Brie is a soft, creamy French cheese named after the historic Brie region east of Paris, distinguished by its edible white, downy rind formed by a surface mould culture (Penicillium candidum) that ripens the cheese from the outside in. This ripening process gives mature Brie its characteristic soft, almost runny interior beneath a firmer, earthy-flavoured rind — a texture and flavour profile quite different from hard or brined cheeses. Often served on cheese boards, baked whole until molten, or paired with fruit and crackers, Brie has become one of the most internationally recognised soft cheeses. Nutritionally, it offers meaningful protein and B12 in a rich, indulgent format, with virtually no carbohydrate. Adjust the slider for your serving size.
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Serving size:30g
100Calories (kcal)
0.1Carbs (g)
6.2Protein (g)
0.0Fibre (g)
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📊 Full nutrition facts — per 100g
Nutrient
Amount
% Daily value
Level
Calories
334 kcal
17%
Carbohydrates
0.5g
<1%
Protein
20.8g
42%
Total fat
27.7g
—
Saturated fat
17.4g
—
GI
0 — Zero
—
Calcium
184mg
18%
Vitamin B12
1.6µg
67%
Phosphorus
188mg
19%
Vitamin B2
0.5mg
33%
Sodium
629mg
—
Zinc
2.4mg
20%
Based on Australian NRV. Source: FSANZ Australian Food Composition Database.
📈 Glycaemic index (GI)
0
Glycaemic IndexLow GIBrie has a GI of approximately 0 — effectively zero. As a soft, minimally fermented cheese with a low carbohydrate content, it has no meaningful effect on blood glucose, though its texture and fat content are shaped more by its distinctive rind-ripening process than by extended aging.
0 · Low (<55)Medium (56–69)High (70+) · 100
💊 Key vitamins & minerals
Vitamin B12
1.6µg/100g
67% RDI per 100g
Riboflavin B2
0.5mg
33% RDI per 100g
GI
0 — Zero
Negligible carbohydrate
Protein
20.8g/100g
6.2g per 30g serve
Phosphorus
188mg
19% RDI per 100g
Calcium
184mg
18% RDI per 100g
✅ Health benefits
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Very high vitamin B12 — 67% of daily needs per 100g
Brie provides 1.6µg of B12 per 100g, among the higher concentrations of common cheeses, delivering two-thirds of the daily requirement. B12 is essential for nerve function and red blood cell production, and is concentrated almost exclusively in animal foods — making rich dairy foods like Brie a genuinely useful contribution for people with modest meat intake.
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Strong protein content in a soft, indulgent format
At 20.8g of protein per 100g, Brie is considerably more protein-dense than many soft cheeses despite its rich, creamy reputation — a 30g serve provides over 6g of complete protein, comparable to a similar portion of firmer aged cheeses.
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Zero glycaemic impact — negligible carbohydrate content
Brie contains just 0.5g of carbohydrate per 100g, giving it an effective GI of zero. For people following low-carbohydrate or ketogenic eating patterns, Brie provides protein, fat and flavour without any meaningful blood glucose consequence.
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Riboflavin and phosphorus for energy metabolism and bone health
Brie provides 0.5mg of riboflavin (33% RDI) alongside 188mg of phosphorus (19% RDI) per 100g — riboflavin supports cellular energy production pathways, while phosphorus works alongside calcium for bone mineralisation, rounding out Brie's nutritional profile beyond its protein and B12 content.
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⚠️ Who should limit or avoid
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Pregnancy — soft ripened cheeses carry a listeria risk
Brie and other soft, mould-ripened cheeses are specifically flagged in Australian pregnancy dietary guidelines due to listeria risk, which can be serious for pregnant women. This applies even to pasteurised versions, as the surface-ripening process and higher moisture content of soft cheeses create conditions more favourable to listeria growth than hard or processed cheeses. Cooking Brie thoroughly until steaming hot reduces this risk if consumption is desired during pregnancy — always check current health advice.
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High saturated fat — 17.4g per 100g
A 30g serve of Brie provides approximately 5.2g of saturated fat — around a quarter of the daily recommended limit. Brie is often eaten in generous quantities on a cheese board or spread thickly, so actual saturated fat intake from a sitting can exceed the per-30g figure considerably.
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Moderate sodium content
At 629mg of sodium per 100g, Brie sits in the moderate-to-high range for cheese. A 30g serve provides approximately 189mg — worth factoring in for people managing sodium intake, particularly when Brie is part of a larger cheese board spread.
✅ For most healthy adults (outside pregnancy), Brie enjoyed in typical cheese-board portions offers meaningful B12, protein and riboflavin with zero glycaemic impact. Its main considerations are saturated fat and sodium in generous servings, and the specific listeria caution during pregnancy that applies to soft ripened cheeses generally.
⚕️ General nutritional information only — not a substitute for professional medical or dietary advice.
🛒 How to select & buy brie
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Reading ripeness — Brie changes considerably as it matures
Underripe Brie: firm, chalky centre, milder flavour — some people prefer this firmer texture. Perfectly ripe Brie: soft, slightly bulging rind, creamy, almost flowing interior when cut, balanced earthy-buttery flavour — generally considered the ideal eating point. Overripe Brie: strong ammonia smell, runny or separated texture, bitter or overly pungent flavour — past its best. Gently press the centre through the rind; it should yield slightly without feeling hard or completely liquid.
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French AOP Brie vs Brie-style cheese
Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun both hold French Appellation d'Origine Protégée (AOP) status, restricting the name to cheese made in the historic Brie region using traditional methods. Brie-style cheese made elsewhere, including Australia, is far more common on supermarket shelves and uses the same general soft, bloomy-rind technique without the specific regional restriction — quality varies more widely, so trying a few brands helps identify a preferred style.
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Serving and pairing
Bring Brie to room temperature for 30-60 minutes before serving — this significantly improves both texture and flavour compared to serving it cold from the fridge. Classic pairings include fresh or dried fruit (grapes, figs, apple), crusty bread or crackers, and a drizzle of honey. Baked Brie (warmed whole until soft and slightly molten, sometimes topped with nuts or honey) is a popular entertaining option that showcases the cheese's melting qualities.
🇦🇺 Australian tip: Brie is widely available across Australian supermarkets, both as Australian-made Brie-style cheese (Coles, Woolworths own-brand, and specialty producers including King Island Dairy in Tasmania, well regarded for its rich, cool-climate Brie) and imported French AOP Brie, typically priced from $6-14 per 200g wheel depending on origin and size. Tasmania's cool climate and high-quality dairy farming have made it a centre for excellent Australian soft cheese production, with King Island Dairy's Brie and double or triple cream varieties earning strong reputations among Australian cheese enthusiasts as comparable in quality to imported options at a more accessible price point.
🧊 Storage tips & shelf life
Refrigerator
1–2 weeks (unopened), 3–5 days once cut
Wrap in wax or baking paper, then loosely in plastic
Store Brie wrapped in wax paper or baking paper (allows it to breathe, important for a living rind culture) then loosely in plastic wrap or a container, in the least cold part of the fridge. Once cut, the exposed surface dries out and the ripening accelerates, so consume within 3-5 days for best quality. A strong ammonia smell developing beyond the normal earthy rind aroma signals it has passed its best.
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Freezer
Up to 6 months (texture changes significantly)
Best reserved for cooked applications after thawing
Brie can be frozen, but the delicate soft texture that defines good Brie is significantly compromised after thawing, becoming grainy and losing its characteristic creaminess — freezing is best reserved for Brie that will be used in cooked applications (baked dishes, sauces) rather than eaten fresh on a cheese board.
Brie takes its name from the Brie region, a historic agricultural area east of Paris in what is now the Île-de-France and Grand Est regions of France, where cheese-making in this soft, bloomy-rind style has been documented since at least the early medieval period. Charlemagne is said, according to a widely repeated but not fully verified historical anecdote, to have tasted and enjoyed Brie at a monastery during the 8th century CE, and by the medieval period the cheese had become well established enough to be exchanged as a form of tax and tribute payment in the region. Brie gained particular fame at the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15, where it was reportedly served to European diplomats and declared, in a popular though possibly apocryphal account, the 'king of cheeses' — a title that has stuck in popular cheese culture ever since, cementing Brie's reputation as one of France's most prestigious culinary exports.
Brie's international popularity expanded significantly through the 20th century as French cuisine and cheese culture gained global prestige, with Brie becoming one of the most recognised and widely available soft cheeses internationally, including in Australia, where both imported French Brie and locally produced Brie-style cheese are now supermarket staples rather than specialty items. Australian cheese production, particularly in Tasmania's cool, high-rainfall dairy regions, has developed genuine expertise in soft, bloomy-rind cheese-making since the mid-to-late 20th century, with producers like King Island Dairy building strong domestic and increasingly international reputations for quality Brie and related soft cheese styles that hold their own against imported French product, reflecting the broader growth and increasing sophistication of Australia's specialty and artisan cheese industry over the past several decades.
Brie is popularly called the 'king of cheeses' — a title said to date from the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15
According to a widely told (though not fully documented) story from cheese history, Brie was served at the Congress of Vienna, the major diplomatic gathering that redrew the map of Europe after the Napoleonic Wars, and was declared by the assembled diplomats to be the finest cheese among those sampled — earning it the enduring nickname 'king of cheeses.' While the precise historical accuracy of this specific anecdote is debated by food historians, it reflects the genuine prestige Brie had already achieved in French and broader European culinary culture by the early 19th century, a reputation that has persisted into contemporary global cheese culture.
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Brie's distinctive white rind is a living mould culture, deliberately introduced and carefully controlled during production
The soft, white, slightly fuzzy rind that defines Brie's appearance is formed by Penicillium candidum (sometimes Penicillium camemberti), a mould culture deliberately sprayed onto the cheese's surface during production. This mould doesn't just form a protective coating — it actively ripens the cheese from the outside in, breaking down proteins and fats near the surface and gradually softening the texture inward over the maturation period, which is why a young Brie has a firmer, chalkier centre while a fully ripe Brie is soft and creamy throughout.
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Charlemagne's reported enjoyment of Brie in the 8th century is one of the oldest specific cheese endorsements in European history
A frequently repeated historical anecdote holds that the Frankish emperor Charlemagne, during a stay at a monastery in the Brie region around 774 CE, tasted the local cheese and was so impressed he requested it be sent to him regularly at his court — making this one of the oldest specific recorded royal endorsements of a named cheese style in European history, if the account is accurate. Regardless of the story's precise historical reliability, it points to Brie-style cheese-making having deep roots in the region stretching back well over a thousand years, considerably predating the cheese's more documented rise to international fame in the modern era.
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Only two specific Brie varieties — Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun — hold official French AOP protected status
Despite Brie's global fame as a cheese style, French law formally protects only two specific named varieties under Appellation d'Origine Protégée status: Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun, both tied to specific production areas and traditional methods within the historic Brie region. The vast majority of Brie consumed worldwide, including most Brie sold in Australia, is Brie-style cheese made elsewhere using the same general technique but without any claim to these specific protected regional names — similar to how 'Gouda' and 'feta' function more as descriptive style names internationally than strictly protected geographic terms outside their specific European legal contexts.
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Tasmania's cool, high-rainfall climate has made it a genuine centre of excellence for Australian-made soft cheese, rivalling imported European product
Tasmania's dairy farming conditions — cooler temperatures and more reliable rainfall than much of mainland Australia — have proven particularly well suited to producing the rich, high-fat milk that soft, bloomy-rind cheeses like Brie benefit from. Producers such as King Island Dairy have leveraged these conditions to build genuine expertise and strong reputations in Brie and related soft cheese production since the mid-to-late 20th century, with some Australian cheese industry commentators and competition judges rating premium Tasmanian Brie as comparable in quality to good imported French product, representing a significant maturation of Australia's specialty dairy industry over recent decades.