Gruyere
Typical portion
- Any typical portion
Gruyere is Low FODMAP, an aged hard cheese whose long ageing leaves almost no fermentable carbohydrate behind.
- The long ageing process ferments away nearly all of the lactose, so Gruyere carries negligible carbohydrate and stays low at any typical portion.
Grate it over eggs or melt it into a gratin for a rich, savory hit without the FODMAP worry, just keep an eye on any garlic-heavy sauces it gets paired with.
Why gruyere is rated low
Gruyere is low FODMAP, and the honest framing is that the rating is estimated from what this cheese is made of rather than measured at a weighed serving. It is a firm, long ripened alpine cheese, low in carbohydrate and with no FODMAP subgroup recorded against it, which is why it sits where it does. The portion data gives one rung: Any typical portion reads LOW, and that covers the grating over an omelette, the layer melted on top of a gratin and the slice eaten plain. Where Gruyere gets into trouble is company. It is a cheese that almost always arrives inside something, and the something is usually built on milk, bread or a garlic rubbed pot.
What changes your risk
- Serving size The rating attaches to Any typical portion. Gruyere melts and browns so well that it is easy to pile on, and while a normal helping is low, a helping far beyond that is outside what this data covers.
- The sauce it is melted into A classic cheese sauce is milk thickened, and ordinary milk is not low. The cheese being low does not make the sauce low, so a milk based bechamel needs its own thought, or a lactose free milk in its place.
- Fondue and gratin habits A fondue pot is traditionally rubbed with garlic and a gratin dish often gets the same treatment. Fructans are water soluble and do not dissolve into oil, so garlic infused oil gives the flavour without them, but a whole garlic clove rubbed on the dish does not work that way.
- The bread underneath Gruyere is at its best on toast, in a croque monsieur or under an onion soup lid. Ordinary wheat bread and onion are the FODMAP load in those dishes, not the cheese, so swapping the base matters more than adjusting the cheese.
- Melting changes nothing Grilling, baking or melting Gruyere does not raise or lower its FODMAP content. Heat does not break FODMAPs down, and nothing leaves the cheese when it browns.
What else works
Cheddar, swiss and parmesan are all low FODMAP and stand in for Gruyere in most of its jobs, from grating over eggs to melting into a bake. The lookalikes to be careful with are the soft and fresh cheeses that sit near it on a cheese counter: ricotta, cottage cheese and cream cheese are not low, and neither is ordinary milk, cream or ice cream. For the sauce side of a Gruyere dish, lactose free milk is the useful swap: it is ordinary dairy with the lactase enzyme added rather than a dairy free product, so it is not suitable for a milk allergy. Gluten free bread makes the croque monsieur or the soup lid work without the wheat.
How to keep it low
Buy Gruyere as a block and grate it yourself rather than buying a shredded bag or a pre mixed fondue blend, since blends can carry seasoning you would otherwise have to read for. Wrapped in paper and kept in the fridge it holds well, and grating from cold gives the neatest control over how much goes on. When you are making a gratin, build the sauce on lactose free milk and flavour the dish with garlic infused oil rather than rubbing the dish with a clove. Melt it over potato, polenta or gluten free bread rather than a wheat baguette, and when a restaurant menu says French onion soup, the onion is the part to ask about, not the cheese.
Common questions
how much gruyere can you eat on a low fodmap diet
Gruyere has one rung in the portion data and it reads low at Any typical portion. There is no rating for an amount well past a normal serving, so that territory is untested rather than approved.
is gruyere ok during the elimination phase
Yes. It is rated low and can stay in the elimination phase, although the dish it arrives in, such as a milk based sauce or a garlic rubbed gratin, may need changing.
what about a cheese sauce made with gruyere
The cheese is low, but a sauce built on ordinary milk is not. Making the sauce with lactose free milk keeps the dish in low FODMAP territory, and lactose free milk is ordinary dairy with lactase added rather than a dairy free product.
what is a good swap for gruyere
Cheddar, swiss and parmesan are all low FODMAP and melt or grate well enough to cover most of what Gruyere is used for.
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Informational only, not medical advice. Individual tolerance varies. Talk to a healthcare professional or a dietitian for personal guidance.
Gruyere is an estimated rating: it is inferred from the food's ingredients and composition and cross-checked, not measured directly in the papers below. The low, moderate and high cutoffs are still those of Varney et al. (2017).
References
- Fructan and free fructose content of common Australian vegetables and fruit. Muir et al. (2007), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 55(16):6619-6627.
- Measurement of short-chain carbohydrates in common Australian vegetables and fruits by HPLC. Muir et al. (2009), J. Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57(2):554-565.
- Quantification of fructans, galacto-oligosaccharides and other short-chain carbohydrates in processed grains and cereals. Biesiekierski et al. (2011), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 24(2):154-176.
- Dietary sorbitol and mannitol: food content and distinct absorption patterns. Yao et al. (2014), J. Human Nutrition and Dietetics 27(Suppl 2):263-275.
- FODMAPs: food composition, defining cutoff values and international application. Varney et al. (2017), J. Gastroenterology and Hepatology 32(Suppl 1):53-61. Supplies the low, moderate and high cutoffs used on this page.
Last reviewed September 22, 2026.