7 Cheeses You Didn’t Know Are Nearly Lactose-Free

If you’re lactose intolerant, you’ve probably had the heartbreaking experience of eyeing a gorgeous cheese board and assuming it’s off limits. Here’s the good news: Many of the world’s most beloved cheeses naturally contain very little lactose.

That doesn’t mean every cheese is a good choice, or that everyone with lactose intolerance will tolerate the same foods. (And it’s important to note that lactose intolerance is very different from a dairy allergy, which is an immune response to milk proteins rather than milk sugar.) But if lactose is the culprit, you may not have to give up cheese altogether.

The secret lies in the cheesemaking process. As milk is transformed into cheese, starter cultures begin converting lactose — the natural sugar in milk — into lactic acid. Then, as the curds are cut, much of the remaining lactose drains away with the whey. During aging, beneficial bacteria continue breaking down whatever lactose remains.

“Lactose is converted to lactic acid by the starter culture,” explains Sjoerd Hiemstra, senior cheese technologist at Beemster Cheese in the Netherlands. “That conversion takes time. The longer cheese is aged, the more time the lactose has to convert to lactic acid.” At Beemster, cheeses contain less than 0.1% lactose after about four weeks of aging and less than 0.01% after roughly three months.

New York City cheesemonger Joshua Santamaria says many cheese lovers are surprised to learn they may not have to swear off cheese entirely. “Most customers think they can’t eat cheese anymore,” he says. “But if their issue is lactose — and not a dairy allergy or another type of dairy intolerance — aged cheeses can often be a great place to start.”

Here are seven cheeses worth trying.

Parmigiano-Reggiano

If Santamaria could recommend just one cheese, this would be it. Authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano — look for the protected Italian name, rather than generic Parmesan cheese that could be made anywhere to different standards — is aged for at least 12 months and often much longer, giving naturally occurring bacteria plenty of time to break down lactose. The result is a cheese that’s deeply savory, nutty, and studded with those irresistible crunchy crystals.

“It’s tied to Italian cooking culture and goes well with everything,” Santamaria says. “It’s also a great cheese for cooking.” Shave it over pasta, pair it with prosciutto and fresh figs, or simply enjoy chunks alongside honey and fruit.

Aged Gouda

As Gouda ages, it transforms from creamy and buttery into something wonderfully rich and complex, with notes of caramel, toasted nuts, and butterscotch. It also develops crunchy tyrosine crystals that cheese lovers treasure.

That extended aging has another benefit: less lactose. According to Hiemstra, Beemster cheeses continue converting lactose to lactic acid as they mature, making older Goudas an excellent option for many people with lactose intolerance. Favorites include Beemster XO (aged 26 months) and Marieke Overjarige (aged for over 24 months). 

Aged cheddar

A sharp cheddar that’s been aged for 18 months or two years delivers bold flavor with surprisingly little lactose.

The aging process creates concentrated notes of roasted nuts, brown butter, and savory richness while allowing beneficial bacteria to continue converting lactose. It’s delicious on a cheese board with crisp apples, tucked into a grilled cheese, or melted over roasted potatoes.

Gruyère, Comté, and other Alpine cheeses

Whether you’re building a fondue pot or assembling a cheese board, Alpine cheeses like Gruyère, Comté, and Emmental are excellent choices.

These cheeses spend months aging before they reach your plate, developing complex flavors that range from toasted hazelnuts to warm broth and browned butter. That same aging process also leaves them naturally very low in lactose.

Pecorino

Many people assume sheep-milk cheeses contain less lactose than cow-milk cheeses, but that’s not actually the case. “The lactose content in cow, sheep, and goat milk is actually about the same,” Santamaria says. Instead, what matters is how the cheese is made and aged.

A well-aged pecorino offers bold, salty flavor that’s equally at home grated over pasta or served with pears, walnuts, and a drizzle of honey.

Piave

Piave may not be as famous as Parmigiano-Reggiano, but it’s every bit as worthy of your attention.

This firm Italian cheese develops sweet, nutty, almost pineapplelike notes as it ages, along with a satisfyingly crystalline texture. It’s wonderful shaved over salads, enjoyed with cured meats, or simply eaten in generous chunks as an afternoon snack.

Even some blue and bloomy-rind cheeses

Here’s the biggest surprise. Some fully ripened cheeses — including Gorgonzola, Taleggio, and even ripe bloomy-rind cheeses like Brillat-Savarin — can also be naturally low in lactose.

Santamaria notes that, under the right conditions, these cheeses continue changing as they ripen, allowing lactose levels to become quite low. If you’re new to reintroducing cheese, though, he suggests beginning with firm, well-aged varieties before branching out to softer styles.

Which cheeses are higher in lactose?

Fresh cheeses generally haven’t had enough time for lactose to break down, making them more likely to contain higher levels of it.

If you’re sensitive to lactose, you may want to be more cautious with:

• Ricotta
• Cottage cheese
• Cream cheese
• Fresh mozzarella
• Burrata
• Fresh goat cheese
• Feta stored in brine

Because these cheeses retain more moisture — and more whey — they also retain more lactose.

The happy news is that if you’ve been avoiding cheese because of lactose intolerance, there may be more room on your plate than you realized.

Santamaria recommends starting slowly with a small portion of a well-aged cheese — think Parmigiano-Reggiano, an older Gouda, or a mature cheddar — and paying attention to how your body responds.

“The first thing,” he says, “is to know for sure that the intolerance is coming from lactose and not a protein allergy or difficulty digesting fat.” If it is lactose, some of the world’s most delicious cheeses may still be on the menu.