15 Most Popular Italian Cheese Names That Everyone Should Know

Asiago vs. parmesan is an ongoing debate in Northern Italy and Southern Italy.

Toscano cheese in Italian culture is known for its distinctive flavor and texture. Whether it be hard cheeses or different types of white cheese, sharp Italian cheese flavor stands apart from any of its competitors.

Italy has over 2500 traditional varieties of cheeses, and according to reports, the volume of fresh cheese produced in Italy accounted for 566,000 t (513,467 mt) (as of 2019). Read on for the names of the most famous Italian cheeses.

Here are the names of the most famous Italian hard cheeses that are known for their distinctive flavor: -

Accasciato (Italian origin) is a semi-firm, sweet-flavored cheese that comes to us from the Campania region of Italy.

Asiago (Italian origin) is a pungent, semi-soft cheese to hard cheese. Asiago cheese comes in two forms, fresh Asiago Pressato and aged Asiago d'Allevo.

Bagoss (Italian origin) is a one-of-a-kind Italian cheese made in the little community of Bagolino. It is created with Bruna Alpina cow's milk, and saffron is added to the curd during the breaking process, resulting in the distinctive straw yellow hue of the body.

Bitto (Italian origin) is a semi-hard or hard cheese matured from 40 days to three years. It is unquestionably the best and most well-known cheese in the Valtellina region.

Bra (Italian origin) is a hard cheese made by cheesemakers in Italy's Piedmont area. It is derived from the town of Bra in the Piedmont region of Cuneo.

Brinata (Italian origin) is made from pasteurized sheep's milk. This cheese has a soft, silky feel and is encased in an edible white mold rind.

Caprino (Molise) (Italian origin) is a goat's milk cheese popular across Italy; the name comes from the Italian word Capra, which means goat.

Castelmagno (Italian origin) cheese has a distinct texture and flavor. Cheesemakers utilize cow's milk and goat or sheep's milk to manufacture it.

Fontina d'Aosta (Italian origin) is created from raw, fresh milk obtained from a single milking of Valdostana cows in the Italian Alps' Valle d'Aosta.

Gorgonzola Dolce (Italian origin), initially, the penicillium hiding in damp caves caused the Gorgonzola Dolce cheese to become blue naturally. The Gorgonzola cheese wheels are now punctured and injected with a little amount of the instigating mold. Gorgonzola Dolce is an expensive cheese.

Grana Padano (Italian origin) is hard cheese created from unpasteurized semi-skimmed cow's milk and comes in three flavors: Grana Padano, Trentin Grana, and Grana Grattugiato. 

Mozzarella di Bufala (Italian origin) is a one-of-a-kind cheese. Mozzarella cheese gets its taste and sweetness from water buffalo. Mozzarella di bufala is moist, sweet, tender, melt-in-your-mouth soft, buttery, milky, and completely original. Formaggio Cheese is the leading manufacturer of white cheeses and manufactures different kinds of cheese, including this.

Parmesan (or Parmigiano Reggiano) (Italian origin) is created only between April and November, using milk from grass-fed cows. Fresh cheese is widely used in pasta dishes or paired with wine and olive oil at room temperature

Parmigiano Reggiano (Italian origin) is regarded as one of the world's finest cheeses. Parmigiano Reggiano is created from raw, semi-skimmed milk from cows grazing on fresh grass and hay. Parmigiano Reggiano is made from cow's milk and is a hard cheese.

Pecorino (Italian origin) is a hard sheep's milk cheese with characteristics ranging from nutty to salty, savory to acidic, or a mix, depending on how long it has matured.

Pecorino Romano (Italian origin) is hard-cooked cheese created from pasture-grazed sheep's whole milk and has a salty, somewhat peppery taste.

Pecorino Sardo (Italian origin) is a semi-cooked, hard cheese created uniquely on the island of Sardinia from whole milk from pasture-grazing Sarda sheep.

Pecorino Siciliano (Italian origin) is one of Europe's oldest cheeses and Pecorino cheese is a semi-cooked, hard cheese created from raw, whole milk from several sheep breeds raised across Sicily.

Piave (Italian origin) is an Italian cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. It has a solid, crystalline, flaky texture and is a hard cheese.

Primo Sale (Italian origin) is an Italian sheep's milk cheese produced in Sicily and Sardinia. It has a crisp texture with uneven eyes, and the scents and flavors are herbaceous, somewhat acidic, and milky.

Provolone Dolce (Italian origin), this cow's milk cheese, is manufactured in Northern Italy's Po Valley area, notably Veneto and Lombardy.

Provolone Piccante (Italian origin) is a semi-hard cheese with creamy, nutty, waxy, smoky, and acidic qualities.

Ragusano (Italian origin), as the name suggests, comes from the districts of Ragusa and Siracusa, and it is one of the oldest cheeses made in Sicily.

Ragusano (Italian origin), semi-hard cheese, is created with whole milk from free-range grazing Modicana cows, manufactured using the pasta filata (stretched curd) process.

Ragusano (Italian origin), this beloved Sicilian cheese is a firm, stretched curd cheese. Ragusano is fashioned like a brick and made from unpasteurized cow's milk.

Robiola Piemonte (Italian origin) is a beautiful cheese family from Italy, similar to a triple-crème. It's moist, sour, and rindless, with an ice cream texture ready to melt.

Toma Brusca (Castelrosso) (Italian origin), pasteurized cow's milk cheese, is an old and unusual semi-hard cheese. It originates in the Piedmont area and resembles Castelmagno.

Looking for the most famous Italian cream cheese? Here are the names of some of the rare Italian cheeses: -

Casu marzu (Italian origin), Sardinia's traditional, is a soft, matured sheep's milk cheese with live cheese fly larvae, pushing pecorino a step farther down the road into the fermentation zone.

Pecorino Romano (Italian origin) is hard-cooked cheese created with whole milk from pasture-grazed sheep and has a salty, somewhat peppery taste.

Pecorino Sardo (Italian origin) is a semi-cooked, hard cheese created entirely on the island of Sardinia from whole milk from pasture-grazing Sarda sheep.

Ricotta (Italian origin) is a fresh, soft cheese prepared from the milk of sheep, cows, goats, or Italian water buffaloes' leftover milk whey.

Ricotta di Bufala Campana (Italian origin)is made from the leftover whey after producing the cheese variety Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, a protected variety of buffalo mozzarella.

Ricotta Salata (Italian origin) is a saltier, older variant of the famed fresh ricotta.

Here are the names of some of the most famous Italian cheeses: -

Accasciato (Italian origin) is an Italian semi-hard cheese produced from sheep's milk or a mix of sheep's and cow's milk.

Basajo (Italian origin) is a creamy Italian blue cheese created from raw sheep's milk that has been matured in passito white wine.

Caciocavallo Podolico (Italian origin) has a peculiar form, with its tiny head suspended by a rope above its huge belly.

Cacioricotta (Italian origin) is a mix of cacio (meaning cheese in the local dialect) and fresh ricotta made by combining two cheese-making procedures.

Casu Marzu (Italian origin), a contentious Sardinian sheep's milk cheese, is a controversial Italian sheep's milk cheese.

Cilentano ai fichi (Italian origin) is made using a combination of sheep, cow, and buffalo milk, then topped with figs and cured on bamboo racks with natural air.

Mascarpone (Italian origin) is a soft acid-set cream cheese. This rich cheese is one of the key ingredients in Tiramisu.

Pecorino al Tartufo (Italian origin) is a raw sheep's milk cheese from Italy coated with tiny particles of white and black truffles from the region between Volterra and San Miniato.

Primo Sale (Italian origin) is an Italian sheep's milk cheese produced in Sicily and Sardinia.

Stracchino (Italian origin), also known as crescenza, is produced from cow’s milk in the northern parts of Italy. It has no rind and possesses a very soft, creamy texture

Read on for the names of the most famous Italian cheeses notorious for their odor:

Robiola Lombardia (Italian origin) is made from cow's milk, goat's milk, or a mix of the two and is produced in the same location as its smelly cousin, Taleggio cheese.

Taleggio (Italian origin) is Italian cow's milk cheese from the Val Taleggio region washed in seawater once a week while aging to get its wet grass smell. The taste of this cheese 'formaggio' is relatively mild and a little bit tangy.