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The best halloumi you can buy
We searched across all the grocers to find the best squeaky cheese for your next BBQ
Deliciously salty, balanced out with a creamy, buttery flavour and a tangy finish - it’s no surprise us Brits love halloumi.
With the constant rise of brunch foods and barbecuing becoming increasingly popular in the UK, it’s easy to see why we’re the leading importers. A whopping three quarters of the squeaky cheese produced from Cyprus found its way to our plates last year. That’s an impressive 12,000 tonnes!
Whether beer battered or quinoa crusted, wrapped in bacon or stuffed in a toastie, halloumi is versatile and so much more than an accompaniment to your avocado and eggs. We’ve rounded up our favourite halloumi from the grocers and tasted 13 offerings so you don’t have to.
We looked for a halloumi that has a balanced yet strong salty flavour, a welcomed tang from the combination of cow, goat, and sheep’s milk, and a chewy yet creamy texture.
Overall Score: 87/100
The ideal winner, with its firm texture and satisfying chewy bite. We really liked its buttery and salty aroma and found the creamy taste to be perfectly balanced.
Overall Score: 81/100
Rich and buttery with a mild salty aroma. We liked the creamy and buttery flavour with its mild tang but found it a little too salty. Soft textured with a nice bite.
Overall Score: 80/100
There are buttery notes with a slightly salty and creamy aroma. We enjoyed the salty flavour and strong tangy quality from the sheep and goats’ milk. The texture is firm with some finding it a bit too rubbery.
Overall Score: 79/100
The creamy and buttery aroma is pleasing and it has a milky and salty tang. Our testers liked the buttery flavour but found it was lacking salt and a typical tangy quality. It's smooth in texture with a soft and spongy bite.
Overall Score: 77/100
A mild buttery and salty aroma but with a strong salty flavour complemented by the buttery, creamy quality. Some of us found it lacked an overall balance in flavour. It was a little too salty and lacked depth. It has a springy and firm yet soft texture.
Overall Score: 73/100
It's gentle in aroma with hints of cream and butter. A nice savoury flavour with a slight tang and balanced saltiness and creaminess but some found it a bit too mild in flavour. The texture is dry and rubbery.
Overall Score: 71/100
Fresh mint gives this halloumi a lovely zingy aroma, followed by a buttery yet salty scent. The cheese has a strong mint flavour but an overpowering saltiness, giving it an unbalanced flavour. It is firm, yet springy in texture.
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