A cheese-stuffed sweet potato trend led me to butterkäse, my new crush

You know sometimes when you meet someone through a friend, and it suddenly occurs to you that you like the friend of your friend way better than your original pal? That’s kind of how it felt when an experiment in which I planned to sample an odd TikTok food trend wound up introducing me to my new culinary crush.

That’s the meet-cute story of how I fell for butterkäse, a soft, rich cheese whose German name hints at its flavor and texture profile — a cross between butter and cheese. The journey began with several videos on TikTok in which a teacher named Courtney Cook introduces her followers to her quirky lunches. These meals, which she dubs “teacher lunches,” are sometimes British-influenced, ploughman’s-style plates, but the unhinged dish she began making in November drew millions of views and became a certified sensation.

Cook takes a baked sweet potato, rips off the top and stuffs it with one or more slabs of cheese. In the first video in which she made the unlikely concoction, the choice of butterkäse seemed to be a whim. She originally had intended to use cheddar, but when she unwrapped the block, it was covered with mold.

Enter butterkäse, a product new to her (and to many of her viewers, including me). “Ooh!” she says, her eyes widening after tasting it. Since then, she has made the dish a number of times, with different types of sweet potato, varying amounts of butterkäse and, sometimes, other odd additions, such as a spoonful of deli macaroni salad.

The videos’ popularity surged, prompting a mini run on butterkäse. Ammerländer, a German brand offering one of the most widely available options in U.S. supermarkets, said in an email that, in the past few weeks, the cheese had sold out around the country in stores including Publix, Albertsons and Grocery Outlet. The sudden enthusiasm for the lesser-known variety has prompted interest from other markets, Ammerländer’s brand manager said.

When I tried the dish, I felt let down, given Cook’s bubbly enthusiasm and its viral spread. It was … fine.

If you can imagine biting into a whole roasted sweet potato stuffed with cheese, well, that’s exactly what you’re in for. There’s no alchemy of flavors that elevates it. It is exactly the sum of its parts. I asked colleagues to confirm my judgment, which I thought might be clouded by my long-standing indifference to sweet potatoes. (I usually find them to be cloying.) They agreed.

But, speaking of the dish’s parts? Guten tag, my new friend! When I nibbled on the butterkäse on its own, without the burrito-like potato swaddle, I was smitten right away. It was creamy and mild, with just a bit of salt and tang.

Bruce Workman has been a fan since back when TikTok was just the sound a clock makes. He is a Wisconsin master cheesemaker who is certified in the art of making butterkäse, along with other styles. “It’s just a mild, buttery note. It’s not overpowering, and it goes with everything,” he says.

Butterkäse’s defining features are the result of a high butterfat content and bacterial cultures typically used in producing butter, he says. Workman seems skeptical of its newfound TikTok fame as a filling for sweet potatoes. “I like my cheese to be cheese.”

He recommends eating butterkäse on its own or as part of a cheese board, and says it really shines in a grilled cheese sandwich, where its melty texture can take center stage. He used to make grilled cheese sandwiches at local festivals using a blend of butterkäse and Muenster. “I tell you, I would do 450 of them in seven hours,” he says. “We would sell them out the door.”

And while we’re getting to know our new cheesy friend, let’s talk for a minute about pronunciation, shall we? Workman uses the American pronunciation that sounds like “butter-case,” but some people stick with the German “booter-kay-zuh.”

After locating the cheese — it isn’t available at all grocery stores, even a cheese-forward Whole Foods in my neighborhood — I tried a few applications of my own. Butterkäse was luscious and gooey in mac and cheese, offering the meltiness of Velveeta without the plasticky vibe. My husband added some to quesadillas with Monterey Jack for a chewy, soft counterpoint to the crisp tortillas.

Workman isn’t surprised at my experience. He has seen such conversions before, including when he would give out samples and do demonstrations at stores. “We got people hooked,” he says.