There are quite a number of spreadable cheeses out there on the market ranging from the fairly cheap rather plastic stuff all the way to the pricy and quite fancy cheeses that you use to impress friends and family when you have a dinner party. This selection from Glacier Ridge Farms falls somewhere in the middle of that, and it is a decent cheese spread/dip that brings a bit of a kick with it.
Coming in a modest 8 oz container (how about a 16 or 24 oz option?), the spread has a richness and creaminess with a nice tang. It also has a bit of a kick that counterbalances nicely with the creamy texture. The main cheese is Pepper Jack, but the taste is similar to nacho cheese sauce and/or Cheese Wiz, though with more depth to it. Gourmet may be a stretch here, but it is much tastier than the goop they pour over chips in a ballpark and call nachos. It is not too hot, but it does bring some spice, and those who prefer milder foods may consider this more on the hotter side.
The cheese goes especially well as a dip for raw veggies, particularly celery, carrots, and broccoli. And since the serving size of two tablespoons only packs 70 calories, you can pass this off as a healthy snack! I also find that it goes quite well with pretzel sticks, or you can pair it up with chips or crackers. But they will need to be hefty because it is a thick cheese, and you got to hate it when that chip breaks off mid-dip! I don’t believe that it would add much to a sandwich or pasta as they suggest on the label, but heated it might be good over chips (though it’s kind of pricey for that, so I would recommend this queso recipe instead).
I discovered this cheese at World Market, a good location for spicy foods and I will be mentioning that venue on a regular basis in this blog. It sells for about four bucks for the 8 oz container, and they also have smoked gouda and aged cheddar varieties. The smoked gouda is quite good as well, though it is not spicy at all. The aged cheddar was a bit of a disappointment as I did not like the consistency, so I don’t recommend that one. But the jalapeno cheddar is a favorite, and I pick that one up pretty much every time I stop in World Market.
Tale of the Tape:
Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
Ingredients: Cheddar cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), water, cream, whey, sodium phosphate, jalapeno peppers, calcium propionate (preservative), garlic, natural flavor, apo-carotenal for color.
Calories: 70
Fat: 6g (3.5g Sat/0g Trans)
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 0g
Sodium: 350mg