Cottage cheese, like many dairy products, is pretty regional. Personally, I love Crowley’s, which is a New York company whose cottage cheese you can find all over the East Coast and parts of the Midwest. Breakstone’s is good, too. But, I’m here in La La Land, and it’s just impossible to get fresh East Coast dairy way out West. You ever order a carton of milk from Pennsylvania? Didn’t think so. Suffice it to say, I know y’all will have some favorite brands we’re missing (and we encourage you to share them in the comments).
We invited Mythical editor Taylor Dolinak (a Pittsburgh native, woot!) to dip his spoon into some cottage cheese. For this taste test, we wanted cottage cheese that is creamy both in flavor and texture. We walked in biased towards big, tender, squeaky curds, but a lot of the cottage cheese we tried changed our minds about that. Some of the brands were on the soupy side, but if it had a good flavor, we really didn’t care much at all. More than anything, we want a tasty balance of tang and milkfat; don’t give us anything bland or chalky. This should feel like it came from a farm. Bonus points if the cottage cheese has multiple uses, not just one.Here’s what cracked our top seven:
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- Good Culture Organic Cottage Cheese 4% Milkfat
Good Culture makes a cottage cheese that’s intensely flavorful and complex. It’s tangy, it’s creamy, it’s salty, and, more than anything, it tastes fresh. “I’m having a good day now,” said Taylor. It’s a little on the wet side, but it quite honestly doesn’t matter. Normally, when I think of cottage cheese, I think of big, squeaky cheese curds, but Good Culture has me rethinking everything. A cottage cheese this good that’s available nationwide? Huge win.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Amazon
- Lucerne 4% Milk Fat, Small Curd
This one is really thick and creamy—like, it sticks to the spoon almost like peanut butter. Lucerne has the strongest cream flavor of the bunch. It tastes almost like a rich panna cotta. Panna cotta is a creamy dessert that pairs best with fruit, and this Lucerne cottage cheese is in the same vein. It’s heavy and decadent, so spread it on some toast with some jam or eat it with some berries. This is a little on the thick side, and it’s another one that’s not a traditional, curdy cottage cheese. But, damn, it’s flavorful and good.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart
- Clover Organic 4% Milkfat
This is a more classic cottage cheese, if that’s what you’re looking for. It’s got firm, squeaky curds and a gorgeous texture. It’s also nicely salted, so there’s no need to add too much on your own if you’re going the savory route. A little black pepper—cottage cheese’s best friend, if you ask me—will do the trick to spice things up.. There’s a buttermilk tang here that’s quite nice. The flavor is good, the curds are big, and the texture is the most cottage cheese-y of the bunch. Points point points. Clover is a regional brand out in Sonoma, California, so it’s not available everywhere, but keep an eye out for it when you’re on the West Coast.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart
- Friendly Farms 4% Milkfat Small Curd Cottage Cheese
“This is like mozzarella mixed with Mexican crema,” remarked staff writer Jordan Myrick, “Do I like cottage cheese now?” The piquancy of this one hangs in your mouth in a really pleasant way. Friendly Farms cottage cheese brings a noticeably enjoyable tang that’ll pair well with sweet fruit like pineapple, mango, melons, and berries. This is a morning cottage cheese, for sure. The texture here is a little bit too wet, though, so it doesn’t rank in the top three.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart
- Kroger 4% Milkfat Small Curd Cottage Cheese
This is really creamy and spreadable like cream cheese. I would love to put this on a warm, toasted bagel. Kroger’s got a good flavor, and a welcome balance of tang and cream. It’s just so damn thick—almost egregiously so—that it’s a little hard to imagine going to town on a big bowl of it. It’s almost like they tried to sell a cottage cheese spread. Still, it’s a damn good cottage cheese spread. Put it on some toasted bread, and indulge.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Kroger
Best of The Best
Best Creamy
Best Curds
Best Tangy
Best for a Bagel
Build Your Perfect Plant-Based Bagel with These Vegan Cream Cheeses
Cream cheese is one of the most perfect dairy products known to humanity, so it makes sense that vegans and the lactose intolerant want to get in on the delicious fun.
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