The Kirkland Cheese That Blows Other Costco Products Out Of The Water

Whether you're trying to build the perfect charcuterie board, choose the right toppings for your salad, or round off a pasta dish, picking the right dairy is paramount. Staring down Costco's deli cheese section can feel intimidating, but Mashed is here to help narrow things down. We ranked nine Kirkland Signature cheeses (from Costco's private label brand), ensuring each one was used to its best advantage for fairness, and found that the goat variety stood supreme.

The first thing you'll notice when biting into the Kirkland Signature goat cheese is its rich, creamy texture, followed by a pleasant yet delicate sour note. But perhaps the best thing about this product is its versatility. You can use it to upgrade countless sweet and savory recipes, including dishes that call for cream cheese or something similar. As with cow cheese, the goat kind can come in several variations — the Kirkland version resembles chèvre, a French variation characterized by its front-facing earthiness and tart aftertaste.

If you've never tried goat cheese before, the Kirkland version is a great place to start. At $0.37 per ounce, it's nearly half the price of Roth's $0.70-per-ounce chevre, which is sold at Walmart.

Now that you have your dairy, you may feel slightly at a loss in terms of how to use it. Goat cheese is still a bit underrated despite steady global market growth. Even so, it's a great option with its rich protein levels and lower lactose content than cow cheese, making it ideal for lactose-intolerant folks who find it hard to entirely resist the call of dairy.

When it comes to using this product at home, we have plenty of recommendations. Try spreading it on toast with an assortment of toppings for a hearty breakfast option; think nuts, honey, fresh herbs, avocado, or prosciutto. Or, swap goat in place of cream cheese in your next cheesecake recipe for a more complex flavor. The dairy also works very well with Italian dishes, giving lasagna a tangy upgrade and homemade spinach pizza a delightful kick. It makes a beautiful salad topping, too, combining particularly well with tart apples in something like an apple goat cheese salad or a candied walnut and arugula salad.

Additionally, the sweet nuttiness of butternut squash balances out the tartness of goat cheese, with its mildness allowing the bolder earthiness of the dairy to shine through. If that pairing sounds like a match made in heaven, you're right. We suggest pairing the two in a bowl of squash stew, or you could whip up a light, impressively-customizable roasted butternut squash and goat cheese quiche.