This popular salty and crumbly cheese is used in many Mexican recipes to enhance savory dishes. Try it on tacos, enchiladas, tostadas and soups!
If you like a good salty, crumbly cheese, then you’re going to love the popular Mexican cotija cheese! I use it all the time in my recipes and it’s one of my favorites.
What is cotija cheese?
Cotija is a Mexican cheese made from cow’s milk that’s salty in flavor and crumbly in texture. Named after the town of Cotija in the state of Michoacan, cotija cheese comes in two different types – fresh and aged (or añejo).
Though both types are relatively salty, the fresh version is soft while the aged version is much harder, similar to Parmesan.
Cotija cheese in Mexican cooking
Cotija cheese doesn’t melt, so it’s often used in Mexican cooking as more of a “finishing” cheese to enhance the flavor of dishes like beans, tacos, enchiladas and tostadas.
Here are some popular recipes featuring cotija cheese:
Because of it’s popularity, cotija cheese can be found in many large grocery store chains and smaller hispanic specialty grocers here in the U.S.
Substitute for Cotija Cheese
A good substitute for fresh cotija cheese is Feta.
A good substitute for aged cotija cheese is Parmesan or Romano.
Whats your favorite way of using cotija cheese? I’d love to hear in the comments section below!
Is animal rennet used in making cotija cheese? Or, is vegetable enzymes used? Thank you.
Hi Katy! We aren’t sure about that since different brands can use different ingredients. We recommend double checking the ingredients on the label or contacting the brand directly if this is a dietary concern.
Does it contain rennet?
Hi Carole! We aren’t really sure since ingredients can differ between different brands. We recommend checking the ingredients list on the labels or contacting the brand directly.
Does Cotija cheese contain GARLIC.
Hello Fran, in general it does not! However we suggest double checking the ingredients list on the packaging to make sure.
I am looking for a source of Cotija for my client who makes RTE salads. This would be one 6 ingredients in this salad. These salad are package in two facilities–one in the Detroit are and one in Seattle.
I can’t wait to try this cheese in my salad!
I just discovered this cheese and I love it. I put it in my tacos, scrambled eggs, on a hot dog, in a salad. I think it can go on everything.
hey! i just made your flan recipe and its coming out amazing, its chilling in the fridge right now, so im super excited. a lot of your recipes look so good, but i live in a city where there’s almost no mexican selection in the store and I don’t know what to do? have you ever had this problem? how should i go ab getting the ingredients i need?
Hi! I’m sorry to hear that! I’d recommend searching for Mexican grocery stores in your area. If there aren’t any, you can try different food delivery services. You can also check out Isabel’s Shop page (https://www.isabeleats.com/shop/mexican-ingredients/) for shelf-stable ingredients like dried chiles. There she links to products you can find on Amazon which will usually ship anywhere. Hope this helps!
My oldest son reminded me of these old, but traditional recepies on your site.
Our Christmas will be full of good memories. I forget the recepies. Thanks for reminder.