Turkish String Cheese substitute
Oaxaca cheese (quesillo)
Use the same amount as the turkish string cheese you are replacing
Mexican Oaxaca cheese (quesillo) is the closest substitute of all at 1:1, because it is made by the same pull-and-wind method and is equally mild and stringy. If you cannot find it, low-moisture block mozzarella at 1:1 is the reliable everyday answer: shred it, pat it dry and add a small pinch of salt. Unsmoked scamorza also works 1:1 and bakes beautifully with slightly less pull. The cheese's job here is structure and stretch plus a gentle milky saltiness, not strong flavour, which is why aged cheeses fail at it and why fresh water-packed mozzarella makes a soggy kunefe unless you press it hard first.
Other turkish string cheese substitutes
Ranked, with the exact amount to use
Substitutes for Turkish String Cheese with ratios
2Low-moisture block mozzarella
Close matchWhat changes
- Best for
- kunefe, pide and lahmacun with cheese, toasted sandwiches, baked dishes, anywhere you need a stretch
Same family of cheese, made by the same stretching process, so the melt and pull are genuinely close. It is milder and less salty than dil peyniri, so a savoury dish tastes a little plain without a pinch of extra salt, and pre-shredded bags contain anti-caking starch that gives a slightly grainy, less glossy melt, so buy a block and grate it yourself. Blot the shreds dry to keep a dessert from going watery.
3Scamorza (unsmoked)
Different textureWhat changes
- Best for
- baked and grilled dishes, pide and pastries, stuffing into kofte or vegetables, cheese boards
Drier than mozzarella, which is an advantage in anything baked because it browns rather than weeping, and it has a gentle tang mozzarella lacks. The trade-off is less pull: it melts smooth and rich rather than into long threads, so a kunefe made with it will taste excellent and will not give you the dramatic cheese-pull photograph. Avoid the smoked version, which tastes like ham next to a syrup dessert.
4Fresh mozzarella, drained hard, for kunefe specifically
Close matchWhat changes
- Best for
- kunefe and kadayif desserts, sweet cheese pastries, cheese and syrup dishes
Traditional kunefe uses a fresh, barely salted, very stretchy local cheese, and water-packed mozzarella is closer to that than a hard aged block is. The catch is moisture: undrained, it releases liquid into the pastry and you get a soggy base under a crisp top. Tear it, press it between paper towels or under a plate for half an hour, then blot again before layering. Slightly under-salted is correct here rather than a fault.
5Supermarket string cheese sticks
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- melted uses, toasted sandwiches, baked pasta, an emergency kunefe
The honest answer is that these work better than their reputation suggests, because the manufacturing idea is the same. They are drier and firmer than dil peyniri, often contain starch and preservatives that dull the melt, and some brands are noticeably rubbery, so tear them into threads rather than chopping them and let them come to room temperature before baking. The flavour is flatter, so add salt for savoury dishes.
6Provolone dolce blended with mozzarella
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- pide and cheese breads, baked savoury dishes, toasted sandwiches
Provolone melts smoothly and adds a mild piquancy that stands up in a savoury bake, while the mozzarella keeps the stretch, since provolone alone melts into a rich pool rather than threads. Use the sweet dolce type; provolone piccante is sharp enough to dominate. This blend is wrong for a syrup-soaked dessert, where any tangy aged cheese clashes with the sugar.
7Halloumi, which does not work for stretch
Taste and texture differWhat changes
- Best for
- grilling or frying in slices, breakfast plates, salads
Halloumi is designed not to melt. It squeaks, holds its shape and browns, which makes it excellent on a grill and useless in kunefe or on a pide, where it will sit in firm salty blocks in a dish that expected a molten stretch. If your recipe wants cheese that survives a pan, halloumi is right; if it wants cheese that pulls, use mozzarella or Oaxaca.
What is Turkish String Cheese?
Turkish String Cheese is Turkish string cheese, sold as dil peyniri, tel peyniri or cecil and often braided, is a fresh salty cow's-milk cheese that is heated and pulled into layered strands so it peels apart in threads and melts into long stretchy ropes.
Cooking tips
- Soak the salt out before using it in a dessert. Dil peyniri sold in brine is genuinely salty, and kunefe needs a cheese that is mild enough to sit under sugar syrup, so cover it in cold water for one to four hours, changing the water once, then drain and press dry.
- Tear along the grain instead of grating. The cheese is built in layers, and peeling it into threads gives a much better melt and a much better pull than a box grater does, which cuts across the strands.
- Dry cheese makes crisp pastry. Whatever you use, blot it. Water in the cheese steams the shredded kadayif or the pastry base from underneath, which is the usual reason a kunefe is crisp on top and pale and soggy below.
- Bring it to room temperature first. Fridge-cold cheese needs longer in the pan or oven than the pastry does, so the top burns before the middle stretches. Twenty minutes on the counter fixes this.
- Do not substitute aged cheeses. Cheddar, kasseri, gruyere and the like have less moisture and more fat separation, so they break and go oily under high heat instead of stretching, and their flavour is far too strong for a sweet dish.
Frequently asked questions
Can I just leave the cheese out?
Is dil peyniri the same as mozzarella?
Why do kunefe recipes say not to use mozzarella?
Can I use the string cheese sticks from the supermarket?
Is Turkish string cheese vegetarian?
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