18 Extraordinary Emmental Cheese Substitutes for Cheese Lovers

Emmental melts and cuts well. This makes it great for fondue, gratins, casseroles, pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers, egg dishes, and other melted cheese-based recipes.

If you happen to run out, here is a list of some probable substitutes.

1. Gruyere Cheese
2. Gouda Cheese
3. French Comte
4. Jarlsberg
5. Fontina
6. Vacherin Fribourgeois
7. Raclette
8. Cheddar cheese
9. Parmigiano-Reggiano

Before we go into the extensive list of viable replacements, let’s learn more about Emmental cheese’s features.

18 Best Substitute For Emmental Cheese 

Emmental cheese is one of the two main types of cheese used in the preparation of cheese fondue. It is a semi-hard cheese created from raw cow’s milk. It, like other Swiss cheeses, is distinguished by walnut-sized holes produced during fermentation.

Emmental cheese’s properties vary depending on its ripeness. The classic is aged for at least four months, the Rserve for at least eight months, and the Premier Cru for at least twelve months.

It has a pleasant scent and tastes somewhat buttery, nutty, and fruity. The richer the taste and darker the color of the rind, the longer the cheese is matured.

If Emmental cheese is unavailable, Gruyere cheese is a good replacement. Gruyere is another cow’s milk-based Swiss cheese. It has the same properties as Emmental and the other main cheese used in fondue.

Gruyere is identical to Emmental in terms of qualities and application, making it the ideal alternative overall.

Gruyere Cheese

The most popular cheese in the Swiss cheese family is Gruyere. It’s a semi-hard yellow cheese created from raw cow’s milk. Gruyere is typically matured for at least 6 months, if not longer. It possesses the characteristic holes of Swiss cheese, however the Gruyere holes are tiny in comparison to other Swiss cheeses.

Depending on the age of the cheese, the tastes range from creamy, rich, nutty, salty, and earthy. The flavor of young Gruyere is rich, salty, creamy, and nutty. The tastes get earthy as it ages.

Gruyere has a pleasing but not overpowering scent, making it an ideal cheese for baking. Because of its high water-to-oil ratio, it creates an excellent melting cheese for fondue dishes, dips, French onion soups, and Croque monsieur.

The greatest fondue should have a melting cheese that is creamy, buttery, and smooth. Emmental is well-known as one of the two main types of cheese used in classic cheese fondue, but these cheeses would work just as well.

Gouda Cheese

Gouda is a soft, creamy Dutch cheese produced from cow’s milk. It has a brighter yellow color than Gruyere, but the flavor is similar. It’s the next best thing for fondue recipes.

Gouda is an aged cheese with a semi-firm to hard and crystalline texture. Young Gouda is lighter in color, springy in texture, and has a smooth, mild taste.

Less than a year old gouda is great for melting and slicing in mac and cheese, sandwiches, quiches, casseroles, baked foods, and fondue.

Because of its low moisture content, aged Gouda cannot be used for fondue, but it may be used for cooking, grating over foods, or as part of a cheeseboard.

French Comte

Comte is a popular French cheese produced from raw cow’s milk. It is a semi-hard light yellow cheese with various textures and tastes. Its procedure consists of three steps: feeding and growing cows, manufacturing cheese, and aging.

Young Comte has a gritty, flexible, open texture and a light milky flavor. The texture of aged Comte is hard, rich, and crystalline, with a smoky, fruity, nutty, and sweet taste.

If you want an Emmental replacement for fondue, use young Comte since it has a greater melting point. Comte is also useful for grilled cheese sandwiches, omelets, macaroni and cheese, and other meals that call for melted cheese. Although aged Comte does not melt easily, it is ideal for grating and eating.

Jarlsberg

Jarlsberg is a mild-aged Norwegian semi-hard cheese. It is not a well-known cheese, yet it has features with Emmental and Gouda. As a result, Jarlsberg is a good alternative for Emmental in fondue.

You may use it in melted soups, pasta meals, and creamy sauces since it melts and slices beautifully. It goes well with gratins, quiches, casseroles, frittatas, and baked meals. It’s also delicious on grilled or cold sandwiches, cheese platters, and cheeseboards.

Fontina Cheese

Although Fontina cheese is not Swiss, it does have the trademark eyes or little holes that Swiss cheese is renowned for. Fontina has a high fat content (45%), which gives it a creamy texture and an excellent melting feature. This makes it a superb Emmental alternative in fondue.

Fontina is prepared from raw cow’s milk and matured for 90 to 150 days. As it matures, the texture changes from semi-soft to semi-hard. The taste also improves with age.

Young Fontina is often used as a spreadable cheese, while aged Fontina is used for grating. Young Fontina is ideal for dishes that call for melty, smooth cheese, such as mac & cheese, casseroles, and grilled cheese sandwiches. Aside from fondue, this gooey, melty cheese can enhance pizzas, dips, and sauces.

Vacherin Fribourgeois

The origin of Vacherin Fribourgeois is a source of significant debate. Vacherin cheese is French in origin, while Vacherin Fribourgeios is a Swiss cheese created in the Canton of Fribourg.

It has a nutty taste with notes of milk and fresh hay, akin to Gruyere. The inside is straw-colored and has a buttery, open feel.

Vacherin Fribourgeois is a superb melting cheese that is ideal not only for fondue but also for other melted cheese dishes such as potatoes, grilled sandwiches, and steamed veggies.

Raclette Cheese

Raclette is another semi-hard cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland. It is pale yellow in color and melts really easily.

Raclette has a smooth, solid, and creamy texture with irregular holes (as is typical with Swiss cheese). It has a fruity, nutty, spicy, creamy taste and flowery scent in general.

Raclette has great melting qualities because to its non-separating fat content. Raclette is thus an excellent choice for cheese fondue or any recipe that requires melted cheese, such as casseroles, grilled cheese sandwiches, gratins, and pasta and egg dishes.

Emmental cheese isn’t simply for fondue. It has several applications in food preparation and cooking. In the absence of Emmental, these cheeses may be substituted.

Cheddar cheese

Who hasn’t heard of Cheddar cheese? After Mozzarella, it is the most popular cheese in the United States. It boasts a buttery, crisp punch and creaminess similar to Emmental. It does not have holes like the Swiss cheese Emmental, yet it is nonetheless similar.

Cheddar cheese is a popular melting cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, potato, and casserole recipes.

Parmigiano Reggiano

In English, Parmigiano means Parmesan, however not every Parmigiano marketed in the United States is authentic Parmigiano. It is a common cheese in Italian households.

Parmigiano Reggiano is an unpasteurized skimmed milk hard Italian dry cheese. It is usually between the ages of 2 and 4 years. The extensive maturing process imparts a very granular texture to Parmigiano. It has a fruity, nutty flavor with a mild harsh aftertaste and toasted almond and butter scent.

The inclusion of Rennet makes the Parmigiano melt nicely, which is reason enough to make it an excellent alternative for Emmental.

Brie

Brie is a runny, creamy cheese manufactured typically from cow’s milk, while others are made from goat’s milk. It’s an off-white soft-ripened cheese with a mellow, creamy, rich taste and an earthy scent.

Brie contains Rennet, which makes it melty enough for dishes that call for melted cheese, such as panini, pizzas, flatbreads, and grilled sandwiches.

Camembert cheese

Camembert and Brie cheeses have comparable properties and both originated in northern France. It’s prepared with cow’s milk and has bloomy, velvety edible rinds.

Camembert is denser, with a stronger taste and traces of a more earthy scent.

Camembert melts well in meals that call for melted cheese. It’s a great complement to cheese platters or cheeseboards.

Edam

Edam cheese has almost comparable properties as Gouda cheese. Both are from the Netherlands, aged, and melt nicely, albeit Edam is drier than Gouda.

The flavor of young Edam is creamy and nutty, with traces of butter and hazelnuts. Emmental may be substituted for Young Edam in salads, soups, sandwiches, and other recipes that call for melted cheese.

Provolone

Provolone is a semi-hard Italian cheese manufactured from cow’s milk. The cultivar grown in the United States is light yellow to white in color and has a sweet flavor.

It has a lighter flavor than Emmental but has a similar nutty, salty undertone.

Provolone is often found in traditional sandwiches, salads, spaghetti, and pizzas, and it is especially good in grilled cheese sandwiches.

Taleggio

Tallegio is similar to Brie in appearance. Despite its French origins, Brie is the finest equivalent for Taleggio. It has a light scent and a fruity, sweet taste.

It has a powerful scent as well as a tart aftertaste. Tallegio melts nicely as well, making it ideal for spreading and grilling.

Tallegio is a popular topping for bruschetta, and grated Tallegio combines well with salads. Its excellent melting qualities make it an excellent option for polenta.

Havarti Cheese

Havarti is a semi-soft Danish cheese made from cow’s milk. It is creamy to light golden in hue and has no peel.

Havarti has a sweet flavor with a mild tanginess and a buttery fragrance. This cheese is distinguished by the presence of holes similar to those seen in Swiss cheese.

Emmental may be substituted for Havarti in spaghetti, salads, pizzas, sandwiches, and sauces.

Grevé

Grev is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese from Sweden. It has a similar flavor and look to Swiss cheese, including the big holes that are characteristic of Swiss cheese.

Grev has a creamy, rich texture and a nutty, sweet taste that becomes more strong as it matures.

It, like Swiss cheese, has excellent melting characteristics, which are required for recipes that call for melted cheese. It is also available grated as a table cheese or snack.

Maasdam cheese

Maasdam is a cow’s milk-based Dutch cheese in the Swiss style. It just takes 4 weeks for the rind to become golden and smooth.

Maasdam is intended to be a less expensive alternative to Emmental, however it contains more moisture than Emmental. This softens the texture.

Violife Original

Violife Original has no dairy. It’s created with 21% coconut oil, water, flour, salt, and additional flavorings.

Because of the coconut oil, Violife Original has a buttery, nutty taste and melts smoothly. It smells and tastes like cheddar cheese, and it melts beautifully without being mushy and melty.