Melty, Gooey, Chewy: 19 Cheese-Laden Recipes We Love

Look, cheese doesn’t really need an introduction. You know it, you love it. Unless you’re lactose intolerant, you probably have a few varieties in the fridge right now, whether it’s a misshapen wedge of parmesan, an unnervingly uniform block of tasty or a little wheel of brie.

For the purposes of this article, though, we can’t help but touch on cheese’s sheer versatility. You can slap it in a sandwich, pan-fry it, melt it in lasagne, toss it through salad, puff it into a soufflé and plenty more. Or, you know, just eat it as is. Without further ado, then:

Ruben’s Deli’s mac’n’cheese

Four (four!) cheeses are used in this extremely cheesy – and very easy – mac’n’cheese by Melbourne’s Ruben’s Deli. Melted fontina, cheddar and gruyere are folded through curly pasta, then parmesan is sprinkled on top; once baked it forms a crisp crust that gives way to the cheese trove below.

Bar Idda’s eggplant lasagne

This old Sicilian family recipe for mulinciani is the culinary equivalent of a big bear hug, thanks to 400 grams of pecorino, 200 grams of buffalo-milk mozzarella and, of course, copious amounts of fried eggplant. It takes a little while to make, but a pan of this can feed a family or small share house twice over. Don’t skimp on the quality of the cheese.

Meera Sodha’s baked butter paneer

While many recipes use cheese as an adjunct to protein, carbs or veggies, the cheese is the main attraction in this big-flavour dish. Dense, milky paneer acts as the foil to a spice-loaded butter sauce (which doesn’t actually contain any butter) in a bubbling baked beauty that’s an ideal veggie main.

Ned’s Bake’s double-cooked goat’s cheese soufflé

Soufflés have a reputation for being tricky to nail, but this twice-baked recipe is entirely doable. Especially since the first bake can be done up to two days in advance. In other words, if something goes wrong, you have plenty of time to have another shot. And even if the texture’s doesn’t end up just right , it’s no biggie – the finished soufflés are bathed in a pool of warm, entirely forgiving cream.

Guillaume Brahimi’s gratin dauphinois

Cheese and potato go together like Sandy and Danny, the cinema and popcorn, humankind and dogs. The combination just works. Here, the two are fused into a creamy, golden-crusted gratin that’s easy to make and mega satisfying.

Recipetin Eats’s black bean chilli

This highly versatile veggie take on a chilli con carne is covered in a layer of Colby cheese, then baked until the cheese is a golden, melted blanket. Burrow through and you’ll find a medley of beans, capsicum, tomato and spices that you can toss through pasta, scoop onto corn chips or stuff into jacket potatoes.

Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s three-cheese lasagne

Where would lasagne be without cheese, the golden glue that binds all those layers of meat and pasta together? This rendition from Ostro author Julia Busuttil Nishimura ups the ante with parmesan, buffalo mozzarella and scamorza. They all melt together in the oven, but your first luxurious bite will absolutely remind you what you put in.

Bar Morris’s baked ricotta with honey and chilli

This cheesy beauty sells itself: a slab of ricotta baked then drizzled in a punchy honey and chilli dressing. Swipe it onto a roll, serve with bruschetta or simply dive right into the ricotta richness with a spoon.

The Apollo’s saganaki cheese with honey and oregano

This isn’t just the most popular cheese recipe on Broadsheet. It’s one of the most popular recipes of any kind. And it’s easy to see why: all you need is some cheese, honey, lemon, oregano and a hot pan. Five minutes later, this sizzling, golden, salty snack is on the table. And five minutes after that , there’s the inevitable discussion about who gets the last piece.

Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad’s curried cauliflower cheese filo pie

When done well, cauliflower cheese is a wonderful thing. Here, this top-tier cheese vehicle is made into pie form by veggie-whisperer Yotam Ottolenghi. Rustic filo pastry encases the “molten-hot-cheese-lava” which is amped up with English mustard and curry powder for extra oomph.

That’s Amore’s frittata with porchetta and truffle cheese

This pan-baked frittata uses caciotta al tartufo, an obscure, truffle-flecked cow’s milk cheese from Italy’s Umbria region. That’s Amore, the cheesemaker behind this indulgent recipe, ships its caciotta nationally if you want the real deal. Otherwise, you can substitute with ricotta and shave some truffles over. Either way, this dish will make you feel like royalty.

Mitch Orr’s mozzarella in carrozza (mini fried-cheese sandwiches)

Sydney chef Mitch Orr had us at “fried-cheese sandwich”. A crunchy panko breadcrumb-coated exterior gives way to extremely hot, melty mozzarella punched up with salty anchovy. Good luck stopping at just one.

Five smashable and indulgent cheesy toastie recipes

It’s happening. Recipe Inception. We already assembled five toastie recipes , so naturally we had to include the whole lot here. There’s a fancy kimchi and wagyu bolognaise toastie; an equally fancy gruyere, mushroom and truffle number; and another with blue cheese. Bonus: this cauliflower cheese toastie recipe.

Cornersmith’s cheesy cauliflower bake

The benefits of this recipe by the waste-free warriors behind Sydney's now-closed Cornersmith are two-fold. First (and most obviously), it’s a wonderland of cheese swirled through cauliflower – what’s not to like? Second, it can be tweaked to use up whatever’s looking shrivelled in your fridge.

Additional reporting by Che-Marie Trigg.