Provolone vs. Mozzarella: How to Use Provolone and Mozzarella

Mozzarella is a soft Italian cheese that originated in Southern Italy. Mozzarella cheese is made using a cheese-making technique known as pasta filata. Cheesemakers heat milk with a whey starter, then add rennet to create curds. The curds are placed in fresh water and heated, then stirred until the curds become elastic and form long strings. Next, cheesemakers stretch and knead the curds, forming them into round mozzarella balls.

Traditional Italian mozzarella is made using buffalo milk from water buffalo (also known as mozzarella di bufala or buffalo mozzarella). Mozzarella can also be made with cow's milk. Mozzarella is not aged, and because of its high water content, it is best consumed fresh at room temperature.

You can cut and serve fresh mozzarella with a Caprese salad. Mozzarella melts easily, and its mild, milky flavor is a great addition to many baked dishes, like lasagna and chicken parmesan. The stretchiness and pull of mozzarella make it the ideal pizza cheese.

Provolone is a semi-hard cheese from Southern Italy. It is an aged cheese made from cow’s milk, and the aging process is at least two months. Provolone has a complex, sharp taste with buttery and nutty flavors. As it ages, the flavor becomes more pronounced—provolone piccante is aged for up to two years and has a sharper taste than provolone dolce, which is aged up to four months.

Provolone is a stretched-curd cheese belonging to the pasta filata family of cheeses. Provolone is made by first allowing warm cow's milk to curdle, a process that breaks the curds into small pieces and separates them from the whey. Cheesemakers then submerge the curds in a bath of hot water until they float to the top. They then remove the curds from the water, mix them together, and knead them until they develop a stretchy, stringy texture. The cheese then soaks in a brine before being wrapped in a wax or plastic rind and left to age in a cellar.

You can serve provolone by itself or as part of a charcuterie board. Provolone is ubiquitous at the deli counter in the grocery store because of its popularity as a sandwich cheese. You can slice or grate provolone and add it to baked pasta dishes, like baked ziti. Provolone adds saltiness and an additional burst of tartness and richness to a dish.

Provolone and mozzarella are both Italian cheeses belonging to the pasta filata family, but there are the key differences between them:

• Cheese-making process: Provolone cheese is a cow's milk cheese that requires fresh calf's rennet for production. Mozzarella, on the other hand, is traditionally made by ripening buffalo milk, though cheesemakers can also use cow’s milk.
• Aging process: Provolone is aged for at least several months, so it’s slightly drier than mozzarella. Mozzarella is a fresh cheese that does not undergo an aging process. (Low-moisture mozzarella is slightly aged for a couple of weeks, so it lasts longer than fresh mozzarella.)
• Shelf life: Fresh mozzarella is typically packed in a brine solution to help extend its shelf life, but once opened, fresh mozzarella should be eaten within three to five days. Provolone, on the other hand, can last two to three weeks in the refrigerator.
• Flavor: Provolone has a much more complex flavor profile and sharper taste than mozzarella. Even provolone dolce, which is sweeter and milder, has a tangier flavor than mozzarella.
• Uses: Since provolone is a semi-hard cheese, and mozzarella is a semi-soft cheese, the two kinds of cheese have different uses. Mozzarella is much more easily melted than provolone, making it an obvious choice for pizza and creamy pasta sauces. Provolone is best on sandwiches and served on a meat and cheese board.

Become a better chef with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Alice Waters, Gabriela Cámara, Niki Nakayama, Chef Thomas Keller, Gordon Ramsay, Yotam Ottolenghi, Dominique Ansel, and more.