# The best Italian cheeses

Italy's most highly rated cheeses, nearly all PDO, according to international rankings (TasteAtlas put Parmigiano Reggiano, buffalo mozzarella and stracchino on the podium) and cheese guides.

- 14 votes · 19 items
- Sep 17, 2025 · Federico Costa
- https://even.best/en/l/25/the-best-italian-cheeses

## Top 15

1. **Parmigiano Reggiano** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The 'king of cheeses': long-aged hard cheese (at least 12 months) made around Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Mantua.
2. **Pecorino Romano** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — Salty, sharp sheep's cheese, essential for carbonara and cacio e pepe; mostly made in Sardinia today.
3. **Asiago** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Cheese from the Asiago plateau, fresh (pressato) or aged (d'allevo).
4. **Mozzarella di Bufala Campana** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Stretched-curd buffalo milk cheese from Caserta and Salerno, PDO since 1996.
5. **Gorgonzola** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Blue cheese from Lombardy and Piedmont, in sweet (dolce) and sharp (piccante) versions.
6. **Grana Padano** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Hard cheese from the Po Valley, the best-selling PDO cheese in the world.
7. **Provolone Valpadana** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Mild or sharp stretched-curd cheese in sausage or pear shapes.
8. **Caciocavallo Silano** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — Pear-shaped stretched-curd cheese tied in pairs, from southern Italy.
9. **Burrata** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — A pouch of stretched curd filled with stracciatella and cream, born in Andria (Apulia).
10. **Taleggio** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Soft, aromatic washed-rind cheese from Val Taleggio (Bergamo).
11. **Stracchino (Crescenza)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Creamy fresh cheese from Lombardy, on the TasteAtlas podium.
12. **Fontina** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Raw milk cheese from the Aosta Valley, the base of fonduta.
13. **Pecorino Toscano** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Milder pecorino from the Tuscan countryside, fresh or aged.
14. **Castelmagno** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Rare blue-veined cheese from the valleys of Cuneo, one of Italy's oldest.
15. **Montasio** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Hard cheese from Friuli, the main ingredient of frico.
16. **Bitto storico** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Alpine cheese from Valtellina that can age for more than ten years.
17. **Robiola from Roccaverano** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Fresh DOP goat's milk cheese produced in the Langhe between Asti and Alessandria.
18. **Sardinian flower** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Sardinian DOP raw milk pecorino, lightly smoked, produced for centuries by the island's shepherds.
19. **Ricotta romana** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — PDO sheep's whey ricotta from Lazio, the base of Roman desserts.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.