10 Best Ways to Substitute for Farmer’s Cheese

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Do you need some way to substitute for farmer’s cheese? Keep reading to see 10 types of cheese that can be used to replace farmer’s cheese.

Farmer’s cheese is a fresh, unaged white cheese made with either cow, sheep, or goat’s milk. Farmer’s cheese texture largely depends on the manufacturing process. European-style farmer’s cheese is typically only drained, yielding a softer, creamier texture, while American-style farmer’s cheese is drained and pressed, producing a dryer, crumbly texture.

It has a mellow, creamy flavor with a slight tanginess to it. The mild flavor lends itself well to both savory and sweet dishes, which makes farmer’s cheese one of the most versatile types of cheese.

Best Substitutes for Farmer’s Cheese

Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta, an Italian whey cheese, is similar to farmer’s cheese in that, depending on the production process, it can be either very creamy or dryer and crumblier (though even dryer ricotta tends to be softer than farmer’s cheese). As such, finding a close match texture-wise is relatively easy. Ricotta also has a mild taste with only a slight saltiness and a touch of sweetness. Due to the similarities, ricotta can easily substitute farmer’s cheese at a 1:1 ratio in both sweet and savory recipes.

Stracciatella Cheese

Stracciatella is a soft, creamy Italian cheese with a mellow milky flavor with just a touch of tanginess (similar to mozzarella). Its versatile flavor lends itself well to both sweet and savory foods. However, stracciatella has a much creamier, almost runny texture compared to farmer’s cheese, and high moisture content should be accounted for when substituting. Use around 3:4 of stracciatella to farmer’s cheese ratio and cook on lower heat.

Chavroux Cheese

Chavroux is a soft goat’s milk cheese from France. It has a smooth and creamy, usually spreadable texture, though aged chavroux varieties can be on a more crumbly side. Chavroux’s mild, somewhat bland flavor becomes sharper and creamier with age, but it pairs well with more robust ingredients, both sweet and savory, at every stage. Use it at a 1:1 ratio.

Queso Blanco

A traditional Mexican cheese, it’s made from unskimmed cow’s milk and has a semi-hard, crumbly texture quite similar to farmer’s cheese. It has a more pronounced flavor with a hint of lemon (the acid is used in the milk coagulation process). However, it is still mellow and creamy overall, giving it enough similarities with farmer’s cheese to act as a decent substitute. Use it at a 1:1 ratio.

Queso Fresco

Queso Fresco is another Mexican alternative to Farmer’s cheese, made with a mix of goat and cow’s milk. It has a firmer, more crumbly texture, similar to dryer varieties of farmer’s cheese. Queso fresco has a mild, milky flavor but is saltier than other alternatives. Use it a bit more sparingly at a 4:5 ratio to account for extra salt.

Faisselle Cheese

Faisselle is a traditional French cheese made from raw milk. It has a very soft and delicate texture due to the high moisture level. Its flavor is often described as fresh, milky, and slightly acidic. Overall it’s more robust than farmer’s cheese but can be a good substitute if the differences are accounted for. Use a little less faisselle when cooking, at about 3:4 to farmer’s cheese.

Feta Cheese

Feta, the traditional Greek cheese, is one of the more tricky alternatives. Its crumbly texture matches farmer’s cheese well. However, its robust, salty flavor is much stronger than farmer’s cheese. While feta works with both sweet and savory ingredients, it’s not the best substitute in desserts and needs to be used more sparingly in savory dishes, at a ratio of about 3:4.

Manouri Cheese

Manouri is another Greek cheese. It is somewhat similar to feta in texture, though it tends to be a bit softer and creamier. Its flavor, on the other hand, while slightly sour and a bit tangy, is mellower, with less salt and acidity to it. It’s often compared to Greek yogurt flavor-wise. You can use it at a 1:1 ratio.

Quark Cheese

Quark is a fresh dairy product popular in Eastern Europe that’s a bit hard to pin down. It’s sometimes mistaken for cottage cheese, curd cheese, and farmer’s cheese but is a little different from them each. That said, there are enough similarities in texture and flavor-wise for quark to be a suitable substitute. Use at a 1:1 ratio.

Cottage Cheese

Cottage cheese can be either dry or creamed (i.e., mixed with extra cream). Both have a similar mild flavor with a touch of acidity and can act as farmer’s cheese substitutes in recipes that call for using fresh cheese or desserts (the latter being a particularly popular option). Generally, using either at a 1:1 ratio is fine, but dry cottage cheese might need adjustment in desserts if the mixture thickens too much, so it’s safer to start with a 3:4 ratio and go from there.

Common questions about Farmer’s cheese substitutions

What is a good substitute for farmers cheese?

There are many good substitutes for farmer’s cheese. They include Ricotta cheese, Stracciatella cheese, Chavroux cheese, Queso Blanco, Queso Fresco, Faisselle cheese, Feta cheese, Manouri cheese, Quark cheese and Cottage cheese.

Is farmer’s cheese the same as ricotta?

No. Ricotta cheese is very similar to farmer’s cheese in terms of texture and flavor. Ricotta cheese is a great farmer’s cheese substitute at a 1:1 conversion ratio, but they are not the same thing.

10 Best Ways to Substitute for Farmer’s Cheese