18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (2024)

Love it or hate it, blue cheese crumbles add an undeniable punch of flavor to salads, sandwiches, burgers, and pizzas. Incorporating blue cheese into a recipe is a great gateway for learning to appreciate it if you typically stay away. Here are some of our favorite ways to use the wonderfully pungent cheese, from crostini to salad dressing.

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Grilled Summer Squash with Blue Cheese and Pecans

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (1)

For grilled squash with a uniformly crisp texture, chef Vivian Howard cuts her squash lengthwise into quarters and then removes the seedy interior. This gorgeous summer salad is tossed with a bright, lemony dressing.

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Rosemary Flatbread with Blue Cheese, Grapes, and Honey

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (2)

This rosemary flatbread is both fluffy and crusty, and the blue cheese — which goes from crumbly to creamy in the oven — melts in your mouth.

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Creamy Polenta with Three-Cheese Fonduta

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (3)

This creamy polenta with three-cheese fonduta is a luxuriously rich mixture of thick, sweet polenta and three cheeses: whole-milk ricotta, crumbly Gorgonzola, and nutty Parmigiano-Reggiano. Thyme-infused brown butter adds a woodsy, nutty bite to this indulgent side.

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Chicken Quesadillas with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (4)

Cookbook author Melissa Clark's tangy twist on chicken quesadillas will leave you wondering how you've never tried this dish with blue cheese.

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Autumn Salad with Figs and Blue Cheese

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (5)

Food blogger Mimi Thorisson's mesclun salad is sweetened with figs, apples, and grapes yet still maintains acidic and spicy flavors from the apple cider vinegar and whole-grain mustard.

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Firecracker Shrimp with Blue Cheese Dressing

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (6)

Leave it to star chef Andrew Zimmern to cook up the ultimate football season (or any season, if you ask us) comfort food: fried shrimp dunked in blue cheese dressing.

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Beet and Blue Cheese Salad

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (7)

Chef Nicolaus Balla's beet and blue cheese salad, made with scallions, herbs, and red wine, is bright and sweet.

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Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Pear, and Blue Cheese

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (8)

Pear and blue cheese are a classic pairing. This simple focaccia adds sweet caramelized onions and comes together in just four steps.

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Umami Burgers with Port and Stilton

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (9)

Resist the urge to pile any of the usual toppings — lettuce, tomato, ketchup — onto these burgers. "The port is your condiment," explains restaurateur Adam Fleischman.

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Charred Broccoli with Blue Cheese Dressing and Spiced Crispies

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (10)

Chicago chef Stephanie Izard amps up broccoli with a punchy vinaigrette, creamy blue cheese dressing, and an irresistibly crunchy, butter-toasted Rice Krispies topping.

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Three-Cheese Cauliflower Gratin

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (11)

If there’s a better way to eat cauliflower than this gratin, we have yetto come across it. A powerhouse of English cheeses — Montgomery’s crumbly and nutty cheddar; Ogleshield, a washed-rind Jersey cow's milk cheese; and buttery, blue-veined Colston BassettStilton — blankets cauliflower florets in a béchamel.

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Stilton-Stuffed Pickled Peppers

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (12)

Two high-impact ingredients — funky Stilton cheese and pickled sweet or spicy peppers — come together to form the ultimate one-bite snack. Pickled peppers, like spicy pepperoncini and mild Peppadew, are packed with enough flavor to stand up against strong cheeses. You can use most blue cheeses here, including Gorgonzola and Roquefort.

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Double-Cut Rib Eye with Sweet Gorgonzola Butter

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (13)

At her modern chophouse, Jar, in Los Angeles, 2002 F&W Best New Chef Suzanne Tracht's menu changes with the seasons. To celebrate summer, she says, "This juicy, sweet combo of Gorgonzola and beef alongside fresh heirloom tomatoes is how I kick off the outdoor months."

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Restoration Salad with Farro, Orange, and Blue Cheese

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (14)

"In each bite, you get a little nuttiness, a lot of chewiness, some juicy bits, a pleasant amount of bitterness, and some creamy richness," cookbook author Ann Taylor Pittman writes of this salad.

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Caramelized Onion and Bread Soup with Brûléed Blue Cheese

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (15)

In their book Wine Food, sommelier Dana Frank and recipe developer Andrea Slonecker pair funky, bright wines with flavorful, vegetable-forward dishes. In this vegetarian version of classic French onion soup, blue cheese and oloroso sherry bring new layers of flavor and depth. Notes of toasted nuts and fruit compote in the sherry pair well with caramelized onions, and its briny acidity cuts through the richness of the cheese.

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Crostini with Grilled Sweet Onions and Blue Cheese

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (16)

On the river, chef Andrae Bopp wraps whole sweet Walla Walla onions in foil and tosses them into the coals of the campfire to roast and caramelize; here we've adapted his recipe for your home grill. Don't skip the zippy honey-vinegar drizzle — it coaxes out even more flavor from the sweet onions and balances the blue cheese.

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Leftover Blue Cheese Chicken Salad Sandwich

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (17)

Chef Jonathan Waxman’s tasty chicken salad is dressed with a mix of yogurt and Gorgonzola cheese. You needn't wait until you have "leftover" cheese to make it, but the recipe only calls for two ounces.

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Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon and Blue Cheese

18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (18)

This isn't your typical macaroni and cheese. Onion, bacon, and beautiful blue cheese bake together with pasta until the dish is golden and bubbling, then it's all topped with snipped chives.

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18 Blue Cheese Recipes Even Haters Will Love (2024)

FAQs

What meat goes well with blue cheese? ›

FOR CREAMY BLUES: BEEF

Blue cheese has a natural meatiness that makes sweet love with some actual red meat.

What can you substitute for blue cheese in a recipe? ›

Blue cheese is particularly assertive, so you will want to substitute it with another strong tasting cheese. Feta will work well in many recipes; the texture is similar and it is fairly pungent.

What can I do with too much blue cheese? ›

Blue cheese recipes
  1. Blue cheese gnocchi. A star rating of 4.1 out of 5. ...
  2. Sharing bavette with blue cheese, beef dripping wedges & ranch salad. A star rating of 4 out of 5. ...
  3. Ham & blue cheese tart. ...
  4. Blue cheese pasta. ...
  5. Portobello & blue cheese melts. ...
  6. Blue cheese gnocchi. ...
  7. Spinach & blue cheese pizza. ...
  8. Fig & blue cheese tart.

What flavor goes well with blue cheese? ›

Blue cheese is the perfect dessert cheese. Grab some fruit cake or some fresh apples and peaches to finish off any meal. To balance some of the bolder blues, caramelised onion jam, or fruit pastes like quince or fig are also a perfect combo. Also try a drizzle of honey, that is a personal favourite.

What Jam goes well with blue cheese? ›

Blackberry Jam and Camembert, Chevre, Taleggio, or Mild Blue Cheese. Blackberry jam is sweet but tangy, with a bit of a bite. It's the classic option of a jam that goes best with milder, softer cheese like Camembert or Taleggio or milder, sweeter moldy cheese like Blue Stilton.

What crackers pair well with blue cheese? ›

Crackers with dried fruit work well for cheddar, swiss, and manchego cheese, while olive oil crackers are delightful with parmesan. Blue cheeses. The sharp, tangy flavor of blue cheese is well-balanced by a cracker with a bit of sweetness – try crackers flavored with honey, dried figs, or berries.

Why do I not like blue cheese? ›

David Gremmels, president of Rogue Creamery, says the piquancy can be overwhelming. “I also find that most people are turned off by the acidity, metallic notes, and off-putting texture created by hom*ogenization and standardization in commodity blue cheeses,” says Gremmels, who has helped steer the company since 2002.

What are the 4 types of blue cheese? ›

There are dozens of varieties of blue cheese. The four classics are French roquefort, English stilton, Italian gorgonzola, and Spanish cabrales. But today, blue cheese is made in many countries and in a growing variety of styles.

What is the difference between Bleu cheese and blue cheese? ›

Actually, either spelling is correct. Bleu is simply the French spelling of “blue.” There are a number of fromages bleus (blue cheeses) in France, and since the French invented the use of blue cheese in salad dressing, you're likely to find it spelled as “bleu cheese dressing” at the restaurant…

When should you not eat blue cheese? ›

Blue cheese can spoil if a person leaves the cheese unrefrigerated for too long or if they refrigerate it but do not eat it within several weeks. In either case, the mold present in the cheese can produce toxic compounds called mycotoxins. These can cause short- and long-term health effects.

Why is blue cheese so addictive? ›

And some even go as far to speculate that the milk protein found in cheese, called casein, may stimulate cheese cravings. During digestion, casein is broken down into casomorphins, which are thought to have an opiate-like effect.

Can I freeze blue cheese? ›

When you have leftover blue cheese, just throw it in the freezer in a sealable bag. Freezing doesn't damage the cheese and it still tastes great. The frozen blue cheese is always ready to go on top of salads and other dishes. Plus, when it's frozen, the cheese breaks off easily.

What is blue cheese in slang? ›

What does “blue cheese” mean in rap songs? Money. The blue stripe on $100 bills.

What nuts go with blue cheese? ›

Roasted pecans go well with semi-soft and springy cheese like gouda and blue cheese. These nuts have an earthy taste that will not clash with the unique flavors of the cheese. Try honey pecans to build the taste. Walnut halves are a popular addition to cheeseboard condiments.

What spices go with blue cheese? ›

Bleu cheese finds its perfect pair with acidic herbs like chervil or sorrel. These herbs don't detract from the flavor of the cheese; rather, they are strong enough to stand up against the strong flavor of the cheese. Brie is great with Chives, Basil, Parsley, and Tarragon.

What is blue cheese served with? ›

Blue cheeses with stronger flavors tend to go well with a bite of something sweet: slices of fresh pear or apple, a handful of grapes, dried figs or honey.

What meat goes with blue cheese charcuterie board? ›

Beef and blue cheese are a classic pairing, including on a charcuterie and cheese board. Sweet, tangy, and mild Gorgonzola dolce complements the mild, sweetness of the lean beef.

Why is blue cheese good on steak? ›

Hill, whose blog is aimed at helping families and homecooks master the art of grilling, told Tasting Table it's because "blue cheese is like the cool, edgy friend that always hangs out with the popular kid (aka steak)." He further explains, "The pungent flavor of blue cheese balances out the rich, beefy flavor of steak ...

What meat do you eat with cheese? ›

Next to your cheese, you'll want a spread of meats that include:
  1. Whole-muscle cuts like coppa, prosciutto, bresaola, Jamón Ibérico, Jamón Serrano.
  2. Forcemeats like chicken liver mousse, salmon rilletes, duck paté
  3. Cured sausages like salami, speck, capicola, pepperoni, soppressata, chorizo, saucisson sec.

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