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Chihuahua Cheese

Chihuahua Cheese is a Mexican pale yellow, semi-soft cheese with a flavour like that of Chester cheese, or of a mild white cheddar.

Whole cow's milk milk is heated to 149 F (65 C) for half an hour. The temperature is then lowered to 95 F (35 C) and a bacteria is added, along with annatto for colouring. Rennet is added to curdle the cheese, which takes about 40 minutes. The curd is then cut, salted, put into moulds and pressed. The cheese is then packaged in plastic and ripened for a month. It will have a shelf life of about a month after that.

The cheese ends up with a soft rind.

Though first made by Mennonites in Mexico, it is now made all over Mexico.

Cooking Tips

Melts well.


Mild cheddar, Monterey Jack, Chester.


50 to 51% fat content

History Notes

First produced in Northern Mexico by Mennonites. In 1922, 20,000 Mennonites left Manitoba, Canada to escape repressive laws requiring schooling in English (the Mennonites had always run their schools in German.)

The refugees from Canada settled in the barren regions of Chichuahua in Northern Mexico. The Mexican government agreed to sell land at bargain prices and exempt them from tax for 100 years if they would make the lands fertile and produce most of the cheese needed for Northern Mexico.

See also:

Semi-Firm Cheeses

Appenzeller Cheese (Quarter Fat); Ardrahan Cheese; Asadero Cheese; Asiago Cheese; Blue Cheese; Botton Cheese; Brunost Cheese; Burrini Cheese; Buxlow Paigle; Cacetto Cheese; Caerphilly Cheese; Cantal Cheese; Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese; Cheshire Cheese; Chèvre; Chevrot Cheese; Chihuahua Cheese; Cotherstone Cheese; Criollo Cheese; Danbo Cheese; Danish Fontina Cheese; Durrus Cheese; Edam Cheese; Farmer's Cheese; Fontal Cheese; Gamonedo Cheese; Gaperon Cheese; Grimbister Cheese; Huntsman Cheese; Jalapeño Cheese; Leerdammer Cheese; Liederkranz Cheese; Livarot Cheese; Maasdam Cheese; Manchego Cheese (Mexican); Monterey Jack Cheese; Morbier Cheese; Mozzarella Cheese; Pavé d'Auge Cheese; Pavé d'Isigny Cheese; Pavé de Berry Cheese; Penyston Cheese; Pont-l'Evêque Cheese; Quartirolo Cheese; Queso con Loroco; Ricotta Salata Cheese; Semi-Firm Cheeses; Tetilla Cheese; Vacherin Fribourgeois; Washed-Rind Cheeses; Wensleydale Cheese


Also called:

Queso Menonita; Queso Chihuahua (Spanish)


Oulton, Randal. "Chihuahua Cheese." CooksInfo.com. Published 06 January 2004; revised 02 December 2007. Web. Accessed 10/22/2016. <http://www.cooksinfo.com/chihuahua-cheese>.


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