I Tried 6 Popular Cottage Cheese Brands & the Best Was Luscious and Tangy

Creamy Greek yogurt may be the reigning queen of the dairy aisle, but another healthy dairy food is vying for the crown. Cottage cheese has recently attracted a new crop of fans for its tangy, rich flavor, gut-healthy fermented probiotics, and impressive nutritional benefits. Many half-cup servings of low-fat cottage cheese offer 13 grams of protein, plus calcium, vitamin D, and potassium.

If you're still not bought in on cottage cheese, consider that #cottagecheese has over 600,000 posts on Instagram and tens of thousands more on TikTok. That's thousands of cottage cheese lovers sharing videos of their favorite recipes, hacks, and tips to enjoy more of this healthy dairy product.

As consumers' appetite for cottage cheese has grown, so have their options at the grocery store. From legacy dairy brands like Hood and Daisy to some fresher faces, the average supermarket stocks numerous cottage cheese options. But which is best? I sampled six of the most common cottage cheese brands to asses their flavor, texture, and quality.

Here's how these six brands ranked in descending order from my least favorite to the overall best.

Friendship Cottage Cheese

Friendship doesn't specify the specific active cultures, if any, used to culture this cottage cheese. It simply lists "enzymes" and "cultured skim milk" on the ingredient list. This was the highest protein cheese in my test at 15 grams per serving.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

The look: Friendship cottage cheese is the driest and thickest of any product I tested here. It has a fairly uniform texture made of small, round curds.

The taste: I found the Friendship cottage cheese pretty bland and thin-tasting. The texture was mushy and similar to ricotta.

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Daisy Cottage Cheese

Daisy, a brand probably best known for its sour cream, also makes 2% and 4%-milk fat cottage cheese. It's made with just three ingredients: cultured skim milk, cream, and salt.

The look: This cheese is on the looser side, bordering on liquidy. The small cubic curds are evenly shaped like tiny perfect die.

The taste: The Daisy cottage cheese is mild (some might say bland). The more watery texture gives it a sort of washed-out taste and feel.

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Breakstone's Cottage Cheese

Breakstone's bold red packaging may make this the most easily recognizable cottage cheese brand at grocery store. Breakstone's makes cheeses for those who love large curds as well as small.

The look: The Breakstone's cup had a thin layer of separated liquid on top. This brand required more mixing than the other cheeses I sampled, but nothing too serious. The medium-sized curds are soft, airy, and varied in size and shape.

The taste: This is a nice fresh-tasting cottage cheese that's softer and more liquidy than others. The varied curds give it a satisfying texture, and it has a stronger, more twangy flavor and creaminess.

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Hood Cottage Cheese

Hood offers a robust lineup of cottage cheeses, including a sweet version blended with fresh pineapple, and another with chives. Its plain low-fat cheese has a longer ingredient list than others in this test, including whey protein concentrate and a few stabilizers, including xanthan gum and guar gum.

The look: This cottage cheese is bright white and has medium-sized curds that aren't uniformly shaped.

The taste: Hood's cottage cheese has a nice tangy flavor. I appreciate the larger curds in the mix and the texture is bouncy and fluffy.

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Good Culture Simply Cottage Cheese

Good Culture is a somewhat newer brand to the dairy aisle focused entirely on cottage cheese, including flavored and single-serving cups. Good Culture names the specific live and active cultures included in its cottage cheese (in this case, Lactococcus ssp., Lactobacillus ssp., if you're curious). This product is also made without gums and stabilizers.

The look: This cottage cheese is uniform and fluffy with a crumbly texture in the middle between the wetter cheeses (like Daisy) and drier ones (like Friendship). The curds are on the smaller side, but not as small as Daisy.

The taste: Good Culture cheese has a great tangy flavor that's bordering on sharp. I prefer larger, more toothsome curds, but if you're a fan of small curd cottage cheese that's thicker and slightly dryer, you can't go wrong with Good Culture.

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Cabot Cottage Cheese

Cabot cottage cheese was my favorite of the bunch for its light, fresh flavor and satisfying texture. It's the lowest in protein of any cheese in this test, but the versatile taste and texture make it a winner.

The look: Cabot's cottage cheese has an uneven texture marked by large and small globule-like curds of various shapes. It's on the thicker side, but not dry, and has some nice structure to it for spooning like yogurt or for  dolloping like ricotta.

The taste: This cheese was the most flavorful in the bunch. It has a luscious layer of thicker, fattier cream on top, and the curds are chewy, soft, and tangy. This great-tasting cottage cheese would be a delicious base for a breakfast bowl, but it's also flavorful enough to include in desserts.