Cheddar at Mercadona: block, slices or dice

Mercadona’s own-brand Hacendado cheddar block is a West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, made in England from UK milk. The cheese aisle also has sliced and diced cheddar under the same brand, and each pack suits a different job in the kitchen.

The block

The block is a 300 g piece with a short ingredient list: cow’s milk, salt, lactic cultures and coagulant. The milk is pasteurised and the label states the milk origin as the United Kingdom. Once opened, the pack says to eat it within 7 days, so the 300 g size suits a household that gets through cheese quickly. Wrap the cut end tightly and keep it in the coldest part of the fridge, since the label asks for 2 to 5 °C. Grate it for cheese on toast or a white sauce, or cut it into thick slices for a ploughman’s plate with pickles and bread.

The slices

Hacendado cheddar slices come in a 200 g pack. The ingredients are pasteurised cow’s milk, salt, vegetable coagulant, lactic cultures and the colour E160b(ii), an annatto extract that gives many cheddars their orange shade. The product listing does not say where the cheese is made. Per kilo the slices cost almost the same as the block, so the choice comes down to convenience. They suit toasties, burgers and packed lunches, where a ready slice saves time and mess.

The dice

The Hacendado cheddar and cured cheese dice are a 125 g mix. Along with cheddar, the label lists mature mixed-milk and sheep’s milk cheeses, and it states that some of them are made from raw milk. Milk origin is given as the EU. Put them on a cheese board, into a salad or out with drinks. Anyone who has been told to avoid raw-milk cheese, for example during pregnancy, should pick the block instead, since it is made with pasteurised milk.

Melting mix for sauce

The Hacendado melting mix is grated processed cheese in a 200 g bag. Its ingredients include cheese, milk protein, butter, cream, modified starch and emulsifying salts. Emulsifying salts help processed cheese melt smoothly, which makes the mix easy to use for a quick sauce or a pasta bake topping. Cheddar is not named on the label, so for a sauce that tastes of cheddar, stir in a handful of the grated block at the end.

Price per kilo

At October 2026 prices on the peninsula and Balearics, the block, the slices and the dice all sit between about €9 and €10 per kilo, while the processed melting mix costs a little more than half that.

Product	Pack	Price	Per kg
Cheddar block	300 g	€2.95	€9.83
Cheddar slices	200 g	€1.95	€9.75
Cheddar and cured cheese dice	125 g	€1.15	€9.20
Melting mix	200 g	€1.10	€5.50

In the Canary Islands the block costs €2.85 and the other three packs cost the same as on the peninsula.

Bread for cheese on toast

Hacendado thick-sliced white bread is an 820 g loaf at €1.70 on the peninsula. The product data has no price for it in the Balearics or the Canary Islands. Toast one side, turn the slices over, cover them with grated block cheddar and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce if you have some, then grill until the cheese bubbles and browns at the edges.