Guide to Mexican Cheeses: Cacique® Queso Fresco
Whether you are a Mexican food enthusiast or novice home cook in search of creating and sharing authentic magic in the kitchen, here at Cacique® we offer a full line of unique cheeses, creams, chorizos [cho – ree – sohs] and more to meet your everyday needs. Through our authentic Mexican food products, we hope to inspire you to add a little chispa [chee – spah] (spark) of flavor and authenticity to all of your meals. To help you along your culinary journey, this is the first of a series of blog posts that will inform and guide you on how to use and enjoy our delicious products.
Before you get cooking, we’d like to share a few fun facts and ways to use each of our products, beginning with our most popular Mexican cheese, which also happens to be one of our favorites: queso fresco [keh – soh fresk – oh]!
What is Queso Fresco?
Queso fresco translates to “fresh cheese” and Cacique’s quesos frescos are aged only a few days, which creates a soft crumbly cheese that is milky and slightly salty in flavor, with a fresh, tangy twist. It’s reminiscent of a firm ricotta or a mild feta, and can be enjoyed as a filling, crumbled or sliced.
Fun Queso Fresco Fact: Centuries back, nothing produced on the ranch went to waste. To extend the yield of fresh milk not consumed in fluid form, the rancheros (ranchers) would coagulate their spare milk to make queso fresco by straining and adding rennet and salt. Due to its fresh and unaltered nature, this crumbly and refreshing cheese was consumed and enjoyed daily – always fresh, never aged, hence its name.
How can I use Queso Fresco?
Queso fresco can be used to top, fill, and offset some of the heat in antojitos [ahn – toh – hee – tohs] (snacks), sopes [soh – pehz], tacos, enchiladas [ehn – chee – lah – dahs], fresh or refried beans, and many other traditional Mexican dishes. It’s also perfect when used to stuff chiles if you’re looking for a cheese that maintains its shape and does not melt when cooked at high heat.
Here are a few other fun and tasty ways you can enjoy Cacique’s Queso Fresco:
- Serve sliced alongside warm corn tortillas and your favorite spicy salsa
- Add to a Mexican-inspired cheese board with spiced olives, and fresh fruit topped with chile-lime salt
- Crumble onto your favorite black bean dip, guacamole, and fresh salads
- Enjoy as a snack with dried fruit and cured meat
- Cube and add to your favorite soup for an added dimension of flavor and texture
- Slice and fry in olive oil until golden and crispy, for a savory low-carb snack
- Bake and use in your favorite cheesecake or fruit tart recipe
- Substitute for ricotta or a mild feta cheese
What Next?
- Start Shopping – Our quesos frescos are available at retailers across the U.S. Visit our store locator to see which products are available at your local grocery store.
- Get Cooking – For more delicious and authentic recipe inspiration, check out the recipes section of our website.
- Share the Cacique Love – Be sure to share your creations with us by tagging @caciqueinc on Instagram so we can see what you’re cooking up!
