Do you ever find yourself wondering if queso fresco is healthy? You’re not alone!
Queso fresco is a very important type of cheese in Mexican food, but many people may feel that it’s not healthy. Maybe they’ve heard that they should limit their dairy intake or that cheese is too high and saturated fat.
The truth is that queso fresco, like many other types of cheese, has plenty of health benefits to offer; while, at the same time you want to consider some unique features of queso fresco like food safety and sodium content when making your decision.
But like all Mexican ingredients, queso fresco can absolutely fit in a healthy diet and today I will show you how.
In today’s post we will cover the health benefits of queso fresco, as well as what to keep in mind and how to incorporate queso fresco into your healthy diet. Let’s get started!
Key Takeaway: Queso fresco is an easy way to add protein to your favorite Mexican meals, and it also provides nutrients like potassium and calcium. While you may want to be cautious of sodium, saturated fat content, and food safety concerns, you can still include queso fresco in your healthy diet.
Queso Fresco Nutrition Facts
Before we can talk about the nutrition benefits of queso fresco, let’s take a second to look at the nutrients in this cheese.
100 g of queso fresco provides (1):
| Calories | 299 kcal |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Fat | 24 g |
| Carbs | 3 g |
| Calcium | 566 mg |
| Potassium | 129 mg |
| Sodium | 751 mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 1.6 mcg (67% daily needs) |
Queso Fresco Nutrition Benefits
Queso Fresco has many benefits and can be a part of a healthy diet. Here are some of the nutritional benefits.
Protein
Queso fresco is a good and convenient source of protein. One ounce of queso fresco provides about 8 g of protein.
Queso fresco is a very easy way to add protein to any dish since it is usually served as a garnish, so it can help you quickly add more protein to all of your favorite meals.
Protein is an important component of meals because it helps control your blood sugar and helps you stay full (2).
Calcium
Dairy products like queso fresco are great sources of calcium. In addition to being important for bone health, calcium also helps support your heart health (3)!
Higher intake of calcium was associated with lower risk of high blood pressure, as well as lower risk of stroke, according to the National Institutes of Health.
The recommended daily serving size of calcium for women is about 1000 mg per day (4). This means just 1 ounce of fresco can provide about 20% of your daily calcium needs!
Potassium
Did you know dairy products are a good source of potassium? It’s true! Every 100 g of queso fresco provides about 126 mg of potassium, or 6% of your daily needs (5).
Potassium is an important electrolyte that humans need daily. If you have high blood pressure, potassium can be especially beneficial, because potassium can help lower blood pressure (6).
Nutrition drawbacks
While queso fresco has a lot of health benefits, you may want to keep the following things in mind when eating it:
Sodium
Queso fresco can be high in sodium. While some sodium intake is necessary, too much sodium on a regular basis can increase blood pressure and put you at higher risk of heart disease.
Queso fresco has a delicious salty flavor, but that means that it can be high in sodium so be sure to stick to a 1 ounce serving size and pair with plenty of fresh vegetables and water.
Food safety
There have been several listeria outbreaks linked to queso fresco in the news in the past few years. Soft cheeses like queso fresco do carry a higher risk for foodborne illness, compared to harder cheeses like cotija.
Most queso fresco is safe to eat, however, keep an eye out for any food recalls in the news and be sure to only eat queso fresco that has been made with pasteurized milk. To lower your risk of foodborne illness, do not consume queso fresco made from raw milk.
Saturated fat
One potential downside of queso fresco is that cheese can be high in saturated fat.
Saturated fat is associated with higher risk of heart disease. However a moderate amount can be included in your overall healthy diet.
It is worth noting that not all of the fats in queso fresco are saturated fats. In fact, some of the fats in queso fresco are heart-healthy unsaturated fats. For every 100 g of queso fresco, you get about 13 g of saturated fats, and 7 g of unsaturated fats.
How to add queso fresco to your healthy plate
Queso Fresco is a great source of protein and is very convenient to add to any meal. I love to recommend queso fresco as a way to quickly add protein without increasing meal prep time to my clients.
Here are some of my favorite meals to add queso fresco to for an extra protein boost:
Here are some ways you can use queso fresco to make convenient, balanced meals:
- Serve slices of queso fresco with avocado and tortillas for five minute tacos.
- Serve strips of queso fresco with roasted poblano as an easy vegetarian filling for tamales and enchiladas.
- Crumble queso fresco on top of beans for even more protein
Conclusion
As a Latina dietitian, I love to share how our favorite Mexican and Latin American foods are healthy and can contribute to a nutritious diet. Queso fresco is no exception.
This fresh Mexican cheese adds a lot of flavor to any Mexican meal very quickly. It’s also a great source of protein and calcium!
You may have been told to cut out cheese for your health. But rest assured there is room for queso fresco in your overall healthy diet!
I help my fellow Latinas learn about nutrition while embracing their favorite foods. If you’re ready to take on nutrition while celebrating your food culture, you need a copy of my free one week Mexican meal plan. Get your copy when you sign up below.