The Best Store-Bought Cottage Cheese Is Packed Full Of Probiotics And Flavor

It seems like cottage cheese is the darling ingredient of the moment. Influencers, home cooks, and professional chefs have shared a surprisingly impressive number of dishes you can create with the dairy product which was lauded as a diet food in the 1970s. But, where it was once paired with pineapple and that's about it, today it's noted for being a creamy, protein-packed food that's useful in everything from homemade tortillas to chocolate mousse. With so many choices on the market, we were curious to know which brand tasted the best, not necessarily in recipes, but all on their own.  Out of 13 brands we taste tested, Good Culture Organic Whole Milk Classic Cottage Cheese came out on top.

Our resident cottage cheese ranker described the cottage cheese as, "Creamy, tangy, soft, and stupendous," noting how the active cultures gave the cheese a gentle tang. Although Good Culture is more expensive than many of the other brands we tried, the well-balanced flavor of this cottage cheese is worth the cost. Even better, the list of quality ingredients is short and easy to pronounce (translation: no artificial something-or-others live here). 

While many yogurts are known for containing beneficial probiotics, the same isn't always true for cottage cheese. Good Culture gets a gold star for including live and active cultures in its recipe. During production, the bacteria are added to milk where they produce lactic acid. This is what gives the cheese its tang and helps produce those signature curds.

Cottage cheese has clearly proven to be a wonder ingredient; useful for creating pancakes, breads, smoothies, desserts, and more. Even still, you don't have to incorporate it into anything for this dairy staple to be delicious, especially this brand. Fruit and cottage cheese is a classic pairing, and as cliché as cottage cheese with pineapple may be, it works for a reason. The tart, sweet fruit is the perfect foil to creamy, rich cottage cheese. Honestly, most fruit tastes great with cottage cheese, including kiwi, stone fruits, and berries. If you have a sweet tooth, you may enjoy it topped with honey, granola, nut butters, shredded coconut, jams, or brown sugar.

Cottage cheese also makes an excellent savory snack. It's plenty satisfying with a simple drizzle of olive oil or a sprinkle of black pepper. For lunch, try a cottage cheese bowl topped with sweet cherry tomatoes, leftover roasted vegetables, fresh herbs, toasted pine nuts, and lemon vinaigrette. For breakfast, add a poached egg, sliced avocado, and some chili crisp. For a mix of sweet and savory, try peppery arugula dressed, olive oil, lemon juice, toasted walnuts, pomegranate arils, and sliced ripe pears.