Pecorino cheese substitutes
Pecorino cheese substitutes — 8 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Also called pecorino, Pecorino Romano, pecorino romano, grated pecorino, pecorino sardo
Use Parmesan
Same amount by weight as the Pecorino cheese
Parmesan is the closest pecorino substitute most kitchens have: use the same weight, finely grated, then taste at the end and add a pinch of salt, because pecorino is the saltier and sharper of the two. That holds for carbonara and cacio e pepe too, where the cheese is the sauce and parmesan gives a milder, nuttier result. Cheese labelled plain Romano is closer in bite if you have it. Mozzarella is not a substitute: it melts, but it does not season.
- Verdict —
- Tweak it
- The tweak —
- Taste at the end and add a pinch of salt if the dish is flat; parmesan is the less salty cheese
- Best for —
- grating over pasta, soup and risotto
- Pantry —
- Likely in your cupboard
Updated 3 Oct 2026 · no sponsored swaps
But first: what’s the Pecorino cheese doing?
Pick your caseIs the pecorino grated over the finished dish, melted into it, or eaten in pieces?
Any hard grating cheese does this job. Use the same weight of parmesan, Romano or Grana Padano, grated the same way, and taste for salt before serving. Aged asiago works too. The dish comes out a little milder and nuttier, without the sheep's-milk tang.
Notes on Parmesan, Romano, Grana Padano or Asiago
Same amount by weight
Stay with the dry Italian grating cheeses: parmesan or Romano at the same weight, or half of each. Grate it finely from a wedge, take the pan off the heat, and loosen with pasta water. Season at the end, since parmesan brings less salt. Cheddar, gouda, manchego and anything pre-grated from a tub turn oily, stringy or gritty here.
Notes on Parmesan, Romano or Grana Padano · Full guide: Carbonara
Same amount by weight
Use parmesan for the whole amount of cheese. Classic Genoese pesto is mostly parmesan with a smaller share of pecorino, so an all-parmesan pesto is close to the original. Taste and add a pinch of salt.
Notes on Parmesan or Grana Padano · Full guide: Pesto
Same amount by weight
Here the pecorino is seasoning rather than sauce, and the dish is forgiving. Parmesan or aged asiago at the same weight is closest; a sharp aged cheddar works in a gratin or a baked pasta if you accept the cheddar flavour. Mozzarella can share the dish as the melting layer, but it does not replace the pecorino.
Notes on Parmesan, Asiago or aged Cheddar
Same amount by weight
Flavour and bite matter here, not melting. Aged manchego is the nearest table cheese because it is also sheep's milk. Aged gouda or a chunk of parmesan broken into nuggets also holds a board well. Use the same weight.
Notes on Manchego, aged Gouda or Parmesan
Same amount by weight
Per ¼ cup of grated pecorino use 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, with 1 tbsp cashew cream where the cheese was meant to melt into a sauce, and add salt to taste. It gives the savoury flavour. It does not melt.
Notes on nutritional yeast + cashew cream · Full guide: Vegan
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp per ¼ cup
Ask what the pecorino is doing. Grated over the top, any hard grating cheese works at the same weight: parmesan first, then Romano, Grana Padano or aged asiago. Melted into a sauce, stay with parmesan or Romano, grate it finely and work off the heat. Eaten in pieces, reach for manchego or aged gouda. In every case pecorino was also salting the dish, so taste at the end and add a pinch of salt.
Pecorino is the salty, sharp, sheep's-milk end of the hard-cheese shelf. It seasons a dish as much as it flavours it, and because it is dry and aged it melts into starchy pasta water as a smooth sauce instead of pulling into strings - which is the whole trick behind cacio e pepe and carbonara. When a recipe says pecorino it almost always means pecorino Romano, the hard grating kind.
Fat & richnesssecondary
It carries enough fat to make a sauce coat the pasta and to enrich a meatball or a filling.
Saltprimary
Pecorino Romano is heavily salted as it ages and is the saltiest of the common grating cheeses. In cacio e pepe it is most of the seasoning, so a milder cheese at the same weight leaves the dish wanting salt.
Umami & savory depthsecondary
Months of ageing break the milk protein down into the savoury compounds that make a spoonful of grated cheese deepen a whole pan of sauce. Any long-aged hard cheese brings this; a fresh cheese does not.
Aroma & flavor identitysecondary
Sheep's milk gives it a sharp, tangy, faintly grassy flavour that cow's-milk cheeses do not have. This is the part a substitute changes most.
Emulsifyingsecondary
Finely grated and stirred in off the heat, a dry aged cheese disperses into starchy pasta water as a creamy sauce. Too much heat, a coarse grate or a young, wet cheese and it seizes into clumps and strings instead.
Every option, one card
Ranked · per 1 oz pecorino| # | Substitute | Instead of 1 oz pecorino | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parmesangrating over pasta, soup and risotto | 1 oz, finely gratedTweak it | Tweak it |
| 2 | Romanoany recipe that says pecorino Romano | 1 oz, finely gratedWorks | Works |
| 3 | Grana Padanograting over pasta, soup and risotto | 1 oz, finely gratedTweak it | Tweak it |
| 4 | Asiagograting over pasta, soup and salads | 1 oz, finely gratedTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Manchegoa cheese board, or shaved over salad | 1 ozYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 6 | Aged Goudaa cheese board | 1 ozYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 7 | Aged Cheddargratins and baked pasta | 1 oz, finely gratedYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 8 | Nutritional yeast + cashew creamvegan and dairy-free pasta | 2 tbsp nutritional yeast and 1 tbsp cashew creamper ¼ cup grated pecorinoYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| Not a swap | Mozzarella | not a swap — use parmesan, or keep the mozzarella for the melt and add a hard cheese for the flavourNot for this | Not for this |
Parmesan
milder, nuttier and less salty, without the sheep's-milk tang
The standard swap: another long-aged Italian grating cheese that melts into pasta water the same way. It is made from cow's milk, so it is nuttier, a little sweeter and less salty.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Emulsifying
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz parmesan, finely grated for 1 oz pecorino
- Then
- taste at the end and add a pinch of salt if the dish is flat; parmesan is the less salty cheese
- Best for
- grating over pasta, soup and risotto, carbonara and cacio e pepe, pesto, meatballs and fillings
- Texture
- melts into pasta water the same way, so a sauce comes out just as smooth
- Look
- a shade more straw-coloured; no real difference on the plate
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Contains
- dairy
- Match the weight. If you measure by the cup, grate it on the same grater the recipe assumes, since cup amounts change with the grate.
- Salt last. Pecorino seasons the dish as well as flavouring it, so a parmesan version usually wants a pinch more salt.
- For a sauce, buy a wedge and grate it finely yourself. Pre-grated tubs carry an anti-caking powder and clump instead of melting.
Plenty of cooks use half pecorino and half parmesan in carbonara by choice, so an all-parmesan version is well within normal.
In cacio e pepe, where cheese and pepper are the whole dish, it makes a milder plate that is recognisably a parmesan one.
Romano
a little milder and less tangy, with the sharpness mostly intact
In American shops, cheese labelled plain Romano is the domestic take on pecorino Romano, usually made from cow's milk. It is sharper and saltier-tasting than parmesan, with less of the sheep's-milk tang than the real thing.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Emulsifying
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz Romano, finely grated for 1 oz pecorino
- Best for
- any recipe that says pecorino Romano, carbonara, cacio e pepe and amatriciana, when you want the sharp bite kept
- Texture
- the same hard, dry, fine-grating cheese
- Look
- no visible difference
- Contains
- dairy
- Use the same weight, and taste before adding salt; it sits between parmesan and pecorino.
- Read the label. If it says pecorino Romano or sheep's milk, it is the cheese the recipe wants and not a substitute at all.
Pecorino means sheep's-milk cheese and Romano means Roman style. In the US, cheese sold simply as Romano may be made from cow's, sheep's or goat's milk, and the cow's-milk kind is the common one.
Grana Padano
mild, buttery and slightly sweet; the furthest of the three from pecorino's bite
Parmesan's younger, gentler relative: the same style of cow's-milk grating cheese, aged at least 9 months against 12, and usually cheaper.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Umami & savory depth
- Emulsifying
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz Grana Padano, finely grated for 1 oz pecorino
- Then
- taste at the end and salt the dish; this is the mildest of the Italian grating cheeses here
- Best for
- grating over pasta, soup and risotto, sauces that need a smooth melt, an everyday wedge when parmesan costs more
- Texture
- melts smoothly into a sauce; slightly less crumbly on the grater
- Look
- pale straw, no real difference on the plate
- Contains
- dairy
- Use the same weight, grated finely.
- Expect to add salt. Grana Padano is milder and a little sweeter than parmesan, so the gap to pecorino is wider.
Use it exactly as you would parmesan. The two are close enough that most recipes treat them as one cheese.
In cacio e pepe it makes a noticeably mild plate. It is on firmer ground in carbonara, where egg and cured pork carry much of the flavour.
Asiago
nutty and sharp, a little sweeter and less salty
Aged asiago is a hard cow's-milk cheese from north-east Italy that grates like parmesan and tastes nutty and sharp. Fresh asiago is a soft slicing cheese and is not a substitute.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Umami & savory depth
- Emulsifying
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz asiago (aged), finely grated for 1 oz pecorino
- Then
- make sure it is the hard, aged kind, and salt the dish to taste
- Best for
- grating over pasta, soup and salads, meatballs, fillings and baked pasta, when you want a milder, nuttier finish
- Texture
- grates finely; melts a touch creamier than pecorino
- Look
- pale yellow, no real difference on the plate
- Contains
- dairy
- Buy the aged kind, labelled aged, stagionato, vecchio or stravecchio. A pale, springy wedge full of small holes is fresh asiago and will not grate.
- Use the same weight and salt to taste at the end.
How close it gets depends on age. The older and harder the wedge, the nearer it is to a grating cheese.
Less dependable than parmesan in cacio e pepe: a younger wedge can turn stringy in the pan.
Manchego
buttery and nutty with a mild sheep's-milk tang; much less salty and sharp
Spain's sheep's-milk cheese. It shares the milk, so some of the tang is there, but it is buttery, nutty and much less salty than pecorino.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Umami & savory depth
- Aroma & flavor identity
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Emulsifying — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz manchego (aged) for 1 oz pecorino
- Then
- shave or break it for a board; for grating, use a well-aged wedge and add salt to the dish
- Best for
- a cheese board, or shaved over salad, grating over pasta when it is well aged, when you want sheep's milk without the salt
- Texture
- softer and richer; it shaves well and grates into coarser shreds
- Look
- ivory to pale yellow, close to pecorino
- Contains
- dairy
- For grating, buy it aged: labelled curado or, better, viejo. Young manchego is too soft and smears on the grater.
- Salt the dish to taste; manchego brings far less than pecorino.
- On a board, use the same weight and serve it the same way.
The nearest thing to pecorino on a cheese board, and one of the weaker choices in a pan.
Not for cacio e pepe or carbonara. It is softer and richer than pecorino, and the sauce tends to turn oily or stringy rather than creamy.
Aged Gouda
sweet and caramel-like where pecorino is sharp and salty
Long-aged gouda is hard, crumbly and full of crunchy crystals, so it grates and breaks like pecorino. The flavour goes the other way: sweet, like butterscotch.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Umami & savory depth
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Emulsifying — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz aged gouda for 1 oz pecorino
- Then
- use only the hard, crumbly kind, and salt the dish to taste
- Best for
- a cheese board, shaved or grated over roasted vegetables and risotto, dishes that welcome a sweet, caramel note
- Texture
- hard and crumbly with crunchy crystals; melts a little oilier
- Look
- deep amber, visible as darker flecks on pale pasta
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Contains
- dairy
- Only the hard, aged kind works. If the wedge bends rather than breaks, it is young gouda and it will not grate.
- Use the same weight and salt the dish to taste.
A good cheese to put where pecorino would have been eaten in pieces, and a poor one to melt into a Roman pasta.
Keep it out of carbonara, cacio e pepe and pesto, where the sweetness is obvious.
Aged Cheddar
tangy and recognisably cheddar
A sharp, well-aged cheddar is hard enough to grate and salty enough to season, but its tang is a different flavour from pecorino's and it melts oilier.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Salt
- Umami & savory depth
- Misses
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Emulsifying — not covered
- Amount
- 1 oz aged cheddar (sharp), finely grated for 1 oz pecorino
- Then
- add it off the heat or bake it into the dish; cheddar releases oil when it is boiled
- Best for
- gratins and baked pasta, meatballs and fillings, where it is mixed in, when it is the only hard cheese in the fridge
- Taste
- tangy and recognisably cheddar; the dish reads as a cheddar dish rather than an Italian one
- Texture
- melts softer and oilier, and can go greasy in a thin sauce
- Look
- orange cheddar colours the dish; white cheddar does not
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Contains
- dairy
- Choose the sharpest, driest block you have, labelled extra sharp or vintage. Mild cheddar is a melting cheese, not a grating one.
- Grate it on the small holes and add it off the heat.
Fine where the cheese is baked or mixed in. Over a plain bowl of pasta it is a different supper.
Not for cacio e pepe, carbonara or pesto.
Nutritional yeast + cashew cream
savoury and nutty, with no tang and no salt of its own
The dairy-free route: nutritional yeast for the savoury, cheesy flavour and cashew cream for the richness. It seasons a dish. It does not melt.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Umami & savory depth
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Emulsifying — not covered
- Amount
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast and 1 tbsp cashew cream for ¼ cup grated pecorino
- Then
- add salt to taste; nutritional yeast has almost none, and the pecorino was seasoning the dish
- Best for
- vegan and dairy-free pasta, vegan pesto, sprinkling over a finished dish
- Texture
- a dry flake on top or a smooth cream in a sauce; it never melts or strings
- Look
- yellow flakes rather than white shreds
- Pantry
- Special trip
- Suits
- vegan, dairy-free
- Contains
- nuts
- Use half the volume of nutritional yeast as the grated cheese: 2 tbsp per ¼ cup. It is stronger-tasting, spoon for spoon.
- Sprinkle the nutritional yeast on its own where the cheese went over the top. Add the cashew cream only where the cheese had to become part of a sauce.
- Salt to taste.
Cashew cream is a tree-nut product, so this row trades a dairy allergen for a nut one.
It will not behave like melted cheese. A sauce made with it is a cashew sauce flavoured like cheese, not a cacio e pepe.
Mozzarella
mild and milky; the dish loses its seasoning
Listed because it is often suggested, and it is the wrong kind of cheese. Mozzarella is fresh, wet, mild and stretchy; pecorino is aged, dry, sharp and salty.
- Covers
- Fat & richness
- Misses
- Salt — not covered
- Umami & savory depth — not covered
- Aroma & flavor identity — not covered
- Emulsifying — not covered
- Amount
- Nothing - use parmesan, or keep the mozzarella for the melt and add a hard cheese for the flavourper 1 oz pecorino
- Best for
- nothing that calls for grated pecorino
- Texture
- pulls into long strings and lets out water, where pecorino melts away into the dish
- Look
- a white, stretchy layer instead of a fine dusting
- Pantry
- Likely in your cupboard
- Contains
- dairy
- On pizza, lasagne or baked ziti, keep the mozzarella as the melting layer and grate parmesan or Romano over it for the salt and sharpness the pecorino was adding.
The two often appear in the same recipe because they do different jobs: one melts, one seasons.
No amount of mozzarella seasons a dish the way pecorino does, and in carbonara or cacio e pepe it clumps into a single mass.
Don’t swap it here
4 cases- Pre-grated cheese from a tub or shaker in cacio e pepe, carbonara or any sauce the cheese must melt into.Buy a wedge of parmesan or Romano and grate it finely yourself. Keep the tub for sprinkling at the table.
- Mozzarella, mild cheddar, young gouda or another soft melting cheese where the recipe wants grated pecorino.Use any hard grating cheese at the same weight. In a bake, keep the melting cheese and add the hard cheese as well.
- Cheddar, gouda or manchego in cacio e pepe or carbonara.Use parmesan or Romano at the same weight, grated finely and stirred in off the heat with pasta water.
- A soft, young pecorino - sold as fresco or as a mild table cheese - when the recipe means pecorino Romano.Check that the wedge is hard and aged: pecorino Romano, or another pecorino labelled stagionato. Otherwise use parmesan.
Safety
2 notes- Allergen
Every cheese on this page is dairy. Pecorino and manchego are sheep's milk; parmesan, Grana Padano, asiago, gouda, cheddar and most domestic Romano are cow's milk, which matters if you buy pecorino to avoid cow's milk. Grana Padano is usually made with lysozyme, a preservative that comes from egg white, so check the label if you avoid egg. The dairy-free row uses cashews, a tree nut.
- Diet
Pecorino Romano and Parmigiano Reggiano are made with animal rennet, and Grana Padano almost always is, so treat none of them as vegetarian unless the label says so. Some domestic parmesan and Romano is made with microbial rennet; check the label if that matters to you.
If it went wrong
4 fixes- The cheese seized into rubbery clumps in the cacio e pepe or carbonara.The pan was too hot when the cheese went in, or the cheese was coarsely grated or pre-grated.Take the pan off the heat, add a splash of hot pasta water and toss hard to loosen what will loosen. Hard clumps will not melt back. Next time grate finer, work off the heat, and stir the cheese with a little pasta water into a paste before it meets the pasta.
- The dish tastes flat after swapping in parmesan.Pecorino was doing some of the salting, and parmesan brings less salt.Add salt a pinch at a time and taste, then more black pepper. Adding more cheese thickens the sauce before it fixes the seasoning.
- The dish is too salty.Pecorino went into a recipe written for a milder cheese, or the dish was salted before the cheese went in.Loosen it with plain hot water or a knob of unsalted butter, and add more plain pasta or vegetables if you have them. With pecorino, salt the pasta water lightly and season only at the end.
- The sauce looks greasy, with oil pooling at the edge.A softer, richer cheese such as cheddar or manchego was heated until its fat separated.Off the heat, add a splash of hot pasta water and toss until it comes back together. It will not recover fully; next time add that cheese at the very end.
Measure it
5 measures- 1 oz hard cheese, gratedabout ½ cup on a rasp grater, a generous ¼ cup on the small holes of a box graterThe same ounce fills nearly twice the cup when it is grated into fine fluffy strands, which is why weight is the safer way to match a recipe. 1 oz is 28 g.
- Swapping parmesan for pecorinosame weight, then salt to tastePecorino Romano is the saltier cheese. Going the other way, pecorino into a recipe written for parmesan, start with less and salt the dish only after tasting.
- Minimum ageingpecorino Romano 5 months, 8 for the grating grade · Grana Padano 9 months · Parmigiano Reggiano 12 monthsAll three are hard, dry cheeses, which is why they grate finely and melt into pasta water.
- Which milksheep: pecorino, manchego · cow: parmesan, Grana Padano, asiago, gouda, cheddarDomestic Romano is usually cow's milk. The sheep's milk is where pecorino's tang comes from.
- Dairy-free amount2 tbsp nutritional yeast per ¼ cup grated pecorinoHalf the volume of the cheese, plus salt to taste. Add 1 tbsp cashew cream where the cheese was meant to melt into a sauce.
Questions
10 questionsWhat is the best substitute for pecorino?
Parmesan, finely grated, at the same weight. The two behave the same way in a pan and on a plate; the difference is that pecorino is made from sheep's milk and is noticeably saltier and sharper. Taste the dish at the end and add a pinch of salt if it is flat. Romano, Grana Padano and aged asiago are the next closest, and manchego works where the cheese is eaten in pieces rather than melted.
Can I use Parmesan instead of Pecorino?
Yes. Use the same weight, grated the same way. Parmesan is milder, nuttier and less salty, so the dish may want a pinch more salt at the end. It melts into a sauce just as pecorino does, which is why it works in carbonara and cacio e pepe as well as over the top of a bowl of pasta.
What's the difference between Pecorino and Parmesan?
The milk. Pecorino is made from sheep's milk and is sharper, tangier and saltier. Parmesan is made from cow's milk and is nuttier and a little sweeter. Both are hard, dry, aged cheeses that grate finely, so they can stand in for each other at the same weight as long as you adjust the salt.
Is Pecorino the same as Romano?
Pecorino Romano is one kind of pecorino, and it is the one most recipes mean. Pecorino is the name for any Italian sheep's-milk cheese, from soft young ones to hard aged ones. Cheese sold in the US as plain Romano is a different product: a domestic cheese in the same style, usually made from cow's milk, and a little milder.
What's the best substitute for Pecorino in carbonara?
Parmesan at the same weight, or Romano, or half of each. Grate it finely from a wedge, take the pan off the heat before it goes in, and loosen the sauce with pasta water. Season at the end, because parmesan brings less salt. Avoid cheddar, gouda and pre-grated cheese, which turn the sauce oily or gritty.
Can I substitute mozzarella for Pecorino cheese?
No. Mozzarella is a fresh, mild, stretchy cheese and pecorino is an aged, sharp, salty one, so mozzarella melts without seasoning the dish. On a pizza or a baked pasta, keep the mozzarella as the melting layer and add parmesan or Romano for the flavour the pecorino was bringing.
Can I substitute cheddar for Pecorino cheese?
In baked dishes, yes: a sharp, well-aged cheddar at the same weight works in a gratin, a baked pasta or meatballs, with a tangier, recognisably cheddar flavour. Do not use it in carbonara, cacio e pepe or pesto. It melts oilier than pecorino and the flavour is wrong for those dishes.
What's a good vegan substitute for Pecorino cheese?
Nutritional yeast, with cashew cream where the cheese was meant to melt. Use 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast plus 1 tablespoon cashew cream for every ¼ cup of grated pecorino, and add salt to taste, because nutritional yeast has almost none. It gives the savoury flavour but does not melt.
Is pecorino vegetarian?
Pecorino Romano is made with animal rennet, so it is not vegetarian. Parmigiano Reggiano is made the same way, and Grana Padano almost always is. Some domestic Romano and parmesan is made with microbial rennet instead; the label will say.
How should I store Pecorino cheese?
Wrap it in wax paper or cheese paper and keep it in the fridge, where a wedge lasts for several weeks. Avoid wrapping it tightly in plastic, which makes the cheese sweat.
Tips for substituting Pecorino cheese
7 tips- Pecorino is the traditional cheese for carbonara, cacio e pepe, gricia and amatriciana. In the first three it is not a garnish but the body of the sauce.
- It is saltier than parmesan. When parmesan stands in for pecorino, taste at the end and add a pinch of salt; when pecorino stands in for parmesan, use less and salt only after tasting.
- Grate it yourself from a wedge. Pre-grated cheese is coated with an anti-caking powder, which stops it melting into a smooth sauce.
- For a sauce, grate it finely and take the pan off the heat before the cheese goes in. Direct heat makes hard cheese seize into clumps.
- Match cheese by weight. An ounce is about ½ cup from a rasp grater and a generous ¼ cup from the small holes of a box grater.
- Wrapped in wax paper or cheese paper in the fridge, a wedge keeps for weeks.
- For a dairy-free version, use 2 tbsp nutritional yeast per ¼ cup of grated pecorino and salt to taste. It gives savoury depth, not melt.