Mozzarella easily tops the list as the nation’s most popular and most-consumed cheese. Think about how many acres (yes, acres) of pizza are consumed daily. Just about all of those pies are topped with a healthy layer of mozzarella. If the orderer knows how to live life to the fullest, their pizza might even come with a side of mozzarella sticks.

One of the reasons Mozzarella can be expensive is its ever-increasing demand. Mozzarella is becoming a staple in most households that’s used on everything from pizzas to omelets, and the data shows Americans are wanting more and more of it. Fresh mozzarella in particular has a relatively short shelf, earning it an elevated price compared to low-moisture mozzarella.

Luckily, Mozzarella is also one of the easiest cheeses to make! You likely already have most of the supplies and ingredients you’ll need to make your own mozzarella. All it takes is milk, an acid or acid-producing culture, and a recipe to walk you through the steps.

Cheddar is a very familiar cheese in America with distinct mild and sharp variants, best suited for dishes like mac and cheese or even on its own. Its unique attributes and flavors earn it a place amongst fine-dining dishes and snack foods alike.

The price of cheddar cheese may seem high, but consider the amount of time and effort it takes cheesemakers to produce. Cheddar is an aged cheese, meaning its signature taste and texture is earned over time. That aging process can take anywhere from two months for mild cheddar to upwards of a year for sharp cheddar.

If you’d rather not pay for someone else’s time, you are plenty capable of making your very own cheddar cheese. Cheddar is a moderately difficult cheese to make, but the results can be incredibly rewarding. Our deluxe cheddar kit has everything you need to get started!

Despite not being legally recognized as “cheese” by the FDA, processed cheese remains the third most-consumed cheese product in the nation. Just about every burger and cheesy fast food dish will use some sort of processed cheese. It’s interesting to note the slight yet statistically significant downward trend of processed cheese consumption. Perhaps people are realizing the boundless flavor available in fresh, non-processed cheeses, and maybe even in cheeses of the homemade variety. If you’re one of those people, we at The CheeseMaker offer all the supplies to make fresh cheese from home!

Processed cheese products do typically use some sort of legitimate cheese in their production. As a result, the price of processed cheese will fluctuate with the cheeses’ price used in its production. It may be inexpensive, but the unique texture and low melting point of processed cheese are thanks to its high moisture content, meaning you’re paying for more water than you may be in other cheeses.

These Italian cheeses include parmesan, romano, and more that originate from Italy. Note, the cheese consumption factored into this chart is not necessarily of imported cheese–plenty of commercial cheesemaking companies produce Italian-style cheeses in the U.S.

The prices of these cheeses are relatively high due to both their aging time and their weight being less made up of water. Romano and parmesan are naturally much lighter cheeses by volume due to a lower moisture content than most other cheeses.

You can make these cheeses at home, but they do require a significant time commitment. If you’re willing to wait over a year for a cheese that is uniquely yours, we have all of the supplies you need to get there.

If you’ve ever purchased a meat and cheese platter from your local grocer, odds are you’ve bought one or all of these cheeses. The steady upward slope in their consumption suggests that you might find a similar uptake in demand for crackers and wine, but that’s just a theory.

These cheeses are incredibly versatile and offer a rich, creamy flavor. They’re great on their own or as additions to some of your favorite dishes, so just imagine the incredible flavor making your own cheese could add. Our deluxe soft and hard cheese-making kit has everything you need to set your charcuterie board apart from store-bought counterparts.

Cream cheese has seen a relatively stable demand over the past twenty years with a slight upward trend. While it may have a lower price per pound than many other kinds of cheese on this list, its high moisture content means you’re again paying for more water than in other cheeses.

Cream cheese is another cheese that isn’t too challenging to make and can yield delicious results. You can step up your morning routine with a bagel and fresh, homemade cream cheese, or even give your cheesecake that extra edge to make your dinner guests swoon.

Cheese spreads have been becoming less popular as time goes on, but there are still millions of pounds of it sold and consumed in the U.S. every year. These spreads can be made from cheeses with a naturally spreadable texture or by adding other ingredients and blending them to achieve the desired consistency.

With these, we invite you to experiment! If you want to try to make something that you truly can’t find anywhere else, make some of your own cheeses and see how you can add to them to create decadent spreads.

In the data provided by the USDA, all of the Hispanic cheeses sold in the U.S. are combined to show their collective demand and consumption. As you can see by the steep rise in consumption, people are really starting to catch on to the goodness of quesadillas.

All jokes aside, Hispanic cheeses are a great way to add some diversity into your menu and help you create dishes true to authentic recipes. If you’d like to try your hand at making your own Hispanic cheeses, take a look at our selection of cheesemaking supplies and ingredients!

If you have a keen eye, you’ll see the demand for Swiss and gruyere cheeses has remained relatively constant. Swiss cheese is aged for upwards of four months, so it’s no wonder it retails for up to nearly ten dollars a pound. Some Swiss cheeses can age for a year or more, so you can be sure the price will reflect that investment of time.

If Swiss cheese is one of your favorites, be sure to see how much better your own homemade Swiss cheese can be! Between our supplies and know-how, we at The CheeseMaker would be happy to help you along the way to making homemade Swiss cheese.

While the 0.5 lb/year consumption for Muenster cheese seems comparatively tiny to the 12 lbs/year seen for mozzarella, remember that’s a half-pound of cheese for every single person in the United States. For perspective, the last census marked our population to be over 300 million–that means about 150 million pounds of muenster have been consumed every year in recent years. That’s a monstrous amount of muenster.

Muenster is another aged cheese on this list, which explains why it tastes so good and why its price isn’t so cheap. Lucky for you, the aging period is only about five to seven weeks. In just a matter of months, you could be enjoying your own homemade Muenster!