What Is Boursin cheese and How Can I Use It?
Boursin cheese is easier to cook with than it looks. Here's how to choose, use, and store it, what to substitute, and 7 recipes to get you started.
Key Points
- Soft, spreadable French cheese pre-mixed with garlic and herbs; the original is Garlic & Fine Herbs.
- Spreads straight from the fridge onto crackers and bread with no work.
- A built-in flavor base: melt a puck into pasta, potatoes, or a pan sauce.
- Already salted and seasoned, so taste before adding more salt to a dish.
- Mimic it at home with cream cheese or goat cheese beaten with garlic and fresh herbs.
What is boursin cheese?
Boursin is a soft, spreadable French cheese flavored with garlic and herbs. It is a brand name that became a category: a creamy, fresh cow's-milk cheese, similar in style to a rich cream cheese, mixed with seasonings and sold as a little foil-wrapped puck.
The original and most popular version is Garlic & Fine Herbs, thick with garlic and fresh parsley and chives. Other flavors include shallot and chive, plus a cracked black pepper version.
Its texture is the appeal: soft enough to spread straight from the fridge, but rich and crumbly rather than gummy.
How to use it
Boursin's easiest use is as a spread, straight onto crackers or baguette, no work required. Set the whole puck on a board and let people dig in.
In cooking it works as an instant flavor base, because the garlic and herbs are already in it. Stir a puck into hot pasta or mashed potatoes and it melts into a quick, creamy, seasoned sauce.
It does the same job inside chicken, as in Chicken Boursin, where it stuffs the breast and bastes it from within as it bakes.
It also enriches gratins and casseroles. Melted into a Holiday Three-Onion & Cheese Casserole or swirled into a pan sauce for Silky Veal Chops, it adds richness and seasoning in one step.
Pairing and mistakes
Boursin loves anything that wants garlic and herbs: steak, chicken, mushrooms, roasted vegetables, eggs, and crusty bread. Because it is already seasoned, it works best where those flavors belong.
The common mistake is salting on top of it. Boursin already brings plenty of salt and garlic-herb flavor, so taste a dish after adding it before reaching for more seasoning.
The other is overheating it in a sauce. Like other fresh cheeses it can break and turn grainy at a hard boil, so melt it gently over low heat and stir until smooth.
Substitutes
The quickest homemade stand-in is cream cheese (or a soft goat cheese) beaten with minced garlic and chopped parsley and chives, plus a splash of cream to loosen it. That mimics both the texture and the seasoning.
Plain spreadable cheeses like Alouette or a herbed quark also fill in. If a recipe just needs the garlic-herb flavor in a melt, use plain cream cheese and add fresh garlic and herbs to match.
Buying and storing
Find Boursin in the refrigerated specialty-cheese case, sold in small foil-wrapped rounds in several flavors. The Garlic & Fine Herbs version is the all-purpose one if you are not sure which to get.
Keep it cold and tightly wrapped, and use it within about a week or two of opening, since it is a fresh cheese. It softens fast at room temperature, which is great for spreading but means you should not leave it out for long.
Freezing is not recommended, as thawing makes the soft paste grainy and watery.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (232g)Quick facts
Food group: Boursin cheese is a member of the Dairy and Egg Products US Department of Agriculture nutritional food group.
- In Chinese
- 波尔斯因干酪
- British (UK) term
- Boursin cheese
- en français
- Boursin
- en español
- queso boursin
How much does boursin cheese weigh?
| Amount | Weight |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | 232 grams |
| 1 tbsp | 14 grams |
| 1 tbsp, whipped | 10 grams |
| 1 ounce | 28 grams |
| 1 cubic inch | 16 grams |
| 1 package, small (3 oz) | 85 grams |
Related
Dairy and Egg Products
Recipes using boursin cheese
There are 7 recipes that contain this ingredient.
Pudding Cake
Layered pudding cake with a nutty oat crust, cream cheese layer, vanilla and chocolate pudding, and whipped cream topping. A no-bake icebox dessert.
Grilled Lobster with Warm Corn, Chanterelle & Bacon Salad
Grilled lobster basted in basil butter served with a warm chanterelle, corn, and bacon salad with frisee and sherry vinegar. A stunning summer seafood main course.
Chocolate Trifle
Chocolate trifle with Kahlua-soaked brownie crumbles, chocolate pudding, whipped topping, and crushed toffee bars layered in a trifle dish. A make-ahead showstopper.
Chicken Boursin
Chicken breasts rolled around creamy, herby Boursin cheese, coated in crispy breadcrumbs, and baked in melted butter. Only 6 ingredients and ready in 45 minutes.
Silky Veal Chops
Pan-braised veal chops smothered in a Boursin, Dijon mustard, and cream sauce with Swiss cheese, then broiled until bubbly and golden. A French-inspired dinner for two.
Holiday Three-Onion & Cheese Casserole
Decadent casserole layered with three types of onions & three cheeses. It is once a year treat. We all deserve it.
