--- title: 6 Best Cheeses for Burgers description: Go beyond cheddar canonical: https://time.com/3894253/best-cheeses-for-burgers/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-22T16:00:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:20:13.435Z og:title: 6 Best Cheeses for Burgers og:description: Go beyond cheddar og:url: https://time.com/3894253/best-cheeses-for-burgers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt475d048cd5de4694/6988515b55a85904cca8c25d/cheeseburger.jpg?branch=production&width=415&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 415 og:image:height: 233 og:image:alt: cheeseburger.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 6 Best Cheeses for Burgers twitter:description: Go beyond cheddar twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt475d048cd5de4694/6988515b55a85904cca8c25d/cheeseburger.jpg?branch=production&width=415&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 6 Best Cheeses for Burgers > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=882f61f0-41ce-438b-af39-084677237891&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Food & Wine](https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/) ## Food & Wine May 22, 2015 4:00 PM UTC  Melting Cheese In Hamburger Melting Cheese In Hamburger Getty Images by [Food & Wine](https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/) ## Food & Wine May 22, 2015 4:00 PM UTC As chefs Michael Chiarello and Sang Yoon discuss in their [Chefs in Conversation video](http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/2014/9/10/michael-chiarello-and-sang-yoon-talk-burger-crimes), there are a lot of ways to screw up a burger. One way to make sure you’re treating a burger right is to top it with really great cheese. Here, the six best cheeses for burgers. **Cheddar** Perhaps the most popular option behind American cheese, salty cheddar holds up to strong flavors like the barbecue sauce on [these incredible chicken burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/blue-ribbon-barbecue-chicken-cheeseburgers) or the bacon and Russian dressing on [these BLT burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cheddar-blt-burgers-with-tarragon-russian-dressing). **Brie** Ultra-gooey, creamy Brie takes any burger to the next, luxe level. Try it melted on top of [these bacon burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/bacon-burgers-on-brioche-buns) or stuffed into [these scallion-flecked burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/scallion-and-brie-stuffed-burgers). **Goat Cheese** Tangy goat cheese is a lighter choice for cheese. It’s great on [these salty, sweet, piquant green-chile bacon burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/green-chile-bacon-burgers-with-goat-cheese) or [these simple but super-filling double-decker burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/double-decker-burgers-with-goat-cheese). **Smoked Gouda** Smoked Gouda and smoky barbecue sauce are a perfect match. Try the pairing on [these messy burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/smoked-gouda-and-bacon-burgers-with-barbecue-sauce) from Slows Bar-B-Q. It’s also a perfect complement to spicy horseradish on [these flavorful turkey burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/turkey-burgers-with-smoked-gouda). **Monterey Jack** This is one of the best cheeses for melting, which makes it perfect for a super-gooey cheese sauce like the one on [Bobby Flay’s nacho burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/nacho-burgers). Thanks to its mild flavor, Monterey Jack can also handle bold Italian flavors like those in [Michael Symon’s 50/50 burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spicy-50-50-burgers) made with hot Italian sausage and ground chuck. **Stilton** Pungent, salty and stinky, Stilton is for real cheese lovers and big, bold burgers like [these](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/umami-burgers-with-port-and-stilton) topped with an insanely good port reduction. Or try it in small doses, like on these [mini cheeseburgers topped with onion jam](http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/stilton-sirloin-burgers-with-onion-jam-cocktails-2006). _This_ [_article_](http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/2014/09/10/6-best-cheeses-for-burgers) _originally appeared on_ [_Food & Wine_](http://www.foodandwine.com/)_._ _More from Food & Wine_: * [32 Delicious Burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/burger-recipes?xid=ps%5Ftime) * [Best Burgers in the U.S.](http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/best-burgers-in-the-us?xid=ps%5Ftime) * [How to Make Umami Burgers](http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/how-to-make-umami-burgers?xid=ps%5Ftime) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3894253/best-cheeses-for-burgers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3894253/best-cheeses-for-burgers/"},"headline":"6 Best Cheeses for Burgers","datePublished":"2015-05-22T16:00:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:20:13.435Z","description":"Go beyond cheddar","url":"https://time.com/3894253/best-cheeses-for-burgers/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink","burgers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt475d048cd5de4694/6988515b55a85904cca8c25d/cheeseburger.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Food & Wine","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/food-wine-2/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt475d048cd5de4694/6988515b55a85904cca8c25d/cheeseburger.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cheeseburger.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3894253/best-cheeses-for-burgers/","name":"6 Best Cheeses for Burgers"}}]}] ```