Requeijao substitute

Substitutes for Requeijao with ratios

1. 2Homemade Requeijao Base (Milk Thickened With Cornstarch)

   Close match

   1 cup whole milk plus 1 tbsp cornstarch, thickened, then whisked off the heat with 6 oz cream cheese, 1 tbsp butter and ½ tsp salt; makes about 1 ½ cups

   Cook the milk and cornstarch to a thick pourable sauce, pull the pan off the heat, then whisk in the cream cheese and butter a piece at a time until it turns completely glossy.

   What changes

   Best for

   frango com catupiry, pizza, coxinha and pao de queijo filling, pasta sauce, the closest possible match

   The best answer on this page if you have ten minutes, because it copies the one thing cream cheese cannot do on its own. Real requeijao is stabilised with melting salts so it stays smooth and flowing in the oven; the cornstarch here does the same job, holding the fat and water together so the sauce goes glossy under the grill instead of breaking into curds and oil. It also stays spoonable straight from the fridge rather than setting into a block. Keeps four or five days covered. Add a pinch of sugar with the salt if you want it to taste Brazilian rather than American.

2. 3Cream Cheese and Mascarpone, Half and Half

   Different texture

   Use ½ cup each plus 2 tbsp milk for every 1 cup requeijao

   Mascarpone is barely acidic and very rich, so blending it with cream cheese dilutes the sour tang that makes plain cream cheese read as American rather than Brazilian.

   What changes

   Best for

   frango com catupiry, sweet fillings, brigadeiro variations, cake and pastry fillings, dips

   The best flavour match of the practical options. Mascarpone brings requeijao's faintly sweet, milky roundness, and the cream cheese keeps it from being cloying. It is still firmer than the jarred product, and mascarpone breaks if you boil it, so warm it gently and stop as soon as it is smooth.

3. 4Creme Fraiche or Mexican Crema

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   Both are already thick, pourable and mildly tangy, which means you get requeijao's spoonable consistency straight from the tub with no whisking or warming.

   What changes

   Best for

   drizzling over hot dishes, stirring into sauces, topping baked pasta, finishing soups

   The texture is right out of the tub but it never firms up, so a filling made with it runs out of whatever you piped it into. It is also more sour and much less salty. Add it off the heat or at the very end, because both will break into oily curds at a hard simmer.

4. 5Plain Spreadable Cheese Wedges or Tub Cheese

   Different taste

   Use the same amount thinned with 1 tbsp milk per ½ cup

   Processed spreadable cheeses contain the same kind of melting salts as requeijao, which is exactly why they turn glossy and smooth when heated rather than separating.

   What changes

   Best for

   baked and broiled dishes, cheese sauces, hot fillings, pizza

   Structurally close, and the one most people do not think of, because processed spreadable cheeses carry the same kind of melting salts as requeijao and so turn glossy rather than separating. Buy the plain version, not garlic and herb, or you will taste it. In a Latin American market, look for queso crema or crema de queso in a tub, which is the same idea but milder, softer and much closer to requeijao than either cream cheese or a foil-wrapped wedge; it is often saltier, so hold back on salt elsewhere. The general drawback of this whole category is a slightly processed edge and no fresh dairy sweetness, which a spoonful of cream helps.

5. 6Whole Milk Ricotta, Blended Smooth

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 cup ricotta + 3 tbsp heavy cream + ¼ tsp salt for every 1 cup requeijao

   Whole milk ricotta blitzed in a food processor with cream until it is completely smooth gets you a mild, milky, spreadable cheese out of a very ordinary supermarket ingredient.

   What changes

   Best for

   baked fillings, layered dishes, cheap and cheerful substitutions

   The least-bad option if it is what you have. Even blended, ricotta stays slightly grainy on the tongue, it is much less salty, and it weeps water when baked, which can make a pao de queijo filling soggy. Drain it in a sieve for 30 minutes first and blend it longer than you think you need to.

6. 7Queso Fresco or Quark Blended With Cream

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 cup cheese + ¼ cup heavy cream for every 1 cup requeijao

   Fresh unaged cheeses blended with cream give you a spreadable white cheese with a clean, lactic flavour.

   What changes

   Best for

   cold spreads, sandwiches, dips, toast

   Use this cold, not hot. Queso fresco is designed not to melt, so it stays squeaky and stubbornly separate in the oven rather than going molten, which defeats the whole purpose in a baked dish. Quark behaves better but is markedly more sour. Both are leaner than requeijao, so the result tastes thinner.