Melt-Worthy Meals
Whether you like your cheese hard or soft, creamy or complicated, from a cow or goat, chances are that there's a cheese dish with your name on it. It was hard to narrow it down when there are so many different cheeses in the world, but we've rounded up the best of the best. These are 20 of the best cheesy dishes from around the world.
1. Beer Cheese
Most commonly found in Kentucky, beer cheese starts a base of processed cheese, adding beer, garlic, and whatever spices float your boat. Beer cheese can be hot or mild, but either way, you're getting a strong garlic flavor. It's a shame that Kentucky's best-kept secret hasn't gone international.
2. Queso
Chile con queso is perhaps the closest a person can get to drinking cheese. The smoothness of the dish combined with the spice of the chilis make for the perfect sauce to dip, dunk, or douse.
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3. Fondue
Fondue is so important to Swiss cultural heritage, that the government sent sets to military units the second WWII rationing ended. The Swiss also have a long list of rules in place for optimal fondue consumption. These rules include everything from recommended beverages to stirring directions.
4. Paneer Tikka Masala
It was difficult to pick just one paneer dish to include on this list, but, we eventually settled on paneer tikka masala. India knows how to do vegetarian food, and solid, squeaky paneer is the perfect veggie-friendly take on this classic dish. Because paneer does not melt, it maintains its structural integrity rather than crumbling under the weight of the hearty sauce.
5. Mozzarella Sticks
It shouldn't be controversial to say that mozzarella is one of the best cheeses by itself. So, naturally, we decided to fry it and serve it with marinara sauce. Eat them before the cheese congeals!
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6. Mac & Cheese
There's a reason why macaroni and cheese is considered a comfort food whether it's baked with breadcrumbs or straight out of the box. It's quick, easy, and utterly satisfying. You don't have to be a hungry university student to enjoy a bowl.
7. Grilled Cheese
Bistros and food trucks will try and tell you that a grilled cheese needs Gruyere, artisanal bread, and a ton of other non-cheese ingredients. Those people are wrong. For a good grilled cheese, all you really need is white bread and a Kraft single—it's all the nostalgia of childhood in every bite.
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8. Fettuccine Alfredo
In 1908, a Roman restauranteur created a simple dish for his wife, who was convalescing after the birth of their first child. With just three ingredients: fettucine, Parmesan cheese, and butter, Alfredo Di Leilo created culinary history. This dish isn't just good for the stomach, it's good for the soul.
9. Cheese Puffs
Puffy or crunchy, hot or mild, cheetos or wotsits...whatever variety of cheese puffs you prefer is a good one. It's hard to say no to these under any circumstances, and we have the orange-stained fingers to match.
10. Aligot
If you've never had this regional French dish, aligot is like an elevated mashed potato, with the elevation being a lot of cheese. We don't mean cheesy like your meemaw's homemade mashed potatoes, we mean so elastic you could use it to skip rope. Garlicky, indulgent, and very, very cheesy, aligot is the perfect comfort food.
11. Cheese Dog
We don't want to discriminate between hot dogs served with cheese, and hot dogs that are filled with cheese. Both are beautiful in their own unique way. Some people may prefer grated, sliced, or even cream cheese, but we think that a regular slice of melted American cheese is where it's at.
12. Cordon Bleu
Like a lot of French dishes, cordon bleu is a simple dish that's great for impressing people. It's just melty cheese, wrapped in meat, wrapped in more meat, then breaded. What's not to love?
13. Cheese Fries
The staple food of teenage bowling alley dates, cheese fries will never diappoint. Some people may prefer a few extra toppings to make them feel like this is a balanced meal, but half the joy of cheese fries is delighting in the dish's decadence. Extra points for liquified cheese that's so yellow it looks radioactive.
14. Monte Cristo
The Monte Cristo is a simple sandwich: a ham and cheese on French toast. It's almost impossible to mess up, and even more impossible not to love. And no, before you ask, it has nothing to do with The Count of Monte Cristo.
15. Parmigiana
Chicken parm tends to get all the love, but eggplant parmigiana is the original. Eggplant can be a finicky vegetable; it doesn't have much flavor, and the texture can throw people for a loop. Layered with tomato and parm, and even the most stalwart eggplant haters will ask for seconds.
16. Poutine
The person who first put together fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy was operating on the same level as Albert Einstein—perhaps even higher. Poutine has a reputation as a drunk and/or hungover food, but it's so much more than that. It doesn't need to be dressed up with any fancy add-ons; it's perfect in all its messy glory.
17. Lasagna
Lasagna is the ultimate comfort dish. Not only does it feel like a warm hug in every bite, but the effort required to make it from scratch is truly a labor of love. It's the perfect winter meal.
18. Pizza
We very easily could make an article all about the best types of pizza, but we'll save that for another day. For now, we'll just say that there are no bad slices of pizza. Sure, a slice can be poorly cooked or low-quality, but at the end of the day, you're still eating pizza.
19. Bacon, Egg & Cheese
The noble bacon, egg & cheese is more than just a breakfast sandwich—it's a lifestyle. Bacon, egg & cheese hits all your main food groups (well, minus fruits & veg) in a conveniently portable package. BEC was even declared culturally significant to New York City.
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20. Cheesecake
Did you know that cheesecake was a popular dish in ancient Greece? Well, a very early variation of it. Between jiggly Japanese cheesecake, burnt Basque cheescake, and classic New York cheesecake, there's more than enough to go around.
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