10 String Cheese Brands, Ranked

When you need a quick and easy snack, string cheese might just be one of the easiest options. Generally, this kind of cheese tastes pretty neutral, meaning that it can appeal to a wide variety of palates. And while it may not be the most exciting cheese on the market, it gets the job done when you need to throw something extra into a lunch box.

If you've been to the cheese section of your local grocery store, though, you've probably noticed that there are seemingly endless string cheese brands to choose from. Which should you grab? You probably don't want to just guess which varieties are best. Therefore, I've tasted and ranked 10 different string cheese brands according to both flavor and texture to help you determine which one to seek out.

The varieties I like the most have a pronounced, clean dairy flavor to them and lack the plasticky texture you sometimes get from string cheese. They're on the softer side and easy to "peel" but aren't too soggy when you take them out of the package. If you like the same qualities in your string cheese, then the best-rated brands are sure to deliver on flavor.

To be clear, I'm not against store brands in general. They can often save you money without forcing you to sacrifice flavor. That being said, not every store brand product is worth trying, and I would avoid Stop and Shop's string cheese — at least when it comes to this reduced fat version. As soon as I opened one of the plastic sheaths each stick came in, I was immediately turned off by just how wet this cheese was. Sure, I expect some level of moisture in any kind of cheese, but this stick was downright slimy. I actually wondered whether it was still okay to eat because of how sickly and unpleasant it looked.

The smell I encountered was also quite off-putting. It was sort of chemical in a way that further concerned me — not what I expect cheese to smell like. And then when I consider the texture, which is too hard and downright plasticky, it should be obvious why this was my least favorite cheese stick brand of the entire lineup. But don't worry; there are better store brands to come.

To be fair, Sargento may not be getting the fairest deal in this ranking. While searching for this brand, I managed to find its Light String Cheese, which is made with reduced fat mozzarella. To me, cheese tastes its best at its fattiest, so it wasn't surprising that this lighter option didn't deliver as much flavor as I expected. However, since it's the only product from the brand I'm ranking, I have to place it pretty low on this list. The main issue here is the flavor. After taking a bite of one of these string cheese sticks, I could barely taste anything. I felt like I was eating a blob of random white matter, not anything easily recognizable as real cheese.

The cheese isn't unpleasant or bad, so it's not like it's inedible or anything. If you're just looking for a lighter cheese stick, then it may not be a bad option if you can find this brand for a competitive price. But if you actually want your cheese sticks to taste as good as possible, there are better brands out there.

For most of the string cheese brands I tried in this lineup, mozzarella was the only flavor option available. Although I can certainly get down with some mozzarella, I like to have more choices in my string cheese selection. Blessedly, Frigo CheeseHeads provides just that. I tried two varieties from this brand: the mozzarella-based Original String, and Cheddarella, made with a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses.

I really had hope for these string cheese sticks, but I was ultimately disappointed. The plain mozzarella variety is basically flavorless, with an unappealing plasticky texture. Yes, it has some saltiness, but that's all. I thought that the Cheddarella might be better, but the cheddar flavor didn't come through very strongly at all. Instead, it kind of tasted like the cheese that I might get in a Lunchables meal (which is to say, not very good and rather artificial-tasting). I appreciate this brand branching out and trying to offer string cheese eaters something a little different, but it doesn't quite seem to work.

Polly-O fits into the same category as Frigo Cheeseheads, with classic mozzarella-based string cheese and another combination of mozzarella and cheddar cheese (called Twists). In this case, though, those two cheese varieties are twisted together, creating a varied bite that's more interesting than a lot of the string cheeses out there. I remember eating this style of cheese stick when I was a kid, so I'm partial to it.

Despite how fun the Twists look, they're not made from the most delicious cheese. Sure, they have a bit more of a pronounced cheddar flavor than the Frigo Cheeseheads' cheddar variety, but I still think these things are pretty bland. They're definitely fun to peel, though. The plain mozzarella sticks here are pretty boring and lacking in the pronounced flavor I'm looking for. In both cases, I'm getting an unpleasant plasticky texture here. Even though this brand gets points for offering a wider range of string cheese options, I still wouldn't buy either of these products again.

Looking for a kosher string cheese brand? Look no further than Miller's. This is another reduced fat mozzarella option for those who might be looking for something a little bit lighter than a standard string cheese. Like most of the string cheese varieties on this list, the mozzarella base offers a clean, approachable bite. Overall, though, I didn't really enjoy this cheese, since it's not the most flavorful. There's some saltiness there, and I also noticed a very subtle sweetness as an aftertaste, but that's about all. However, this reduced fat option still packs a touch more flavor than some of the regular string cheeses on this list, so I guess it's a success if you are looking for a slightly less fatty option.

On the texture front, Miller's, like so many of the other worse-ranked cheeses on this list, has an unfortunately plasticky flavor. It's a little softer than some varieties, earning it a slightly higher spot on the list.

Organic Valley's Bluey Stringles certainly seemed geared toward little ones, but honestly, this string cheese isn't that different from any of the others in this lineup. This variety is also made from mozzarella, but it has a much firmer texture than I expected. The first thing I noticed about this option is its color. Organic Valley's string cheese is much yellower than the other plain mozzarella varieties. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's an observation that sets this brand apart. I'm not sure why this stuff was so hard and had such a snappy texture, but I wish it was just a bit softer for an easier, more pleasant bite.

Flavor-wise, I feel like Organic Valley's cheese is slightly more complex. There was a funkiness to this cheese that I couldn't put my finger on. It wasn't particularly pleasant, but it didn't make the cheese taste bad, either. Because this cheese isn't as bland as some of the other brands, it ranks higher on the list than some, although it's far from the best-tasting string cheese I tried.

Now, we're starting to get into the better string cheeses I tried. If you're specifically looking for an organic brand, you might want to check out Nature's Promise, also made with mozzarella. It's drier than most of the other cheeses I tried, but not in a bad way. There was none of the sweaty sogginess I encountered in the less enjoyable brands, but the cheese is still soft enough to peel easily. I noticed some strange ridges on this cheese, though, which could potentially bother picky eaters who like string cheese for its uniform texture. The string cheese has a darker, more yellowish appearance than most, although that didn't factor into the ranking.

I think Nature's Promise tastes decent, although it doesn't stand out as being particularly delicious. The cheese tastes clean, fresh, and pleasant, and even though those flavors aren't as pronounced as I'd like, the overall effect is still nice. When you just need a basic, unfussy brand of string cheese to keep stocked in your fridge, Nature's Promise has you covered.

Kosher cheese lovers, I have another string cheese option for you, and I think it tastes way better than Miller's. Haolam's mozzarella string cheese really delivers when it comes to flavor. It doesn't just taste like you're eating a bland white log — instead, I actually get a mozzarella-like flavor here, closer to what I might expect from fresh mozzarella. There's a sweetness to the cheese, along with a very subtle, herbal grassiness that I frankly didn't expect from a packaged string cheese. Overall, I think this cheese tastes excellent and is one of my favorites in the entire lineup for that reason.

However, this cheese falls flat in texture. If you just take a bite of the cheese stick, you may not notice an issue. The cheese leans toward the soft side, but it still has the firmness I'd expect from this type. However, when I tried to peel it, I noticed how elastic the cheese was. This makes it hard to pull off little strings of the cheese at a time (which is arguably the whole point of string cheese in the first place). If it weren't for that unfortunate fact, Haolam would land even higher in this ranking.

Most cheeses on this list are made with part skim milk, save for Galbani and Polly-O. It shouldn't come as a surprise that this was one of the creamiest and richest string cheeses I tried. I can taste that extra fat, which makes this one of the tastiest cheeses on the list. The flavor is full-bodied, with a distinct dairy note that provides way more than the whisper of flavor I got from the other brands.

The cheese has a soft texture, certainly one of the softest in the lineup. It still has enough resilience to create that desirable stringy texture I want in this kind of cheese. If I were shopping at a grocery store that didn't sell the top-ranked brand in this lineup, Galbani's whole milk string cheese would be my first choice. Since I haven't tried the part skim variety from Galbani, though, I'm not sure how this brand would rank.

Sometimes, it's the cheeses you don't expect, and that's certainly true when it comes to Lucerne string cheese. (After all, Lucerne had the worst-ranked grocery store brand butter in our tasting lineup.) Lucerne is an Albertsons store brand, so I wasn't expecting it to be the standout string cheese. However, after multiple tastings, I concluded that Lucerne has, in fact, the best string cheese in this entire ranking. This part skim mozzarella cheese has the boldest, most intense flavor of them all, beating out even Galabani's whole milk selection. Of course, we're talking about a basic white string cheese, so you should keep your expectations in check, but there's a clean dairy finish here that immediately made me want to go back in for another bite.

Although Lucerne's string cheese still has a sort of processed texture, it's one of the softer and stringier varieties I tried, which is another reason it takes the top spot in this ranking. Those strings don't snap off easily, though, meaning you get all the entertainment of peeling off one section at a time. Stock up on this stuff for work and school lunches and midnight snacks.

These specific brands were chosen based on availability at my local grocery stores. Most of these string cheese products tasted very similar to one another, so I conducted my taste test twice. I recorded my impressions both times and came to roughly the same conclusions about where each brand should land on the list. The main criteria I used for this ranking were flavor and texture. I looked for a bold, fresh dairy flavor that was more pronounced than muted. Additionally, I tended to prefer softer string cheeses to firmer, harder varieties, and I specifically ranked more plasticky-feeling cheeses lower on the list.