Roquefort substitute

Best substitute

Gorgonzola piccante (the aged, firmer one)

Use the same amount by weight as the roquefort you are replacing

Best for steak sauce

Close match

Gorgonzola piccante or a good Stilton, 1:1, are the closest. Plain supermarket blue cheese crumbles work too. The one thing to watch is salt: Roquefort is one of the saltiest cheeses in common use, so if a recipe told you not to season the dish because the Roquefort would handle it, you will now need to add salt and taste. For a warm sauce, gorgonzola dolce melts smoothest; for a salad or a cheese board, Stilton or Bleu d'Auvergne look and crumble most like the real thing.

Other roquefort substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Gorgonzola dolce
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, then adjust seasoning
The young, sweet, spoonably soft gorgonzola.
What changes
Melts into sauces without any graininess at all.
Best for
cream sauces, gnocchi, risotto, spreading, pizza
Delivers maybe half of Roquefort's punch, so the dish comes out rounder, sweeter and much milder. It is the best melter of any blue cheese, which makes it the right pick for a sauce. Add a good pinch of salt and a handful of extra cheese to get back toward Roquefort's intensity.
3Stilton
Different texture
Use the same amount by weight
English cow's-milk blue, drier and more crumbly than Roquefort with a nutty, faintly cocoa-like depth.
What changes
Best for
salads, cheese boards, with pears and walnuts, soups, burgers
Visually and texturally the closest match, so it is the best swap for anything where you can see the cheese. It is less sharply salty and more nutty. In a warm sauce it can stay slightly grainy, so melt it into cream slowly and off high heat.
4Bleu d'Auvergne, Bleu des Causses or Danish blue
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Other widely sold blues.
What changes
Bleu d'Auvergne and Bleu des Causses are French cousins from the same tradition; Danish blue is the standard supermarket crumble.
Best for
salads, dressings, burgers, sauces, dips
The French ones are the closest available substitutes after gorgonzola and Stilton. Danish blue is punchy but one-dimensional and slightly metallic, so use it in a dressing where other flavours carry it rather than on a cheese board. All three are less salty than Roquefort, so season the dish at the end and taste.
5Sheep's-milk feta
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
For when you want the salty, tangy, moist crumble of Roquefort but not the blue mould, whether by preference or because no blue is available.
What changes
Best for
salads, with beetroot or walnuts, crumbling over vegetables, dressings
Gets you Roquefort's three underrated qualities: the salt, the sheep's-milk tang and the crumbly damp texture. It loses the mould entirely, so a French endive salad now reads Greek. That is a real change in character but not a worse dish, and it is the best answer for anyone who dislikes blue cheese.
6Fresh goat cheese mashed with cream, extra salt and a scrape of anchovy
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
The honest last resort when no blue cheese of any kind is available.
What changes
Best for
dressings, spreading, crumbling into salads, stuffing dates or figs
This will not read as blue cheese, and it is worth saying plainly: nothing that is not mould-ripened tastes like Roquefort. What it does supply is the salty, tangy, moist crumble. Adding a few drops of Worcestershire or a scrape of anchovy paste replaces some of the deep savoury undertow the mould was providing.

What is Roquefort?

Roquefort is Roquefort is a sheep's-milk blue cheese from southern France, aged in limestone caves, that is intensely salty and tangy with a moist, crumbly paste shot through with blue-green veins.

Cooking tips

Season the dish last. Roquefort carries a lot of salt into a recipe, so when you swap in a milder blue you often need to add salt at the end. Taste before you serve rather than trusting the original quantities.
For a Roquefort sauce over steak, endive or gnocchi, crumble the cheese into warm cream off the heat and stir until it melts. Boiling any blue cheese makes it grainy and slightly bitter.
Roquefort's sheep's milk is why it tastes tangier than cow's-milk blues. If you are using gorgonzola or Stilton and want that edge back, a small squeeze of lemon or a splash of white wine vinegar in the dressing does far more than adding extra cheese.
Roquefort freezes badly, turning dull and crumbly, but it keeps well wrapped in foil rather than plastic film, in the least cold part of the fridge. The same applies to whichever blue you buy instead.
If your shop has any French blue at all, Bleu d'Auvergne or Bleu des Causses, take it over an unlabelled generic blue. They come from the same tradition and behave much more like Roquefort in a dressing or a sauce.

Frequently asked questions

Is Roquefort the same as blue cheese?

No. Roquefort is one specific protected blue: sheep's milk, from Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in southern France, aged in the Combalou caves. It is saltier and tangier than almost every other blue. Blue cheese is the general category, and any of them will work in a recipe with a small seasoning adjustment.

Can I use gorgonzola instead of Roquefort?

Yes. Use gorgonzola piccante for a close match in strength and salt, or gorgonzola dolce if you want a milder, creamier result or a sauce that melts perfectly smooth. Both go in 1:1 by weight; taste for salt afterwards.

Can I just leave the Roquefort out?

In a salad or on a burger, yes, but season around the gap. Roquefort was providing salt and deep savoury funk, so replace it with something in that family: a few chopped olives, capers, anchovy in the dressing, or extra parmesan. In a Roquefort sauce you cannot leave it out, because it is the sauce.

Which blue cheese melts best?

Gorgonzola dolce is the smoothest melter, then Roquefort itself, then Stilton. Dry crumbly blues stay slightly grainy no matter how gently you treat them, so if a smooth sauce matters, buy a soft young blue.

How much Roquefort replaces 4 oz of blue cheese?

Weight for weight, but taste as you go. Roquefort is stronger and considerably saltier than most blues, so start with about 3 oz where a recipe calls for 4 oz of generic blue cheese and add more if you want it.

Related substitutes

More cheese substitutes

Roquefort substitute

Other roquefort substitutes

2Gorgonzola dolce

3Stilton

4Bleu d'Auvergne, Bleu des Causses or Danish blue

5Sheep's-milk feta

6Fresh goat cheese mashed with cream, extra salt and a scrape of anchovy