Best Substitute for Goat Cheese

There are several options if you can’t find or don’t like it! Here’s the best substitute for goat cheese in all your recipes.

The grocery store’s all out of goat cheese? Or don’t like the flavor? We got your back! Goat cheese, also called chevre, has all sorts of uses in recipes. Its creamy texture and tangy flavor are perfect for dolloping on veggies or pizza, smearing on toast, or stirring into pasta. The best substitute will depend on the way it’s used in a recipe. Here’s the best substitute for goat cheese!

Types of goat cheese

Before we start: there are a few types of goat cheese. Here are the different ways you can buy it:

• Fresh. The most common type is fresh; it’s soft and usually sold in logs. It has a tangy, savory flavor and is similar texture to cottage cheese.
• Crumbles. You can also buy it packaged in in crumbles, much like feta.
• Aged. Aged goat cheese has a strong flavor and a hard texture, much like an aged sheep or cow’s cheese.

Best substitute for goat cheese

Note that how these options work depend on the type of recipe and how the cheese is used. Important: below includes substitutes for fresh goat cheese and crumbles only. For aged, just substitute a similarly aged cow or sheep cheese.

Note: If your recipe calls for a goat cheese log, we’d recommend finding the real thing! (Unless you’re into mock goat cheese.)

1. Cream cheese.

The best substitute for goat cheese? Cream cheese has a similar texture: though it’s usually a little stiffer. The flavor also doesn’t have that signature tangy flavor. To add tang, you could stir in a very small amount of Greek yogurt to the cream cheese; this would also soften the texture a bit.

Uses: This works in pasta recipes like Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta or Mushroom Pasta with Goat Cheese, stuffing like in Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates, or as a spread like Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Mushrooms.

2. Feta crumbles (for salads).

For salads that call for goat cheese crumbles, you may want to substitute feta cheese. Feta cheese has a firmer texture and tastes more salty than tangy, but it has a similar effect.

Uses: This works in salads that have crumbled goat cheese like French Lentil Salad, Beet Salad with Balsamic Dressing, and Blackberry Salad. It would also be a good substitute for pizza like Avocado & Goat Cheese Pizza.

3. Labneh (spreads only).

Labneh is Mediterranean yogurt cheese, and is a great substitute for goat cheese when it’s used as a spread. It has a thick texture and tangy flavor, much like goat cheese.

Uses: Use labneh for spreads like Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Mushrooms or Cherry and Goat Cheese Crostini.

4. Ricotta cheese (spreads only).

In a pinch, you can use ricotta as a substitute for goat cheese. Important: you’ll have to stir in some salt! Ricotta is very mild and needs salting to taste so that it has some flavor. Ricotta also has a very loose texture, so we’d only recommend this option for spreads like those listed above.

Related recipes

Here are a few recipes made with this tasty cheese:

• Roasted Beets with Goat Cheese
• Paprika Goat Cheese Spread
• Fluffy Scrambled Eggs with Goat Cheese
• Baked Goat Cheese