Low-Fat Cottage Cheese

UPDATE COMING SOON - MORE PRODUCTS, PHOTOS, ETC!

Test Date: May 2010

Tester: Michele

Products for this test purchased at Fred Meyer , Albertsons, and Trader Joe's.

MICHELE'S OPINION: I absolutely love cottage cheese and so I was a bit afraid to do this test, because bad cottage cheese is so, so bad. These were not as terrible as I thought some of them might be, but Darigold still beats all the others very easily. I do understand why many people don't like cottage cheese - because probably the only kind they've tried is something mushy and chalky! I wouldn't like that either. To those people I say: try just one more time with Darigold brand and I bet that you'll change your mind.  Read on for more details on price, nutrition, and taste:

PRICE COMPARISON FOR 16OZ COTTAGE CHEESE (store first, then brand):
$1.99 Trader Joe's brand
$1.79 Albertson's brand
$1.79 Fred Meyer Darigold
$1.25 Fred Meyer brand

1. Fred Meyer Lowfat Cottage Cheese:  This cottage cheese has a bit of a chalky consistency. The curds are relatevely large in this product. This is the least sour of the products and has more of a taste of cream (like cream you'd put in your coffee) than the others.

2. Darigold Trim Lowfat Cottage Cheese: This product has no chalky taste and is completely smooth. It is a bit more sour than the Fred Meyer brand.

3. Trader Joe's Lowfat Cottage Cheese: This cottage cheese has relatively small curds, and almost no liquid. It tastes a bit like the plastic container that it comes in.

4. Albertsons Lowfat Cottage Cheese: This product is the thickest option of all four, liquid included. Like the Fred Meyer brand, it has a bit of a chalky consistency. However, the taste is similar to the Darigold product (slightly sour, fresh).

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: Trader Joe's and the Albertsons products are lower in volume in almost every nutritional category. They have 10 fewer calories than the other options (90 calories per 1/2 cup instead of 100) and 20-40 fewer mg of sodium (380 or 400 mg per 1/2 cup versus 420 mg for Darigold and 470 mg for Fred Meyer). Trader Joe's also has slightly less fat, just 0.5g, than the other three choices, which have 2.5g of fat per 1/2 cup.

I also look to get my protein fix with cottage cheese, and in this case it's pretty even across the board. The Fred Meyer brand has 12g per 1/2 cup, Albertson's has 13g per 1/2 cup, and Darigold and Trader Joe's both have 14g per 1/2 cup.

TASTE WINNER: Darigold, hands down, no question. It is the least chalky of the bunch and tastes like you're eating something fresh, not something processed and mushy.