We Tried 22 Tubs of Cottage Cheese — And the “Decadent” Winner Is the One We’ll Stock in Our Fridge Forever

Ali Domrongchai
Ali DomrongchaiAssociate Editor, Groceries
Ali Domrongchai, a Southern-raised, Brooklyn-based food writer, grew up around her family's Thai restaurant that sparked her initial love for food. (Fun fact: her grandparents briefly ran a Thai grocery store in the 70s). In this space, her curiosity on the role that food plays…read more
published Jan 27, 2025
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shot of cottage cheese containers on stacked on each other
Credit: Photo: Alex Lepe; Food Styling: Thomas Hoerup

Cottage cheese is a staple in our fridges (and many of our recipes). Whether eaten straight from the tub with a spoon or as a high-protein substitute for ricotta in a lasagna, there are seemingly endless ways to make the most out of cottage cheese these days.

With an uptick in cottage cheese sales across the nation, and no sign of it slowing anytime soon, we’re (finally) digging our spoons into the many cottage cheese tubs sold in stores to find out which ones are the best. To find the creamiest, tastiest ones, we wrangled a few friends of The Kitchn to spend an afternoon tasting a whopping 22 different cottage cheeses! (They’re very good friends.)

Quick Overview

The Best Cottage Cheeses at-a-Glance

We divided the tower of tubs into two categories — conventional (or 4% milkfat) and low-fat — because that’s what you’ll find lining your grocery store shelves these days. According to Patty, our food editor, the best cottage cheese for cooking is full-fat varieties (with small curds!) “because you have less chance of running into thickeners that might affect a recipe.” Low fat also works, although she does not recommend fat-free cottage cheese. 

Credit: Ali Domrongchai

We focused on the most popular brands, including a variety of name- and store-brand cottage cheeses based on availability and price. We also requested input from our editorial team to round out the list of 22 competitors. The brands ranged in price from $3 all the way up to $9, though most were around $4 at the time of this tasting.

We spent the afternoon tasting, and in the end, the winners in their each respective category won for their distinct salty flavor and cream-like texture. 

Credit: Ali Domrongchai

Best Cottage Cheese: Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Cottage Cheese

After sampling a dozen or so cottage cheeses, it’s easy to run out of ways to describe them. But not Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Cottage Cheese. It had everything we look for in a cottage cheese: “creamy,” “lightly salted,” “a bit tangy,” and “tasty.” Good Culture’s smaller curds (about the same size as a nerd) also “made it better for casual eating,” noted Ali, our associate editor, groceries.

This cottage cheese contains just milk, cream, sea salt, and live cultures (probiotics) and was the clear winner among our group of tasters. (Several other editors at The Kitchn swear by it, too.) One taster loved it so much they specifically asked for the name of the brand after the test was complete.  It even converted a cottage-cheese skeptic.

It’s one of the only cottage cheese brands that has added probiotics, which may have contributed even more tanginess, and was the clear winner. 

What’s So Great

  • Nice and creamy
  • “A bit tangy”
  • Small curds

Good to Know

  • Contains added probiotics 
  • Made with organic milk

Buy: Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Cottage Cheese $6.99 for 16 ounces at Instacart

Credit: Ali Domrongchai

Runner-up: Daisy Cottage Cheese

Just a few notches below the top spot, a good portion of our testers thoroughly enjoyed the Daisy Cottage Cheese (one taster even ranked it as her top pick!) — even though it couldn’t have been any more different than our winner. It has “noticeably larger curds” (like the size of a popcorn kernel) than any of the other cottage cheese in the group, Ali pointed out, and a distinct (but very welcomed) “creamy sweetness.” Great contender for cottage cheese ice cream?!

It also is $2 cheaper than Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Cottage Cheese and contains 8 more ounces (value pick in addition to being our runner-up!).

What’s So Great

  • Lightly sweet
  • Budget buy!

Good to Know

  • Large curds

Buy: Daisy Cottage Cheese, $4.99 for 24 ounces at Instacart

Honorable Mention: 365 Whole Foods Market Organic Cottage Cheese

Ali described the 365 Whole Foods Market Organic Cottage Cheese in one word: “decadent.” Tasters agreed, this cottage cheese was rich. It’s made with organic whole milk and cream and has medium-size curds (sandwiched between Good Culture and Daisy) that one taster called “easy and enjoyable to eat.”

So how come this cottage cheese didn’t land a higher spot? Well, there was stiff competition among the near-dozen contenders, and this one was a bit on the bland side. Tasters also wanted more “creamy notes.” That being said, it’s still a fantastic option.

What’s So Great

  • “Decadent”

Good to Know

  • Made with organic milk
  • Not as tangy as others

Buy: 365 Whole Foods Market Organic Cottage Cheese, $3.99 for 16 ounces at Whole Foods

Credit: Ali Domrongchai

Best Low-Fat Cottage Cheese: Organic Valley Lowfat Cottage Cheese

The main difference between full-fat and low-fat cottage cheese is, well, the percentage of fat. The majority of the full-fat cottage cheeses hovered around 4% fat whereas the low-fat options were around 1% to 2% fat. (Low-fat cottage cheese is made by removing fat during a process of spinning the milk until fat particles separate). The Organic Valley Lowfat Cottage Cheese contains 2% fat and contained medium-size curds that were incredibly rich and creamy. One taster thought we mixed up the categories (we did not!) and couldn’t believe this was lower in fat. 

Richness is one of those qualities that typically wanes when it comes to low-fat foods, but our group of testers found the Organic Valley Lowfat Cottage Cheese to still be incredibly flavorful and tasty. 

What’s So Great

  • Rich, despite being low fat

Good to Know

  • $$$ than most

Buy: Organic Valley Lowfat Cottage Cheese, $11.09 for 16 ounces at Instacart

Runner-up Low-Fat Cottage Cheese: Nancy’s Lowfat Cottage Cheese

Cottage cheese is a very mild type of cheese (similar to mozzarella and ricotta), so the nuances in texture and flavor are much more apparent when there are even slight ingredient variations. The Nancy’s Lowfat Cottage Cheese is made with added probiotics (like Good Culture), which one taster (who was unaware of this fact) immediately picked up on: It had a “sourdough-y, tangy flavor” that clearly stood out among the other tubs.

The curds were medium-size and full of tangy-salty-creamy flavor (despite being in the low-fat category). Its flavor alone earned high marks in our test, and the only reason it didn’t snag the top spot was because the Organic Valley Lowfat Cottage Cheese was just so decadent.

What’s So Great

  • Tangy, like sourdough
  • Oh-so creamy

Good to Know

  • Made with added probiotics 

Buy: Nancy’s Lowfat Cottage Cheese, $6.79 for 16 ounces at Instacart

Honorable Mention: Good Culture Organic Low-Fat Cottage Cheese

Once the brands were revealed, we were surprised to learn two cottage cheese brands containing added live cultures (probiotics) landed in the top spots. Analyzing the results now, we see that our runner-up, Nancy’s Lowfat Cottage Cheese, and now honorable mention, Good Culture Organic Low Fat Cottage Cheese, both earned their distinction because they managed to have a bit more tangy taste despite having lower fat (aka, “more tang” as one taster put it). 

This was yet again another case of great flavor, but its small curds were just lacking in that creamy quality that we found in higher-ranking cottage cheeses in this test.

What’s So Great

  • A delightful tang

Good to Know

  • Made with added probiotics 
  • $$$ than others

Buy: Good Culture Organic Low Fat Cottage Cheese, $8.39 for 16 ounces at Instacart

How We Tested Cottage Cheese Brands

We recruited my five cottage cheese lovers (and one skeptic) to randomly taste 22 different cottage cheese brands sold at grocery retailers today. Each brand was chilled in the fridge and served in small cups, alongside spoons and bread. Ali separated the cottage cheeses into two categories and randomly assigned them a letter — from A through K — to conceal the brands’ identities.  

Credit: Ali Domrongchai

Tasters were encouraged to sample the cottage cheeses in random order (to avoid giving any particular brand an advantage) before writing down their thoughts. They were also handed a notepad and encouraged to sample each brand in random order before marking down their notes, ratings (on a scale of 1 to 5), and rankings. We also had plenty of water for much-needed palate cleansing between tastings. 

Did your favorite cottage cheese brand make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.