9 Sliced Cheese Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

When you want to make a sandwich or need a quick, easy snack that hits the spot, you'll want to have some sliced cheese on hand. You can find sliced cheese in both sandwich and snackable sizes, so there's something for everyone. But with so many different sliced cheese options at grocery stores, it can be tricky to determine which brands are worth trying and which aren't. After all, so many sliced cheeses look interchangeable, so it's not always clear which are on the higher end of the quality spectrum.

By taste-testing nine different sliced cheese brands, I've created this ranking that can hopefully help you choose your next slice. I tried two to four cheeses from each brand to get a better sense of what their lineups offer, and I evaluated them based on both flavor and texture. The cheese brands that rank the best offer bold, pronounced flavors and slices that stay intact instead of crumbling apart when you try to take them out of the package. Let's take a closer look.

There are a ton of amazing cheeses to try at Whole Foods, so you might assume that the brand also stocks top-notch sliced cheese as well. But when it comes to the sliced sharp cheddar and provolone, I wasn't impressed with either. First of all, they were both quite difficult to get out of the package. Despite trying to peel the slices off as carefully as possible, they were sticky and so brittle that they fell apart before I could even get them on a plate. I personally don't want those crumbly, sticky textures in my sandwich.

To make matters worse, these cheeses don't really deliver on flavor, either. The sharp cheddar didn't taste sharp at all — I could barely taste any of the boldness I think of when it comes to cheddar. Admittedly, provolone can be kind of a boring cheese, but 365's provolone was especially flavorless. Stick to the more gourmet cheeses at Whole Foods, and consider buying your sliced cheese somewhere else.

If you've been assigned to bring the cheese to the next party you're attending, you can always pick up a Primo Taglio Artisan Cheese Tray at your local grocery store. This is a great option since this cheese is sliced into small portions that pair well with crackers, and you get to try four varieties — aged sharp cheddar, gouda, havarti, and habanero pepper jack — without actually having to curate four different cheeses yourself.

While I love the idea of a grab-and-go cheese plate, these sliced cheeses ultimately miss the mark for me. The best of all four is the aged sharp cheddar. I wouldn't say it tastes particularly aged, but it has a nice complexity and delivers a dose of sharpness on the palate. The Gouda and the havarti are both disappointing, though — I feel like their flavors aren't pronounced at all. And while the habanero pepper jack sounds like it would be delicious, it has a weird, almost soapy, bitter flavor that I found very off-putting.

Land O'Lakes certainly doesn't have the worst sliced cheeses I've ever tried, but I can't find it in myself to be enthusiastic about this brand, either. I tried the Swiss and American cheeses, and both were so-so. The Swiss cheese is the better of the two, if you ask me. Unlike a lot of sliced Swiss cheeses I've tried, this stuff doesn't have a stiff, plasticky texture; instead, it boasts a somewhat softer texture that makes it easy to add to sandwiches. The flavor isn't bold, but it has subtle nuttiness that makes things more interesting.

However, I'm much less a fan of the American cheese I tried from Land O'Lakes. When I think of American cheese brands, I think of a cheese that's super rich and creamy — that's definitely not what I got here. Instead, this cheese just tastes bland, and its slightly crumbly texture makes it even less appetizing.

Lucerne is a dairy brand I turn to when I need to stock up on cheeses, milk, and more when I'm on a budget. At my local grocery store, it's often the cheapest (or near cheapest) dairy option, so I turn to it often. However, it shouldn't come as a surprise that one of the cheaper cheese brands out there isn't always the very best. For this ranking, I tried Lucerne's pepper jack and provolone cheeses, and while they're a solid choice, they're so basic that I can't get too excited about them.

I liked the pepper jack the best — it's Monterey cheese with little flecks of jalapeño peppers, which give the cheese a subtle heat. The cheese itself tastes clean and creamy, although it doesn't have a very pronounced flavor all on its own. On the other hand, the brand's provolone cheese is actually pretty flavorful for provolone. Although it's not a groundbreaking cheese by any stretch, I can imagine it would provide a nice, creamy texture to any sandwich (especially when it's melted).

One thing I can really appreciate about Sargento is its wide range of different sliced cheese options. That's why I picked up some of its more unusual varieties at the grocery store. I tried Sargento's Gouda as well as the brand's Carolina Reaper jack, made with Monterey jack along with habanero, jalapeño, and Carolina Reaper peppers.

Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fan of the brand's Gouda. If you're a fan of the blocks of Gouda you can find at the grocery store, you're probably used to a pretty complex flavor from this variety of cheese. But you won't get that with this sliced variety. Instead, it's basically just a mild cheese with a hint of funk — nothing to get excited about. That being said, I did enjoy the Carolina Reaper jack. It's not the most delicious pepper jack cheese I've ever tried, since the flavor of the cheese itself is pretty mild. However, those peppers really pack a pleasant punch. Just don't choose this option if you're not ready for some serious heat. Texture-wise, these cheeses are soft and pliable, although they're not as creamy as some of the others on this list.

Now, we're getting into some of the higher-quality cheese options in this ranking. Although Finlandia's sliced cheeses aren't my absolute favorite, the varieties I tried were pretty high-quality, and I'd definitely get them again. I selected Finlandia's Swiss and cheddar-gruyere, and I found both above average. The Swiss has a nice, firm texture, with large holes and a decidedly bold flavor profile. You don't always find that in Swiss cheese, and it impressed me immediately.

The cheddar-gruyere, though, is the more interesting option. You don't always see these two cheeses blended into one, but I think the combo works well together. I tasted a hint of sharpness from the cheddar, but there's a bold flavor complexity, which seems to come from the gruyere, that makes for a more interesting sliced cheese than you can find from most brands out there. Give this brand a try when you want a bit more flavor in your sandwich.

Tillamook is a beloved cheese brand, and when I tried some of its sliced cheeses, I started to understand why. I chose to taste two peppery flavors for this ranking. The first I tried was the spicy colby jack. Wow, this cheese is delicious. The combo of jalapeño, chipotle, and red scotch bonnet peppers definitely makes for a spicy flavor profile, but it's the complexity of those different peppers that really makes the product shine. It's spicy, though, so you should only try this variety if you know you can handle heat.

The brand's pepper jack, on the other hand, is a lot milder. This variety of cheese only contains jalapeño peppers, so it's not quite as interesting as the first. However, the cheese itself tastes like fresh dairy, and you get just a hint of vegetal notes from the pepper, so it's a great entry point into the world of peppery cheeses. Both of these cheeses taste rich and fatty, with a creaminess that makes you want to take another bite right away.

Trader Joe's is known for its incredible cheese selection by grocery store standards, so it checks out that the brand delivers quality sliced cheese as well. I selected the store brand's sliced muenster cheese as well as the sharp cheddar. I don't always love a super-sharp cheddar, but I'll make an exception when it comes to this Trader Joe's variety. This cheese is surprisingly soft and easy to peel, which is a texture you don't always find with cheddar. The flavor, though, is where it really pops. It has that bold, sharp note with a clean dairy flavor that shines through. Even if you're not a cheddar fan, this product is worth trying.

And when you're looking for a sliced cheese that's deliciously rich and buttery, look no further than Trader Joe's muenster. This is another cheese that can sometimes taste bland, but that's not what's going on here. It's salty and savory and overall just the perfect addition to your next sandwich. This cheese has a great texture, and it's easy to get out of the package.

Now, the Cabot cheeses I tried for this ranking may not be super appropriate for making a sandwich, since the sliced pieces are so small. They seem to be more intended for snacking, so don't forget to pick up some crackers to enjoy with them if you decide to give them a try. I tasted the Vermont Sharp and Seriously Sharp cheddars for this ranking, and they're both excellent.

The Vermont sharp is the place to start if you like a milder cheddar. Just because it's milder, though, doesn't mean it's bland — it packs so much flavor and creaminess into such a tiny package. It also seems to have a subtle sweetness that only adds to the cheese's complexity. The Seriously Sharp cheddar is the way to go if you're already a big cheddar fiend. That sharpness is super pronounced, with a boldness you won't encounter in most other sliced cheese brands on the market. Cabot knows what it's doing, and it's guaranteed to make your daily snack time more enjoyable.

I selected these sliced cheeses from a few of the local grocery stores in my area, and I tried to pick a wide array of varieties so I could taste a range of what different brands had to offer. I ranked these cheeses mostly by how bold and pronounced their flavors are. I also considered texture, with crumbly, inflexible cheeses ranking lower on the list than softer, more pliable varieties.