classic cheesecake recipes. Without any flavouring, it has a mild and slightly tangy taste, making it perfect for both sweet and savoury cuisines. Read more about lactose-free cream cheese.
Cottage cheese
Enjoy lactose-free cottage cheese in both sweet and savoury dishes – it is just as delicious in taste and texture as its regular counterpart. So, whether you like it in your colourful breakfast bowl, in salads, as a spread on bread, in baked goods, or in creamy dips, this versatile soft cheese is more than delicious.
Cottage cheese stands out among the soft varieties because of its texture. It is characterised by its curds, which are small, soft, and lumpy. These curds are typically moist and have a slightly grainy or crumbly texture.
The consistency can vary, ranging from creamy and smooth to slightly chunky, depending on the size of the curds. The taste can also vary slightly depending on the brand and the processing method, but it generally has a mildly tangy and slightly salty flavour.
Ricotta cheese
No list of soft cheeses would be complete without mentioning ricotta, and you can also find lactose-free ricotta. It has a soft and creamy consistency and is smooth and spreadable with a light and fluffy mouthfeel.
The fresh, Italian cheese has a mild, slightly sweet flavour. It is less salty than other similar cheeses and is often featured in Italian pastries, served with pancakes, or used in cannoli. You can also use it in savoury dishes like pizza and pasta.
Goat cheese
Goat cheese is a popular soft cheese that you can get without lactose, too. It has a flavourful, tangy flavour that is quite distinct. Some are mild, while others have a deeper earthiness to them.
Lactose-free goat’s cheese can be either soft and creamy or have a crumblier texture, just like the regular kind.
Semi-soft cheeses
If you are a cheese lover, chances are that you have enjoyed a fair share of semi-soft cheeses. They form a versatile and beloved category known for their supple texture and balanced flavours.
These cheeses have a semi-firm consistency that falls between the softness of spreadable cheeses and the firmness of harder varieties. With their pliable and yielding nature, the semi-soft varieties are delightful and a must-eat for any cheese lover.
Brie
No matter its lactose level, brie is renowned for its creamy and indulgent taste, making it a beloved choice among cheese enthusiasts. The French semi-soft cheese has a rich buttery flavour with subtle nutty undertones and hints of browned butter.
As it ages, its flavour becomes more pronounced, developing deeper and more complex notes. The rind is edible and adds to the overall flavour experience, contributing a subtle mushroom-like taste.
Brie is known for its luxurious and velvety texture. When properly ripened, its interior is soft and viscous with a creamy consistency that almost melts in your mouth.
Typically enjoyed at room temperature to allow its texture to become even creamier and enhance its flavours, lactose-free brie pairs well with a variety of accompaniments, such as fresh fruits, crackers, bread, honey, and sweet or savoury preserves.
Feta
Authentic Greek feta is known for its unique taste and crumbly texture. It has a distinct tangy and salty flavour that is often described as sharp and briny with a slightly acidic taste.
The saltiness is a prominent characteristic that adds depth and enhances its overall flavour profile. And all of this deliciousness is, of course, also found in lactose-free feta.
Feta has a crumbly texture. It breaks apart easily, making it ideal for crumbling over salads or other dishes. The texture is not as smooth or creamy as some other fresh cheeses, but its drier consistency contributes to its delightful crumbly nature.
It is a staple in Mediterranean cuisine and pairs well with fresh produce like tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, and fresh herbs. Crumble it over salads, add it to sandwiches, or incorporate it into cooked dishes such as pasta, baked goods, and stuffed vegetables.
Camembert
Regular as well as lactose-free camembert is often compared to brie, as it is also known for its rich and creamy flavour, although its flavour is stronger and more potent than brie. Both with and without lactose, camembert has a buttery and slightly earthy taste with a hint of mushroom-like notes.
The flavour profile can range from mild to more robust, depending on the ripeness of the cheese. It is often described as indulgent and full-bodied, with a delicate tanginess adding depth to its overall profile.
Camembert, whether lactose-free or not, has a soft and velvety texture. When perfectly ripened, it has a runny and gooey interior with a creamy consistency that spreads easily. We recommend enjoying it on a cheeseboard at room temperature, which allows it to develop its desired velvety mouthfeel.
Blue cheese
If you gravitate towards flavourful, potent cheeses, you will probably love blue cheese. It is known for its bold, distinctively tangy, and sharp taste with a unique pungency that comes from the blue mould veins running through it.
It can range from mildly tangy to assertively sharp, depending on the specific type and age. Some varieties have a slightly salty or nutty undertone.
Lactose-free blue cheese tastes just the same, and it has a crumbly and creamy texture just like its regular counterpart. It pairs well with fruits such as pears or apples, nuts, and honey, which help balance the strong taste.
Blue cheese is a popular choice for adding a bold and tangy element to salads and dressings, and it melts easily into sauces, burger patties, pasta, or baked sweet or savoury goods.
Semi-hard cheeses
If you are an aficionado of all things cheese, you have likely relished many a bite of semi-hard cheeses. They are loved and famed for their remarkable and distinctive semi-sturdy texture that bridges the gap between the creaminess of soft cheeses and the hardness of more mature types.
Cheddar
One of the most popular semi-hard cheeses, English cheddar, is inevitable for cheese lovers like us – and lactose-free cheddar has the same delicious flavour and texture. Depending on the age, it can also be categorised as a hard cheese as the firm cheddar ranges from soft to hard.
Cheddar is known for its rich and sharp flavour with a distinct tanginess. The taste can range from mild to extra sharp, depending on its maturity, with a savoury and nutty profile with hints of sweetness.
It is typically dense and smooth, with a slight crumble when cut or grated and has a firm bite that becomes more pronounced as it ages. Younger cheddar tends to be more supple and pliable, while mature and extra-mature cheddar becomes drier and crumblier.
The texture lends itself well to slicing, grating, and melting, making it a versatile cheese for both cooking and snacking.
Gouda
Dutch gouda is smooth, creamy, and slightly sweet. Regular and lactose-free gouda is known for their mild taste that can range from buttery and slightly nutty to caramel-like with hints of butterscotch.
This cheese has a semi-hard but still pliable texture with a slight firmness and denseness. Its smooth and supple consistency makes it easy to slice or cube.
Lactose-free gouda is often served with a selection of artisanal crackers or paired with crusty baguette slices. It also pairs wonderfully with different fruits and jams. Enjoy slices with fresh fruit or pair it with a tangy fruit preserve or chutney for a sweet and savoury contrast.
Mozzarella
Italian mozzarella is a favourite with many, and lactose-free mozzarella is also widely available. The fresh cheese is well-known for its smooth and elastic texture. Due to its high moisture content, it has a soft and moist consistency with a slight springiness.
It has a mild and delicate, slightly sweet taste with a hint of tanginess. The taste is often described as fresh, milky, and creamy. The flavour is not overpowering, making mozzarella the perfect companion for a variety of dishes and ingredients.
With its origin in Italian cuisine, it is popular on fresh, simple salads, Italian pizzas, and various pasta dishes.
Halloumi
Just like the regular kind, lactose-free halloumi has a salty and tangy flavour with a hint of sweetness. The saltiness is a prominent characteristic, giving it a savoury and flavourful profile. The texture is quite special, being semi-hard and slightly rubbery, sometimes described as squeaky.
Halloumi has a high melting point, allowing it to be grilled or pan-fried without losing its shape. When cooked, halloumi forms a golden-brown crust while retaining a firm and chewy interior. It also develops a delightfully caramelised exterior, which adds to the taste.
Try this special Mediterranean delicacy in salads, sandwiches, or as a standalone appetiser.
Hard cheeses
Hard cheeses are renowned for their firm and dense texture. They are often aged for extended periods, resulting in cheeses with a lower lactose content than softer cheese – and with delicious, intensified flavours.
They are typically made using techniques that involve pressing and removing moisture from the curds, resulting in a dry, solid cheese.
The texture is firm and often crumbly, making them perfect for being grated, shaved, or sliced thinly, ideal for adding flavour and texture to various dishes.
Parmesan
A popular, well-known hard cheese is Italian parmesan. Lactose-free parmesan has a sharp and tangy note that adds depth to the overall taste. The flavour is complex and robust with hints of caramel and fruit. With its rich, nutty, and savoury flavour profile, it is known for its intense umami taste that is often used to infuse pasta, salads, and soups with great flavour and saltiness.
It has a deliciously hard, dry, and crumbly texture with a grainy mouthfeel due to the formation of small crystals during ageing. The texture allows it to be easily grated or shaved, making it the perfect accompaniment to a multitude of classic dishes.
Manchego
Manchego is a delicious Spanish cheese with a semi-hard and compact texture. It is smooth and firm to the touch with a dense and creamy consistency. Both with and without lactose, it is loved for its buttery, nutty, and slightly sweet taste.
It has a unique and distinctive flavour from sheep’s milk, showcasing a balanced combination of sweetness and tanginess with hints of earthy grassiness.
Its texture allows it to be easily sliced, grated, or eaten as is. It pairs nicely with fruits like sliced apples, pears, or grapes, crumbled over a fresh salad, or with a glass of red wine or dry sherry.
Manchego is also a staple on charcuterie boards, where it can be served alongside cured meats such as Spanish ham, chorizo, and salami.
Can cheese naturally contain low amounts of lactose?
Yes, cheese can naturally contain low amounts of lactose. They might contain trace amounts, though, if they are not processed specifically to remove all milk sugar. Look for products labelled ‘lactose-free’ to make sure they contain little to no lactose.
How much lactose a labelled lactose-free cheese is allowed to contain varies from country to country, so make sure to check your local regulations.
Cheeses that naturally contain very little lactose owe their lower lactose content to bacteria or microorganisms that convert the milk's lactose into lactic acid during the cheesemaking process, significantly reducing the lactose levels in the cheese.
As a result, cheeses that undergo fermentation or are aged for longer periods typically contain less lactose than fresher ones. These are, for example, fermented and hard yellow cheeses like aged cheddar, gouda, and Swiss cheese.
