A Vacherin cheese is a cow's-milk (French vache, "cow") cheese, as a chevrotin is a goat's-milk cheese. Two main types of French or Swiss Vacherin cheeses exist.

One is a soft, rich cheese contained in a grayish-yellow blanched bark rind and called "Vacherin Mont d'Or." Made from cow's-milk in Switzerland, usually in villages of the Jura region (an origin that has been officially controlled since 1981), it typically contains 45 to 50 percent milk fat. It is marketed in a round wooden cheese-box. can be served warmed in its original packaging and eaten like a Fondue.

The other one, a firmer cheese, is called "Vacherin Fribourgeois". It is made in the Fribourg canton of Switzerland where Gruyère cheese originates and has a slightly acidic, resiny flavor, with a varying strength depending on the age and type. It is also a basic component lending character to fondues (depending on the recipe).

A vacherin is a French dessert: a meringue crust filled with crème Chantilly and fruit.

See also: List of cheeses, List of French cheeses