The AnyCheese Holiday Gift Guide

Sheep Milk Cheeses

Showing cheeses made from sheep milk, used in a variety of styles and traditions.

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Mozzarella

Mozzarella is a semi-soft, non-aged cheese from southern Italy, made by stretching and kneading the curd. Cow's milk versions are called fior di latte, buffalo milk versions mozzarella di bufala, and it tops most pizza.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's, sheep's or water buffalo's milk
Texture: Soft, creamy
Flavor: Mild, milky

Ezine Peyniri

Ezine peyniri is a matured full-fat white cheese from Çanakkale Province in Türkiye, made from a mix of goat, sheep and cow milk. It is one of the most popular white cheeses in the country and the first Turkish cheese …

Milk Type: Sheep, goat, and cow
Texture: Semi-hard to firm
Flavor: Mild-sweet, salty, and sour

Kashkaval

Kashkaval is a yellow cheese from the Balkans made with cow, sheep or goat milk, or a mixture of them. It melts and fries well, so it shows up on pizza, inside breakfast pastries and as a filling in Levantine …

Country: Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey
Milk Type: Cow's or sheep's milk
Texture: Medium-hard to hard, elastic
Flavor: Piquant

Halloumi

Halloumi is a brined cheese from Cyprus, traditionally made from goat and sheep milk, though most modern halloumi also contains cow's milk. It has a high melting point, so it browns on the grill or in a pan without melting, …

Country: Cyprus
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's and sheep's milk
Texture: Semihard
Flavor: Mild, salty

Roquefort

Roquefort is a blue cheese made from raw Lacaune sheep's milk in southern France. Only cheese ripened in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may carry the name. It is tangy and creamy, with no rind and a sharp bite …

Country: France
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Moist, very creamy
Flavor: Mild to strong

Queso Manchego

Manchego is a PDO sheep milk cheese from the La Mancha region of Spain, made only with whole milk from Manchega sheep. It is firm and buttery, aged between 60 days and two years, with a creamy, slightly piquant flavor …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Compact
Flavor: Slightly acidic

Blue

Blue cheese is any cheese made with edible mold cultures that form blue-green spots and veins through the paste. It ranges from mild and slightly sweet to salty and sharp, and from almost liquid to hard.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow, Sheep, Goat
Texture: Creamy , Crumbly , Granular , Soft
Flavor: Sharp, Tangy, Savory, Salty, Pungent

Oscypek

Oscypek is a smoked cheese of salted sheep's milk made only in the Tatra Mountains of Poland, pressed in carved spindle-shaped wooden forms. It holds EU protected designation of origin status and is often pan-fried and served with cranberry jam.

Country: Poland
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's and sheep's milk
Texture: Compact and firm
Flavor: Gently smoky, milk, chestnuts

Pecorino Romano

Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty Italian cheese made only from sheep milk, most often grated over pasta. It began in the countryside around Rome and is now made almost entirely in Sardinia.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Sharp, salty

Tomme

Tomme is a class of cheese made mainly in the French Alps and in Switzerland from cow's, ewe's or goat's milk. Most are made from skimmed milk left over from butter making, so they are generally low in fat, and …

Country: France and Switzerland
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Creamy, pliable
Flavor: Varied

Beyaz Peynir

Beyaz peynir is a Turkish white cheese made from unpasteurized sheep, cow or goat milk and cured in brine for about six months. It turns up plain at breakfast, in salads, and in cooked dishes such as menemen, börek and …

Country: Turkey
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Semi-soft, brined
Flavor: Strong when matured

Manouri

Manouri is a Greek semi-soft fresh whey cheese made from goat or sheep milk as a by-product of feta production. Cream added to the whey makes it richer and far less salty than feta.

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Smooth, dense
Flavor: Rich, milky, tangy, slightly citrusy

Feta

Feta is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or a mix of sheep and goat's milk. It is crumbly and slightly grainy, tangy and salty, and it anchors dishes like Greek salad and spanakopita.

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Goat's and sheep's milk
Texture: Soft, white, aged in brine
Flavor: Sharp to mild

Izmir Tulum Peyniri

Izmir Tulum Peyniri is a traditional Turkish cheese made from sheep's or goat's milk, originating from the Izmir region. It is aged in goat skins, which gives it a compact texture and a robust, slightly pungent flavor. This cheese is …

Milk Type: Raw sheep’s, mixed sheep’s and goat’s, or cow’s milk
Texture: Firm
Flavor: Salty

Ackawi

Akkawi is a white brine cheese from the Levant, named after the port city of Acre. It is usually made from pasteurized cow's milk, cured two days in salted whey brine, and eaten with soft flatbread or on its own …

Country: Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East and Syria
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Soft, brined
Flavor: Mild, milky, salty

Urdă

Urdă is a whey cheese made across Southeast Europe and in Hungary by boiling the whey drained from other cheeses. The paste is finely grained and silky, and most of it ends up in desserts and filled pastries.

Country: Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Creamy, delicate
Flavor: High quality

Slovenský oštiepok

Slovenský oštiepok is a traditional cheese from Slovakia. It is a half-fat, semi-hard cheese that can be either steamed or unsteamed, and smoked or unsmoked. The cheese is made from sheep's milk, a mixture of sheep's and cow's milk, or …

Milk Type: Sheep's milk, mixture of sheep's and cow's milk, or cow's milk
Texture: Solid, firm, slightly fragile, with minor cracks and cavities
Flavor: Savory, mildly piquant to sour, moderately salty

Brânză de burduf

Brânză de burduf is a salty Romanian cheese made with sheep's milk, sometimes buffalo. It has a strong flavor and a slightly soft texture, and it is packed into a sheep's stomach, a sheep's skin, or a tube of pine …

Country: Romania
Milk Type: Sheep's milk (Turcana and Tiggae sheep)
Texture: Soft to firm and slightly flaky
Flavor: Spicy, sharp

Brin d'Amour

Brin d'amour is a Corsican raw sheep's milk cheese created in the 1950s. It is known for a natural rind dusted with herbs of the maquis, which pass their flavor into the soft ivory paste as the cheese ages.

Country: France
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Soft to firm
Flavor: Earthy

Njeguški

Njeguški sir is a traditional cheese from Njeguši, Montenegro, made from a mix of cow's and sheep's milk. It is aged in a mixture of oil and ash, which gives it a distinctive smoky flavor and a firm texture. Njeguški …

Country: Montenegro
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Slightly sour-milky, moderately salty

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