The Best (and Worst) Cheddar Cheeses from Oregon and Beyond

May 26, 2023

ByKatherine Chew HamiltonAugust 29, 2023

Image: Asukanda/shutterstock.com

Oregon is a wonderland of cheese production, thanks to its fields that stay green nearly year-round, resulting in perpetual cheesemaking opportunities. Our most famous brand is Tillamook, with 1.3 million visitors stopping by the Tillamook Creamery each year—including school and camp groups, creating customer devotion among the Sesame Street set. Is all the cheesy brand loyalty justified?

We tested eight cheddars, four yellow and four white, including grocery store and Tillamook versions, ranging from affordable to high-end varieties. A word on white cheese: there is no discernable difference in flavor between yellow and white cheddar. (You can read why fromagers dye cheeses yellow and orange here.) Read on for our best picks, whether you’re melting cheddar into mac ‘n’ cheese, melting it on grilled cheese or a cheeseburger, or eating it straight up.

Tillamook Maker’s Reserve 2018 Extra Sharp White Cheddar

Aged longer than even Parmigiano Reggiano Stravecchio (three years is standard), this cheese delivered complex, cravable flavor, with a notable funk and the most sophisticated texture we tried. “It has a lot of salty crystals, like Parmesan cheese. It’s simultaneously creamy and nutty,” said one tester. We’d happily eat it on its own, though we wouldn’t mind it on a sandwich or burger.

Tillamook Farmers' Collection Extra Sharp Aged Cheddar (Yellow)

This cheddar delivers a classic flavor profile, with a bit more refinement and intrigue. “I’d like to eat this one by itself,” said a tester. “It’s one of the best-balanced cheddars we’ve tried,” said another, noting its creamy, buttery flavors juxtaposed with a hint of sharpness and salty, umami crystals.

Beecher’s Handmade Flagship Cheese (White)

This cheese, born at Seattle’s Pike Place Market, doesn’t describe itself as a cheddar, but it goes through the cheddaring process, making it a cheddar with some sweet, alpine cheese notes. Our testers noted its hint of sweetness right away, as well as its crumbliness. It’s versatile: “I’d like that on a cheese plate, or a salad. Or mac and cheese,” said one.

Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar (Yellow)

This cheddar would be ideal for snacking on with apple slices or crackers. It’s also a good workhorse for mac ‘n’ cheese, though its notable sharpness might not make it the best choice for combining with other foods. “On a burger, it might be too strong,” said one tester, “but I’d like it on a turkey sandwich with Dijon.”

Face Rock Creamery Vampire Slayer Garlic Cheddar (White)

If you’re not in the mood to both slice cheese and peel garlic, this is the cheese for you. In fact, the flavor is basically that of meltable garlic, rather than cheddar. “I can’t glean much creaminess beyond the garlic—it’s a little milky,” said a tester. Our testers agreed that this could really amp up the flavor of a burger or grilled cheese, even if it might be too overpowering to eat on its own.

Tillamook Medium Cheddar (Yellow)

Snacking on a hunk of cheese? This is the affordable cheddar for you and yours. Its creamy, mild flavor profile also makes it ideal for other easy-cooking favorites like cheeseburgers or a grilled cheese. “It’s very kid-friendly,” said a tester.

Tillamook Extra Sharp White Cheddar

Despite the insistence that cheddar color doesn’t matter, this cheddar was less popular with our testers than its yellow counterpart. “It’s not as balanced as the others—it feels like it’s a little too creamy, and not sharp enough,” said a tester.

Winco Medium Cheddar (Yellow)

This bright orange, nearly red cheese had a waxy texture, with no creaminess to it and a bland, vague saltiness. “This makes me think of cheap grocery store deli cheese,” one tester noted.

New Seasons Oregon Coast Cheddar (White)

This cheese stunned us all into silence as we desperately tried to get the flavor out of our mouths. “It tastes like old cardboard,” one tester said. “It’s lighter than all the other cheeses, but not in a good way—like it’s milky, but not creamy.”