The best provolone cheese is smooth and mild, but it isn’t bland. It’s fatty, slightly salty, buttery, and sometimes smoky. Provolone is perfect for melting on sandwiches like meatball subs and hot Italian hoagies, but it’s a great snacking cheese, too. Provolone is surprisingly versatile.
All that said, let’s face facts: Provolone is mostly used as a sandwich cheese. That’s why most of what you’ll find on this list are provolone cheese slices (fresh from the grocery store deli counter and prepackaged). When we sat down for our second taste test, we were determined to find a good block of provolone—and we did. This is huge, guys! This opens a lot of new provolone doors: Now you can add it to a charcuterie board, shred it over a frozen pizza to add that nutty sharpness and smoke that mozzarella just can’t muster. Here’s all the best provolone cheese from our in-office taste tests.
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- Violife 100% Vegan Smoked Provolone Slices
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I’m a big Violife guy. Their vegan cheese products do such a great job of recreating the real cheese experience. We’re big fans of Violife’s sliced cheddar cheese because it’s actually creamy like cheese, and, likewise, their slices of provolone cheese are salty, fatty, and smoky. And, unlike a lot of other vegan cheese, Violife products melt super well. This vegan provolone cheese would make an excellent vegan grilled cheese, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it would melt really well in some oat milk to make a great vegan mac and cheese, too. Whatever you do with this, you can’t go wrong. These are the best provolone cheese slices for plant-based folks, no doubt. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Happy Farms Non-Smoked Provolone Cheese
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Sometimes mozzarella and provolone taste like string cheese. That’s what’s going on with Happy Farms Non-Smoked Provolone Cheese from Aldi. This is salty and has that processed cheese quality to it, but you know what? Processed cheese rocks. American cheese is delicious and it barely tastes like cheese. This is a bit rubbery and unnatural, but I still dig it. Plus, Happy Farms provolone melts super well, just like a good low-moisture mozzarella. The taste is so simple and straightforward that it works, especially if smoked provolone isn’t your bag. You couldn’t call this the best provolone cheese, but I put it on this list because sometimes you just want something simple and nostalgic, and this cheese will scratch that itch. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Kroger Smoke Flavored Provolone
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I kept eating slices of this Kroger provolone cheese because it’s just so well balanced (and, you know, because I’m a total glutton). It’s got funk, smoke, salt, and fat in equal measure. That’s four different flavors and not a single one upstages the other. Instead, they all work together to provide a singularly delicious taste. I love it when food has good flavor alchemy, and Kroger’s smoke flavored provolone is a great example of good chemistry. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Boar’s Head 44% Lower Sodium Provolone
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I really like this low-sodium provolone because the reduced salt content allows you to taste the milky cheese flavor even more. This tastes like cheese you bought at the farmer’s market—grassy, creamy, and delicious—if cheese you bought at the farmer’s market came in delightful-to-eat, paper-thin slices. It also has a great tang and a sharp funk. There’s no real smokiness to speak of, but that’s just fine with me. I oversalt my food, but when you go easier on the sodium, you really can taste other flavors better. That’s what’s going on here. If you’re watching sodium but love cheese, these are the best provolone slices to toss in your shopping cart. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Tillamook Farmstyle Provolone
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Folks, Tillamook knows what’s up. Their butter, cheese, and ice cream is always a hit with our team of taste-testers. These provolone cheese slices have a ton of saturated fat (25% of your daily value per serving!) and a buttload of salt, too. Salt and fat contribute flavor, though, so I’m not hating. It’s also so darn smoky, almost like a smoked gouda. The cheese itself is uniquely delicious and the slices are thick as hell. Calling it “farmstyle” is good marketing, too. You’re thinking of a cow, just like I am. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Red Apple Smoked Provolone
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If smoked gouda is your typical cheese-counter purchase, I insist you give this block of smoked provolone a shot next time you need a cheese to accompany apples on a cheeseboard or something to shred onto a pizza. Red Apple Smoked Provolone is nice and soft and has the perfect amount of smoke. Some smoked provolone tastes bad—like, it was trapped inside a burning building. This is a genuine, complex woodsmoke flavor that permeates the cheese but doesn’t overpower its other great qualities. The cheese itself is pretty mild, but you can still taste its creaminess. —Gwynedd Stuart
- Primo Taglio Provolone Cheese
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Primo Taglio provolone cheese has an elusive smokiness and tang that you don’t really get with other provolone cheeses. The primary flavors are fat, smoke, and a buttermilk-like smack. There’s something almost acidic about this provolone’s bite. It’s also deeply fatty and sumptuous, and it straight-up made me drool like a cartoon character. It’s up there with Boar’s Head (our number one pick), so if your grocery store doesn’t carry that brand at the deli, keep your eyes peeled for Primo Taglio. (Note: We got this freshly sliced at the deli, not prepackaged.) —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Pavilions
- Boar’s Head Deli Picante Provolone
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Boar’s Head Picante Provolone is around $12 a pound and worth every penny. Its texture is thick and floppy, and it’s full of wonderful milk fat. The taste is deliciously funky and sharp—the bite you get on the finish smacks you in the mouth in the most wonderful way. This cheese makes me want a muffuletta so bad. Load me up with deli meats, olive oil, olive salad, and a sharp, fatty provolone cheese, and watch me go. This is the best provolone cheese to make deli-quality cold sandwiches at home, but it also melts incredibly well, too. Use it for grilled cheese or melt it over a crock of French onion soup. Sharp provolone just has more flavor, and while other sharp provolone cheeses might be a bit too funky, Boar’s Head knows exactly where the line is and doesn’t cross it. This is the best provolone cheese for a variety of reasons. —Danny Palumbo
Credit: Liv Averett / Pavilions
Best Vegan Provolone Cheese
Best Bargain
Best Grocery Store Brand
Best Lower Sodium Provolone Cheese
Best Smoked Provolone
Best VERY Smoked Provolone
Best Bite
Best of the Best
Other products we tried: Sargento, Applegate Organics, Lucerne, Follow Your Heart, BelGioso Sharp, Sargento Ultra Thin, Private Selection, Trader Joe’s.
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