Danish Blue Cheese substitute

Best substitute

Gorgonzola Dolce

Use the same amount by weight as the danish blue cheese you are replacing

Best for blue cheese sauce

Taste and texture differ

The best substitutes for Danish blue are Gorgonzola Dolce if you want it creamier and milder, Roquefort if you want the same sharpness (use about three quarters the amount because it is stronger), and Stilton if you need it to crumble over a salad. Most supermarket blue cheese crumbles are already made in the Danablu style.

Other danish blue cheese substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Roquefort
Close match
Use about three quarters the weight
The closest match on sharpness and salt, and the best pick when the recipe wants the blue cheese to be unmistakable.
What changes
Best for
dressings, steak sauce, cheese boards, salads
Sheep's milk, so more intense, more mineral, moister and saltier than Danablu. Swapped one for one it takes over the dish, which is why you pull the quantity back. Crumbles beautifully and dissolves readily into cream.
3Stilton
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
Similar salt level and a firm, crumbly paste that holds its shape on a salad or a piece of rye bread.
What changes
Best for
salads, cheese boards, rye and crispbread, soups
Drier, nuttier and more mellow with a mineral finish rather than Danablu's sharp tang. It crumbles better than Danish blue but dissolves less willingly into a warm sauce, so mash it with a fork first.
4Cambozola or Blue Brie
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight
For anyone who finds Danish blue too aggressive, or for a sauce that needs to be luxurious rather than punchy.
What changes
Best for
sauces, spreads, cheese boards, burgers
Buttery, very mild and creamy with almost no sharp bite, so you lose the salt-forward punch that Danablu is prized for and gain a smoother, richer texture. Season the dish more assertively to compensate.
5Generic Supermarket Blue Cheese Crumbles
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Often literally the same product.
What changes
A large share of unlabelled blue cheese and blue crumbles sold in supermarkets is made in the Danablu style.
Best for
dressings, salads, sauces, burgers
Usually indistinguishable in a dressing or a sauce, though salt levels vary by brand, so taste before salting the rest of the dish. Crumbles are drier than a wedge because they are surface-dried to stop clumping.
6Feta + a Little Blue Cheese
Taste and texture differ
3 parts feta to 1 part any blue, used 1:1 in total
For a household where one person likes blue cheese and one does not, or when the blue on hand is too strong.
What changes
Best for
salads, dressings, dips
You get the salt and the crumbly texture right, and the funk stays faint and manageable. Feta is tangier and much less creamy than Danablu, so a sauce made this way needs extra cream or mayonnaise for body.

What is Danish Blue Cheese?

Danish Blue Cheese is Danish blue cheese, properly Danablu, is a fairly young cow's milk blue with dense blue-green veining, a soft crumbly-creamy paste, and a distinctly salt-forward, sharp flavour.

Cooking tips

Danablu is one of the saltiest blues on a supermarket shelf, so salt the rest of the dish last. This matters most in dressings and pan sauces, where there is nothing to absorb an over-seasoning.
For a dressing, mash half the cheese into the base of buttermilk, sour cream or mayonnaise and fold the rest in as crumbles. You get flavour throughout and visible chunks, which is how the best blue cheese dressings are built.
Take it out of the fridge half an hour before serving on a board. Fridge-cold Danish blue tastes overwhelmingly of salt, and the creamy, tangy character only shows up near room temperature.
Add blue cheese to a warm sauce off the heat and stir until it just melts. Above a bare simmer the proteins tighten and the sauce goes grainy, which is the most common way blue cheese sauces fail.
The classic Danish use is on dark rye with radish and cress, where you want a cheese that crumbles rather than one that spreads. Stilton and Roquefort suit that job better than a soft Gorgonzola Dolce.
Freeze crumbles in a sealed bag for cooking. The texture suffers, which does not matter once the cheese is going into a sauce or a dressing, and the flavour holds for months.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Danish blue and Gorgonzola?

Danish blue is a young cow's milk blue that leads with salt and a sharp tang, with a fairly firm crumbly paste. Gorgonzola is Italian, also cow's milk, and in its common Dolce form it is much softer, sweeter and creamier with far less salt. Gorgonzola Piccante, the aged version, is closer to Danish blue in strength.

Is Castello Blue the same as Danish blue?

Castello is a Danish brand rather than a cheese type. Their blues come from the same tradition as Danablu, but many of them are deliberately made creamier and milder, sometimes with added cream. They substitute one for one, but expect a rounder, less salty result than a wedge labelled Danablu.

Can I just leave the blue cheese out?

In a sauce or a soup, yes, if you replace what it was doing: salt, tang and richness. A little extra salt, a squeeze of lemon and some grated Parmesan will carry the dish. In a blue cheese dressing or a blue cheese burger, no, because the cheese is the entire flavour and there is nothing left without it.

What is the mildest substitute for Danish blue?

Cambozola or another blue brie, used measure for measure. It has the creaminess of a brie with only a whisper of blue, which makes it the best choice for someone who is nervous about blue cheese. Gorgonzola Dolce is the next mildest and easier to find.

Can I use bottled blue cheese dressing instead of the cheese?

Not for cooking. Bottled dressing is mostly emulsified oil and buttermilk with a small amount of cheese, plus sugar and stabilisers, so it will thin out a sauce and add sweetness you did not want. It is fine drizzled on a salad or a wing, which is what it is designed for.

Related substitutes

More cheese substitutes

Danish Blue Cheese substitute

Other danish blue cheese substitutes

2Roquefort

3Stilton

4Cambozola or Blue Brie

5Generic Supermarket Blue Cheese Crumbles

6Feta + a Little Blue Cheese