9 Best Teleme Cheese Substitutes

The best Teleme cheese substitutes is Brie, which shares the same soft, buttery, melt-in-your-mouth texture and mild, lightly tangy flavor that makes Teleme so special on pizza, polenta, and cheese boards.

I spent years thinking Teleme cheese was just some obscure California thing until I finally tried it melted over polenta at a San Francisco restaurant. It was one of those genuinely memorable cheese moments, and from that point on I started hunting for it every time I was in a specialty grocery store.

If you are outside California or just hit an empty shelf, these substitutes will keep your dish going. I also want to address something important: Franklin’s Teleme, the most famous version, disappeared for years but came back in 2023. I have covered where to find it and what to use when you genuinely cannot.

Key Takeaways

• Brie is the closest widely available substitute, matching Teleme’s soft, creamy, mildly tangy character
• Stracchino (also called Crescenza) is the single most accurate match if you can find it at a specialty shop
• Taleggio and Fontina are the best melting substitutes for pizza and polenta
• Havarti is the easiest grocery store swap for sandwiches and grilled cheese
• Feta and Halloumi are NOT good Teleme substitutes despite appearing on most lists
• Franklin’s Teleme came back in September 2023 and is available through Instacart, Bi-Rite, and iGourmet
• Teleme is a California original and one of the most underappreciated cheeses in American food culture

What Is Teleme Cheese?

Teleme (pronounced “tell-uh-may”) is a soft, semi-soft California cheese created in the early 1900s by Greek immigrant cheesemakers who were trying to make a feta-style cheese and ended up inventing something completely different. The modern version traces to 1927 when Giovanni Peluso made the first batch at a Northern California creamery, and it became a beloved staple of San Francisco’s Italian-American community.

The flavor is mild, buttery, and lightly tangy with a fresh, slightly lemony quality. The texture is soft and yielding when young, becoming runnier and more spreadable as it ages. A distinctive rice-flour dusted rind gives it a slightly rustic look.

Teleme is most famous as a pizza topping in the Bay Area, where it melts into creamy pools instead of going stringy. It is also spectacular over polenta, melted in pasta, and on cheese boards paired with stone fruit and honey.

Is Franklin’s Teleme Still Being Made?

Good news: yes, it came back. Franklin Peluso, the third-generation cheesemaker behind the most famous version, stopped production in late 2018 when he lost his creamery space. For several years it genuinely was not available, and that is why searches for “Franklin’s Teleme cheese” spiked and why so many cooks were looking for substitutes.

He resumed production in September 2023 from a rented creamery in Modesto, California, working alongside his son Adam. Franklin’s Teleme now retails for around $29.99 per pound and is sold at Berkeley Bowl, Rainbow Grocery, Nugget Markets, Market Hall Foods, and Cheese Board Collective in the Bay Area.

For online ordering, check Instacart (Berkeley Bowl), iGourmet, and Bi-Rite Market’s delivery options. Amazon’s Teleme listings currently show as unavailable, so skip those and go directly to the retailers above.

What Is Telemea Cheese?

Telemea is a different cheese that sometimes gets confused with California Teleme because of the similar name. Telemea is a Romanian brined cheese made from sheep’s milk or cow’s milk, with a salty, feta-like character.

If you are looking for a substitute for Romanian telemea, feta is actually a reasonable swap. For California Teleme, which is what most US recipes mean, feta is nothing like it.

9 Best Teleme Cheese Substitutes

1. Brie

Brie is the closest widely available Teleme substitute, and the one I reach for first. Both are soft, bloomy, mildly tangy, buttery cheeses with a clean dairy sweetness and a texture that melts effortlessly into warm dishes. Remove the rind for a smoother melt in cooked applications.

On a cheese board, Brie delivers exactly the same “soft, approachable, pairs with everything” role that Teleme does. For pizza, cut it into pieces and scatter across the dough before baking and it goes into the same creamy, puddle melt.

President Brie Foil Wrapped Wedge 7oz is one of the best-selling Brie options on Amazon and is easy to find at most grocery stores. If you want a larger format for cooking, President Brie Plain 60% Wheel 2.2lb is the better value.

Best for: Cheese boards, pizza, polenta topping, baked dishes, anywhere Teleme’s soft creamy character is the point

2. Stracchino (Crescenza)

Stracchino, also sold as Crescenza, is the single closest match to Teleme in terms of flavor and texture. California Teleme was specifically modeled after this Northern Italian cheese, and the two are so similar that cheesemaker Paul Bertolli described Franklin’s Teleme as appearing to be “directly modeled after Stracchino.”

The flavor is mild, fresh, and slightly tangy with a clean lactic quality. The texture is very soft and spreadable, even more so than Brie. If you can find it at a specialty Italian deli or cheese shop, use it at a 1:1 ratio for any Teleme application.

Bellwether Farms Crescenza from Sonoma County is the most recommended US version and is occasionally available at Whole Foods and specialty cheese retailers.

Best for: Polenta, pizza, pasta enrichment, spreading, any dish where Teleme is the hero

3. Taleggio

Taleggio is a washed-rind Italian cheese from Lombardy with a soft, creamy interior and a stronger, funkier flavor than Teleme. Cooks who work with both cheeses frequently use Taleggio as a stand-in since the melt behavior and body are very similar.

It is slightly more assertive than Teleme, so if you are cooking for people who find strong cheese off-putting, use a little less. In pasta bakes, polenta, and pizza it melts into the same creamy, flowing pools that Teleme is known for.

Best for: Polenta, pasta bakes, pizza, risotto, dishes where the cheese melts into the recipe

4. Havarti

Havarti is a Danish semi-soft cheese with a mild, creamy, buttery flavor and a high-moisture texture that makes it one of the smoothest melters in any grocery store. It does not have Teleme’s tangy quality, but for sandwiches and grilled cheese it is practically impossible to beat.

I keep Havarti in regular rotation as my go-to mild melting cheese. It goes smooth and creamy without any stringiness or oil separation, which is exactly what Teleme does in a grilled cheese.

Havarti Cheese holds the top spot in its Amazon category and ships reliably. It is the easiest everyday swap for Teleme in sandwiches and hot dishes.

Best for: Grilled cheese, sandwiches, quesadillas, melted over vegetables, any hot melting application

5. Young Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack is Teleme’s closest California cousin. Both originated in Northern California, both are mild and creamy, and both melt exceptionally well. The main difference is that Monterey Jack is slightly firmer and lower in moisture, so it melts faster and can go stringy if you push the heat too high.

Use it at a 1:1 ratio and watch the temperature. For pizza and polenta it delivers that familiar mild, creamy California cheese flavor that makes Teleme so beloved in Bay Area cooking.

Tillamook Monterey Jack 8oz is a clean, reliable block with no shortcuts. It is widely available at grocery stores and on Amazon.

Best for: Pizza, polenta, sandwiches, melted dishes, any California-style recipe

6. Fontina

Fontina is an Italian Alpine semi-soft cheese with a mild, nutty, slightly earthy flavor and one of the best melt properties of any cheese on this list. It goes completely smooth in pasta sauces and baked dishes without breaking or separating.

The flavor is more complex and nuttier than Teleme, but in cooked applications where the cheese plays a supporting role, most people cannot tell the difference. For a fondue or rich pasta sauce where you want Teleme’s creaminess without the tang, Fontina is outstanding.

Best for: Pasta bakes, fondue, gratins, pizza, any dish where a smooth creamy melt is the priority

7. Camembert

Camembert is the bolder sibling of Brie, with the same soft, bloomy-rind format but a more earthy, mushroomy flavor. For a cheese board or baked dish where you want more depth than Teleme usually brings, Camembert is worth trying.

Baked Camembert in particular does something similar to what Teleme does over polenta: it goes completely liquid and gooey in the center while the rind holds its shape. That is a genuinely fun dinner party dish.

For more on when Camembert makes sense and what to do when it is not available, the substitute for Camembert cheese guide covers the territory in full.

Best for: Cheese boards, baked dishes, boards with fruit and honey, anywhere you want more earthiness than Teleme

8. Fresh Goat Cheese

Fresh goat cheese has a soft, spreadable texture and a tangy, lightly lemony flavor that covers some of the same ground as Teleme. The goat flavor is more pronounced than anything you get from Teleme, but in salads, on cheese boards, and melted into pasta it delivers a similar freshness.

For pizza in particular, fresh goat cheese scattered over a white pizza before baking produces a result very close to the Teleme pizza that Bay Area restaurants made famous.

Montchevre French Goat Cheese Log 10oz is a soft, creamy log with a mild tangy flavor that is one of the best fresh goat cheese options on Amazon.

Best for: Pizza, salads, cheese boards, spreading, pasta enrichment

9. Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is not a close flavor match for Teleme but it covers the creamy, spreadable dimension when that is all you need. If Teleme is in a recipe as a spreadable base or a creaminess-adding ingredient, cream cheese works at a 1:1 ratio.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice to bring back some of the tang. For pizza and polenta it is too dense and sweet to properly sub, so limit this one to dips, spreads, and enriched sauces.

Philadelphia Cream Cheese 8oz is always in stock and is the most neutral option when you just need body and creaminess in a dish.

Best for: Dips, spreads, pasta enrichment, applications where Teleme is a supporting player

What Doesn’t Work as a Teleme Substitute

Feta and Halloumi show up at the top of most Teleme substitute lists and both are wrong. Feta is a salty, crumbly, brined Greek cheese with a completely different flavor and texture.

Halloumi is a semi-hard Cypriot cheese that does not melt at all when heated. Neither one comes close to Teleme’s soft, mild, creamy character.

If you are specifically looking for a substitute for Romanian telemea, which is a brined sheep’s milk cheese, then feta is a reasonable call. For California Teleme, which is what most recipes mean, these two are not the right choice. My Kefalotyri cheese substitutes guide covers the Greek hard cheese family that actually includes feta’s relatives.

Where to Buy Teleme Cheese in the US

Franklin’s Teleme is back and worth seeking out. In the Bay Area, look for it at Berkeley Bowl, Rainbow Grocery, Nugget Markets, Market Hall Foods, and Cheese Board Collective.

Online, Instacart via Berkeley Bowl is the most reliable way to order it outside the Bay Area. iGourmet and Bi-Rite Market also ship it. Amazon listings for Peluso Teleme currently show as unavailable, so do not rely on those.

Building a Cheese Board Around Teleme

Teleme is one of the best anchor cheeses for a California-inspired board. Pair it with stone fruit like ripe peaches or nectarines, a drizzle of good honey, some marcona almonds, and a few slices of crusty sourdough. That combination captures everything that makes the Northern California food culture so special.

The igourmet Cheese Lover’s Sampler Gift Box is a nine-cheese assortment that includes Camembert and Gruyère alongside international selections. If you want to explore the soft, creamy cheese family that Teleme belongs to, this box is a great starting point.

How to Store Teleme and Its Substitutes

Teleme, Brie, and any soft fresh cheese need to breathe and stay moist. Plastic wrap traps ammonia and dries the paste out from the inside.

Formaticum cheese storage bags are what professional cheesemongers use for exactly this reason. The breathable French paper keeps soft cheeses at the right humidity without plastic’s off-flavor problem. Take any of these cheeses out 30 minutes before serving so the full flavor and texture opens up.

The ChefSofi charcuterie board set includes four steel knives and four ceramic bowls, which is everything you need to serve Teleme or Brie alongside its classic accompaniments.

Frequently Asked Questions