Have you seen the price of cheese products lately—or literally anything else at the grocery store? Late last year, I found myself doing a double take as I was about to throw my usual block of cheddar into my shopping cart. I ended up reaching for a larger, less-expensive option. My kids eat a ton of cheese, but they hated this one, leaving little bite-marked pieces of it around the kitchen and living room at snack time. It took almost a month to finish it off.

Grocery store cheese is one of those medium-level investments that lies somewhere between a pantry staple and a fresh good. It lasts longer than produce, which means you’re stuck with it if you’ve picked one you don’t like, and can be incredibly helpful if you’ve found a favourite, reliable brand. It adds the tang a sandwich needs, texture to soups, a blanket of stringy enticement to vegetables and casseroles. With some crackers, grapes and carrot sticks, it can also just be dinner all on its own. 

In the interest of saving you from my recent cheese experience, the Chatelaine team taste-tested 16 different grocery-store cheddars to find you the best for snacking and the best for cooking. We decided against sharp or extra-sharp cheese varieties and opted for medium-aged cheddar instead; it's a little more versatile in cooking, and easier to find in bulk format.

Before we start, here’s an interesting FYI: There’s no real discernable flavour difference between mass-market-produced white and orange cheddars. The latter is the result of annatto-based food dye, a convention that dates back to the varietal’s 19th-century origins in southwest England, and the rest is just marketing. The more you know!

Thornloe Grass-Fed Medium Cheddar, $8 for 200 g

Crumblier than most of its counterparts, and a little bit sharper, this grass-fed pick impressed editors who preferred older-tasting cheese. Definitely preferable for snacking (or a cheese board) over cooking.

Cracker Barrel Medium Cheddar, $8 for 400 g

A few tasters usually stock their fridge with this brand of block cheese, but were surprised at how much it tasted like blander mozzarella when compared to the other options. 

No-Name Medium Cheddar, $10 for 700 g

This house-brand cheese block registered as more sour than sharp for most tasters; some detected a metallic aftertaste.

Great Value Medium Cheddar, $6 for 400 g

A few editors noted that this block cheddar tasted more oily than creamy, and it didn’t rank high on the taste scale for most.

Organic Meadow Medium White Cheddar, $13 for 340 g

The texture of this white cheddar was off-putting for most: harder, a little rubbery, and not crumbly or creamy, either. It did, however, have a pleasant nutty taste.

Best Buy Old Cheddar, $10 for 700 g

This cheddar, which comes in value-sized blocks, did not register as “best” for anyone. It’s a large amount of cheese for the price, but very little flavour. 

The middle of the pack

Let’s be honest here: 16 options is a lot of cheese, and what became clear early on in this taste test is there isn’t a whole lot of variation for many Canadian dairy products. Plenty of the picks hit an extremely Canadian middle ground of inoffensive, slightly creamy and totally serviceable for cooked dishes like cheesy casseroles or broccoli soup, or anything where the cheese is playing second fiddle to another ingredient and more there for texture over flavour. We’d recommend the next six selections for this purpose—with the caveat that whatever happens to be on sale at the time is probably the best choice.

Compliments Medium Cheddar, $7 for 400 g

Armstrong Medium Cheddar, $8 for 400 g

Selection Medium Cheddar, $7 for 400 g

Balderson Medium Cheddar, $9 for 280 g

President’s Choice Medium Cheddar, $7 for 250 g

Farm Boy Organic White Medium Cheddar, $8 for 200 g

Black Diamond Medium Cheddar, $7 for 400 g

The Chatelaine team was quite divided on this name brand! Tasters either disliked what they described as a slightly sour, artificial flavour—or were fond of the childhood memories those same notes brought up. You could definitely tell whose home was a Black Diamond house growing up in the ’90s.

Chatelaine’s picks for best block cheddars

Gustav Medium Cheddar, $9 for 250 g

The consensus among this poshly packaged orange cheddar was nearly unanimous: snacker’s choice. While the firm texture wasn’t especially suited for shredding, this cheddar had a creaminess that hits the back of the palate, and went down nicely between sips of non-alcoholic piquette.

Irresistibles Organics Marbled Medium Cheddar, $6 for 200 g

Sold in significantly smaller amounts than the rest of the bunch, this marbled block of cheese impressed nearly everyone who tasted it. Sharp, milky, a creamy-but-not-waxy texture, and a pleasant lingering tanginess put this Metro brand option near the top of the list. It’s great for snacking, and would make an excellent brioche grilled cheese.

How we select our products. We’re committed to finding the best and most accessible pantry ingredients, and that means being able to test and judge them fairly: in the same place, at the same time, under the same conditions. This means not every single brand available on the national market is going to make it to our Toronto-based kitchen. Some items are only regionally available in a specific province, while others are priced well out of the average grocery budget. Here’s what we guarantee: at least half of our picks will always be available nationally, we will always include selections from major grocery store chains. And if there’s a pick you really think we missed, we’d love to hear about it: letters@chatelaine.com.