Caerphilly has a recipe similar to those for other crumbly cheeses - Cheshire, young Lancashire and Wensleydale. The young cheese was a firm favourite among miners as its shallow height and tough coat made it easy to eat with dirty hands down the mines whilst its salty, moist curd helped to replace the minerals lost during the hours spent labouring underground.

Caerphilly is made from unpasteurised cows' milk and usually matured between 8 and 14 days, although some mature variants may be kept for up to a year to develop a harder texture and stronger taste. Inside the pale ivory rind of the cheese, young Caerphilly has a fresh and pleasant taste alongside a moist yet supple texture. With maturity, the edges become creamy and the flavour becomes more rounded. It usually has a wheel-shape with ivory-white rind dusted with fine flour. As the cheese ages in a moist cellar, the white and gray moulds become thicker and more leathery.

There are few traditionally shaped Caerphilly cheeses made today, and only one producer in South Wales. Although South Caernarfon Creameries are now producing Caerphilly in North Wales most Caerphilly is made by the specialist crumbly cheese makers in Lancashire, Cheshire and Shropshire.