The short answer
You need three things before cheese appears in your kitchen. The first is a house that has a workshop, the second is the Cheese Press and the third is milk to feed into it. The press only becomes available after Milo's business has been restored, which is the step many players skip.
- Workshop house. Bought from Beaver, who also handles restaurant construction.
- Milo's business. Restore it to unlock the Cheese Press.
- Cheese Press. Buy it and place it inside your workshop.
- Milk. Put milk into the press to craft cheese.
Two independent guides from late October 2026 agree on this order. Neither lists exact prices, so plan to save some coins before starting. The sections below explain each step in more detail.
Why cheese is harder than other ingredients
Most early ingredients come from simple sources. The market sells catfish, carrots and tomatoes in recent footage, and fishing and farming cover much of the rest. Cheese does not fit that pattern, because it is a processed ingredient made with a machine.
That is why searches for cheese keep appearing in the first week of Early Access. Players see a recipe that needs it and then find no cheese at the usual stalls. The answer is a small production chain rather than a single shop. Our ingredient locations guide covers the simpler sources first.
Step 1: buy a house with a workshop
Start with Beaver, the character who manages building work in town. Beaver sells housing, and you need one of the homes that comes with a workshop. The Cheese Press must be placed in that workshop, so a house without one will not do.
The exact cost of the workshop house has not been published by the guides we checked. Treat it as a mid-term goal rather than a day-one purchase. Run a few profitable shifts first so the move does not drain the money you need for groceries. Our money guide lists the safest early earners.
Step 2: restore Milo's business
Milo runs a business in town that starts out in need of restoration. Completing that restoration is what unlocks the Cheese Press for purchase. Both guides stress that this step cannot be skipped, even if you already own the right house.
The requirements for the restoration itself are not listed in detail. Follow the quest prompts and talk to Milo to see what is needed in your build. Early Access patches can change quest steps, so the prompts in your game are the best guide. If the press is missing from the shop, the restoration is almost always the reason.
Step 3: buy and place the Cheese Press
Once Milo's business is open again, the Cheese Press can be bought there. Take it home and place it inside the workshop of your new house. Placing it anywhere else is not described as an option in current guides.
Leave some open space around the press so you can reach it quickly between shifts. A workshop crowded with other machines makes daily production slower. The same layout ideas that help in the kitchen apply here. See the restaurant layout guide for spacing tips.
Step 4: turn milk into cheese
With the press in place, put milk into it to craft cheese. That is the whole production step once the setup is complete. Make a batch before opening the restaurant so your cheese dishes are ready to cook.
Where milk comes from is the open question. The guides we checked say to use milk but do not name a vendor, an animal or a quest that supplies it. Check the market stalls and Milo's business in your own game, and watch the shop lists after each patch. This page will add the milk source with a date once it is confirmed.
Cheese as a gift for Milo
Cheese is useful outside the kitchen as well. A gift guide published after launch lists cheese among Milo's favorite gifts. Giving him some is a simple way to raise your relationship with him.
That makes the first batch worth splitting. Keep most of it for the menu and set one piece aside for Milo. Friendship rewards in Early Access have not been fully documented, so treat this as a bonus rather than a requirement. Gift preferences can also change in later updates.
Eggplant: the other ingredient players ask about
Eggplant is often searched together with cheese, and it is much easier to get. Buy Eggplant Seeds from the market trader and plant them in your garden. Haze's fertilizer is reported to help the crop grow better.
The basic garden loop is the same as for carrots. Plant the seeds, water the beds and harvest when the crop is ready. Our farming guide explains tools, watering and the common shovel mix-up. Growing eggplant while you save for the workshop house is an efficient way to spend the waiting time.
Which dishes need cheese
The guides we checked do not publish a full list of cheese recipes. The October 1, 2026 patch updated recipes and added a new one, so older lists may already be outdated. Your in-game cookbook is the reliable source for what each dish needs.
When a recipe shows cheese, plan the press run the day before. Cheese dishes are worth adding once production is stable, not while you still depend on a single batch. The recipes guide explains how to read the cookbook and build a menu.
Cheese in co-op sessions
Cheese production is a good job to hand to one player in online co-op. PAO PAO supports up to four players, and one person can manage the workshop while others cook. Agree on how much cheese the menu needs so nobody wastes milk.
How house and machine unlocks are shared between players has not been documented. Check the Cheese Press unlock in the host's session before planning a cheese menu together. The co-op guide covers hosting and the player limit.
What is not confirmed yet
Several cheese details still lack verified answers. There is no confirmed price for the workshop house or the Cheese Press. The milk source, the cheese output per batch and the processing time have not been published either.
This page will not fill those gaps with guesses. When official notes or consistent footage confirm a detail, it will be added with its source and date. Until then, follow the four steps above and the prompts in your current build.
Sources and further reading
- PAO PAO Ingredient Guide - Cheese and Eggplant — 9to5gaming
- PAO PAO: How to Get Cheese and Eggplant — Guidexon
- PAO PAO — Steam store
- PAO PAO - Favorite Cakes, Dishes & Gifts Guide — Indie Guide Pro
- Pao Pao Second Patch is Live!
- PAO PAO — Steam community news