Bothwell Cheese Tacos: Which Cheese to Use and How to Melt It

For tacos, reach for Bothwell’s Jalapeño Monterey Jack when you want creamy heat, Red Hot Chili Pepper Monterey Jack when you want more fire, and Medium Cheddar when you want a stretchier, milder melt. Grate it fine, add it to hot fillings at the end, and keep the heat moderate. That is the short version. The rest of this guide covers what each cheese does, how to pair it with fillings, how to cook with it at home, and where to find it in Canada.

We are a Winnipeg restaurant, and Bothwell is the cheese we source from our own province. We cook with it every day, so this is written from a working kitchen.

TL;DR

• Bothwell’s Jalapeño Monterey Jack and Red Hot Chili Pepper Monterey Jack are the natural picks for tacos, because they bring heat and a creamy melt.
• Medium Cheddar is the choice for a stretchier, milder result, and it pairs well with chicken, beans and chipotle.
• Younger, higher-moisture cheeses melt better, so grate finely and add the cheese to hot (not scorching) fillings.
• Bothwell is made in New Bothwell, Manitoba, and some larger formats are sold at Costco Canada.
• If you would rather not cook, our menu is built around Manitoba ingredients, including Bothwell cheese.

Table of Contents

• Where Bothwell cheese comes from
• Which Bothwell cheese works best in tacos
• How to melt it without oil or rubber
• What to put with Bothwell cheese
• Making tacos with Bothwell cheese at home
• Quesadilla or taco: where the cheese works hardest
• Where to buy Bothwell cheese in Canada
• Can you get Oaxaca cheese in Canada?
• Our perspective: why we cook with Bothwell
• Eat Manitoba cheese tacos without the cooking
• FAQ
• Sources

Where Bothwell cheese comes from

Bothwell cheese is a Manitoba product. The company has made cheese in New Bothwell, Manitoba, since 1936, using 100% pure Canadian milk, and its factory cheese shop sits at 61 Main St N in the village. If you are driving out of Winnipeg and want to see where it starts, that shop is a short trip south.

The milk behind it is local too. Bothwell’s own FAQ says its supply is managed by Dairy Farmers of Manitoba and arrives fresh, within minutes of the plant. For a Manitoba restaurant that cares about short supply chains, that matters. It is a big part of why we use Bothwell, alongside Manitoba flour for our house-pressed tortillas and poultry from Granny’s Chicken.

So when someone searches for Bothwell cheese tacos, there are really two questions folded together. One is practical: which Bothwell cheese works in a taco, and how do I cook with it? The other is about place: where do I find it, and can I eat it somewhere that already does it well? We answer both below.

Which Bothwell cheese works best in tacos

Tacos are not a cheese-forward dish in the way a quesadilla is. The cheese is a supporting player: it adds salt, fat, creaminess and sometimes heat to a filling of meat, beans or vegetables. That shapes the choice. You want a cheese that melts evenly, tastes clearly of itself, and does not drown the filling.

Here is how the Bothwell options we would consider line up for tacos.

If you only buy one, make it the Jalapeño Monterey Jack. It does a lot of the seasoning work for you, and Bothwell itself pairs it with beans, corn and salsa in a quesadilla recipe, which is close to taco territory.

Heat level: choosing between the two Jacks

The two pepper Jacks are not interchangeable. Jalapeño is the one for a table that includes kids, or anyone who likes warmth rather than burn. Red Hot Chili Pepper is the one for people who ask for extra hot sauce. If you are cooking for a mixed group, put out both in separate bowls and let people add their own. That is also how a taco bar works best: the fillings stay the same, and each person sets their own heat.

Cheddar for people who want a classic

Plenty of Canadians grew up on a taco night built around grated cheddar, and nothing is wrong with that. Younger cheddars melt better than aged ones. Bothwell’s guidance is that younger Marble, Medium and Old Cheddar generally give more elasticity, and Medium Cheddar sits comfortably in its list of cheeses for a gooey melt. For tacos, Medium is the safe default.

How to melt it without oil or rubber

The two common failures are a greasy pool and a stiff, chewy sheet. Both come from the same cause: too much heat, too fast, or the wrong cheese for the job.

Start with the cheese. Bothwell’s melting advice says that cheese with higher moisture and added cream, such as Jalapeño Monterey Jack, gives a creamier melt. That is one reason the pepper Jack is such a good taco cheese. Its general melting article also recommends younger, higher-moisture cheeses, naming Medium Cheddar, Gouda and Mozzarella, for a gooey result.

Then the technique, which is plain kitchen practice:

1. Grate it yourself. A fine grate melts faster and more evenly than slices or chunks, so it needs less time on the heat.
2. Bring it to room temperature. Cheese straight from the fridge takes longer to melt, and longer on heat is how it turns oily.
3. Add it last. Take the filling off the burner, or turn the heat low, and fold in the cheese. Residual heat is enough for a pan of shredded chicken or beans.
4. Use moderate heat for assembled tacos. If you are melting cheese inside a shell or tortilla, a medium oven or a medium pan beats a hot one.
5. Do not walk away. The window between melted and greasy is short.

If you want the cheese to bind the taco together, put it down first, directly on the warm tortilla, then add the filling on top. The heat from the meat finishes the job.

What to put with Bothwell cheese

The best pairings come from fillings that already have a lot going on: spice, smoke, acidity. Cheese then rounds them off.

Bothwell’s own recipes are a useful guide. Its quesadilla recipe combines pinto beans, corn and salsa with red bell pepper, chili powder, onion powder and Jack cheese. Its chimichanga recipe uses grated Medium Cheddar with chicken, chipotle, chilli powder, cumin, pinto beans, rice and cilantro. Both point the same way: beans, corn, smoky chilies and cilantro all suit these cheeses.

Translated into tacos, that gives you a few combinations worth trying:

• Chicken, chipotle and Medium Cheddar. Smoky, savoury and easy to like. Add cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
• Black or pinto beans, corn and Jalapeño Monterey Jack. A vegetarian taco with real depth. Salsa on top brings acidity.
• Slow-cooked pork and Jalapeño Monterey Jack. Rich meat and creamy cheese, cut with pickled onion or a sharp salsa.
• Shredded beef and Red Hot Chili Pepper Monterey Jack. For heat lovers, balanced with a cool crema or avocado.
• Fish and a light hand. With a delicate fish such as Manitoba whitefish or pickerel, use very little cheese, or none, so the fish still speaks.

A good salsa changes how all of these taste. We wrote about the role of house-made salsas in home cooking, and it is worth a read if your tacos taste flat even with plenty of cheese.

Making tacos with Bothwell cheese at home

There is no single Bothwell taco recipe, so here is how we would build one from the pieces above, borrowing the cooking logic from Bothwell’s published recipes.

A simple method

1. Cook the base. Sauté onion and red bell pepper with chili powder and a little onion powder for about five minutes. That is the same stage Bothwell’s quesadilla recipe uses before the beans, corn and salsa go in.
2. Add the filling. Stir in beans, corn and salsa, or shredded chicken or pork, and heat through.
3. Warm the tortillas. Corn or flour, dry in a pan until pliable. Our guide to choosing tortillas and ingredients covers the options.
4. Cheese first, then filling. Sprinkle grated Bothwell on the warm tortilla, spoon the filling over it, and let it soften for a minute.
5. Finish with toppings. Cilantro, lime, onion, salsa. See our notes on taco assembly and toppings for order and balance.

If you want a baked, melty version

When you want the cheese fully melted and the tortilla crisp, the oven does it best. Bothwell’s quesadilla pockets are assembled and then baked at 400°F for about 10 minutes until the cheese melts and the tortillas crisp. The same approach works for folded or rolled tacos, sometimes called baked or crispy tacos. Watch the first batch and adjust to your oven.

If you want to go fully crispy

Bothwell’s chicken chimichanga recipe mixes the cooked chicken, rice and bean filling with grated Medium Cheddar and cilantro before sealing the tortillas, then fries them at 325°F for 2 minutes per side. That is a chimichanga, not a taco, but the filling idea carries over to a taco filling. If you would rather skip frying, bake them as above. Our own kitchen is deep-fryer-free, so we bake or griddle rather than fry.

Quesadilla or taco: where the cheese works hardest

If you find that you want more cheese than a taco comfortably holds, you may actually want a quesadilla. In a quesadilla the cheese is the structure: it glues the tortilla and filling together. In a taco it is a seasoning. Our comparison of cooking texture and assembly explains why pressing a tortilla changes everything, and why cheese behaves differently from taco toppings.

A useful rule: if you want crisp edges and a pull of molten cheese, make a quesadilla. If you want fresh toppings, a soft tortilla and a little melted richness, make a taco.

Where to buy Bothwell cheese in Canada

Bothwell sells through grocery stores and its own shop. The factory cheese shop is at 61 Main St N, New Bothwell. For larger formats, Costco Canada carries a few. Bothwell says its 720 g Jalapeño Monterey Jack sliced variety pack is exclusively available at Costco Canada, and a 450 g sliced variety pack holds Medium Cheddar, Red Hot Chili Pepper Monterey Jack and Mozzarella, all made with 100% Canadian milk. Its 1 kg Old Colour Cheddar is also sold exclusively at Costco, a sharp, old-flavour stirred-curd cheddar.

A practical note: slices are convenient for melts and quesadillas, but for tacos a block you can grate yourself gives the best result. Stock changes by store and region, so check your local store’s cheese section or its website before you go.

Can you get Oaxaca cheese in Canada?

People searching for taco cheese often wonder about Oaxaca, the stringy Mexican melting cheese. It is a fair question, and it tells you something about what you are after: a cheese that stretches and melts cleanly. Availability depends on where you live, and you are most likely to find it in Latin American grocers and some larger supermarkets, so ask at the deli counter.

If you cannot find it, you do not need to give up on the idea. Bothwell’s Mozzarella and young Smoked Gouda are the closest stretchy options in its range, based on the melt descriptions above, and a blend with Jalapeño Monterey Jack gives you both stretch and flavour. In our kitchen, we use a Manitoba cheese because it is local and fresh, and because it suits what we cook.

Our perspective: why we cook with Bothwell

We opened in Winnipeg in November 2012 with a simple idea: fresh, local, and doing the right thing. Cheese is a good test of that idea, because it is easy to buy something generic and hard to buy something with a story you can stand behind.

Bothwell is made an hour or so from our kitchens, with Canadian milk, by a company that has been at it since 1936. That is the kind of supplier we want. We pair it with 100% Manitoba flour in our house-pressed tortillas, pork from local farms and chicken from Granny’s Chicken, and our produce comes mainly through Peak of the Market.

What we have learned is that good cheese does not need much help. Our proteins, carnitas, barbacoa and adobo chicken, are slow-cooked and hand-pulled in-house, and the cheese is there to finish them, not to hide them. We keep our kitchen deep-fryer-free, and we build menus that work for gluten-free, vegan, keto and paleo diners, with staff trained to handle dietary needs and cross-contamination concerns.

Our advice for home cooks is the same as what we do at work: pick one good cheese, grate it, add it late, and let the filling lead. And if you would rather have someone else do the pressing, come see us.

Austin

Eat Manitoba cheese tacos without the cooking

If you want tacos made with local ingredients and from-scratch cooking, our menu covers tacos, quesadillas, burritos, bowls and salads, all customizable, with gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, keto and paleo options. You can dine in, take out or order online.

Planning a team lunch or an event? Our catering options include Burrito Express, Burrito Express Deluxe and the Bueno Burrito Bar. If you are weighing a bowl against a burrito for a high-protein lunch, our guide to how bowls and burritos compare is a good place to start, and for lighter lunches see our seasonal Manitoba bowls.

FAQ

Which Bothwell cheese is best for tacos?

Jalapeño Monterey Jack is the easiest all-round choice, because it is creamy and carries built-in heat. Medium Cheddar suits a classic, stretchier taco, and Red Hot Chili Pepper Monterey Jack is for people who want real fire. Grate whichever you pick and add it to warm fillings.

Where does Bothwell cheese come from?

It is made in New Bothwell, Manitoba, where the company has been producing cheese since 1936. Its factory cheese shop is at 61 Main St N. It uses Canadian milk, and Bothwell says the supply is managed through Dairy Farmers of Manitoba.

Does Costco sell Bothwell cheese in Canada?

Yes, for certain formats. Bothwell lists a 720 g Jalapeño Monterey Jack sliced variety pack as exclusive to Costco Canada, and its 1 kg Old Colour Cheddar is also sold exclusively there. Local stock and prices can differ, so check with your own warehouse.

How do I stop cheese turning oily on tacos?

Choose a younger, higher-moisture cheese, grate it finely and let it come to room temperature. Add it to a warm filling or melt it at moderate heat rather than high. Bothwell notes that cheese with added cream, such as Jalapeño Monterey Jack, gives a creamier melt.

Can I order tacos made with Bothwell cheese in Winnipeg?

We source our cheese from Bothwell and cook from scratch every day. Browse tacos and the rest of the menu, or order online for takeout.

Sources

• Our Way of Life – Bothwell Cheese
• Questions we’re asked…frequently – Bothwell Cheese
• Break Your Flavour Block – Bothwell Cheese
• Quick Quesadilla Pockets – Bothwell Cheese
• Chicken Chimichangas – Bothwell Cheese
• Ask An Expert: Best Melt for Grilled Cheese – Bothwell Cheese
• The Art of Mindful Cheese Consumption – Bothwell Cheese
• 10 Ways to Use Bothwell Slices This Summer – Bothwell Cheese
• Old Colour Cheddar 1 kg – Bothwell Cheese

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