Crumbled Queso Fresco

One US cup of crumbled queso fresco weighs 122 grams (4.3 ounces). Going the other way, 100 grams is about 0.82 cups.

Also called queso fresco, queso fresco crumbled, Mexican fresh cheese, fresh Mexican crumbling cheese, queso fresco cheese.

Shredded, grated and crumbled cheese compared: cup weights side by side, the source behind each, and why they differ.

Crumbled queso fresco weighs 122 g per US cup (4.3 oz), a density of 0.516 g/mL. USDA's measurement is the anchor, and King Arthur's 57 g per half cup (114 g per cup) and Azteca's quarter cup at one ounce (113 g) sit within the 10% tolerance.

Queso fresco, "fresh cheese", is a soft, mild, slightly salty Mexican cow's-milk cheese, pressed but not aged. It crumbles rather than melts, which makes it the cheese scattered over tacos, enchiladas, beans, elote and salads. It is sold as rounds and blocks that are crumbled by hand, and sometimes pre-crumbled. USDA puts it at 51% water and 24% fat, moister than Cotija at 38% water and close to feta at 55%.

USDA SR Legacy "Cheese, fresh, queso fresco" (FDC 172223) lists 1 cup crumbled at 122 g. USDA's newer Foundation record for solid queso fresco (FDC 2647442) has no household portion but analyses the same cheese, 51.4% water and 23% fat. King Arthur's chart lists queso fresco at 1/2 cup = 2 oz = 57 g, 114 g per cup, 7% below USDA and within tolerance, so King Arthur's figure is supporting evidence here rather than a correction. Most queso fresco labels give the serving by weight only, 1 oz, because the cheese is sold in rounds; Azteca's crumbling cheese writes that ounce as a quarter cup, the one-ounce convention that US labels print on shredded and crumbled cheeses.

The physical check matches the other crumbled cheeses. Solid queso fresco is about as dense as water, so a cup at 0.516 g/mL is about half cheese and half air. That puts it where its texture says it should be: heavier than shredded cheddar (113 g), because its soft, moist crumbles settle into each other, and lighter than firmly packed feta (up to 150 g). Grated Cotija, drier but finer, weighs 120 g per cup.

Fill pressure moves the figure, as it does for feta and blue cheese. A loosely spooned cup of large crumbles sits near King Arthur's 114 g; a cup of small crumbles pressed down passes USDA's 122 g. Crumbling a cold round with your fingers gives irregular lumps; crumbling it with a fork gives finer pieces that pack tighter.

Practical guidance: a 10-oz round holds 283 g, about 2 1/3 cups crumbled; a 12-oz round 340 g, about 2 3/4 cups. For tacos, 2 tablespoons is about 15 g; for a tray of enchiladas, 1/2 cup is 61 g. When a recipe gives queso fresco in ounces, 4 oz crumbles to about 1 cup. Because queso fresco is a fresh cheese with a lot of water, it weeps if it sits crumbled, so crumble it just before using.

The shredded cheese comparison page shows queso fresco beside Cotija, feta, goat and blue cheese and the shredded cheeses.