This Cottage Cheese Brand Is So Much Better Than All the Others—Here's Why (2024)

Have you ever eaten something and wondered, “Why does this taste so good?” How is it possible that some foods can somehow hit all of your taste buds in all the right ways? Those were the questions I found myself asking after sampling Good Culture cottage cheese.

Previous research that involved sampling several brands of cottage cheese led me to this gem. Just when I was starting to lose hope (after several lackluster spoonfuls of other cottage cheese brands), I tried Good Culture and I was a changed woman. It sparked all the memories of childhood while appealing to my more refined (or at least I’d like to think) adult palette.

To get to the bottom of why this brand, known for adding live and active cultures to their line of products, tastes so good. That meant I had to tap into my chef and dietitian brain, but also reach out to a few experts. Here’s what we had to say.

But First, What Does “Cultured” Mean?

If you’ve enjoyed yogurt, you’ve likely experienced cultured food. To make yogurt, living organisms, usually bacteria, are added to heated milk. These “live and active cultures” convert some of the milk sugar to lactic acid says Julie Lopez, RD & Chef, giving yogurt its signature tangy taste.

Those cultures are also responsible for helping separate the milk solids (curds) from the liquid (whey) in the case of cottage cheese.

While most yogurts are cultured, the same is not true for cottage cheese. Yes, you can add cultures to make cottage cheese, but enzymes, such as rennet are typically favored. The only way to tell if a particular cottage cheese is cultured is by reading the label. Lopez recommends looking for the words “live and active cultures” on the label or the ingredient list for certain strains of probiotics such as Lactobacillus, L. Casei, and B. bifidum.

It’s Not About Nutrition (but It Kind of Is)

We won’t dive deep into the nutrition, but it’s worth noting that the cultures found in fermented foods, such as cultured cottage cheese, are considered probiotics, or good bacteria says Chef Julie Andrews, MS, RDN, FAND. Research points to their potential benefit in keeping our gut microbiome healthy. This is important since disruption to the microbiome can contribute to the development of disease. It’s one of the reasons why Registered Dietitians are big proponents of these types of foods.

It might not be surprising then, that health was one of the motivators behind the brand Good Culture. Co-Founder and CEO Jesse Merrill was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune gut disease caused by chronic inflammation. The idea of managing the disease with prescription medicine for the rest of his life motivated him to explore alternatives. After cleaning up his eating, which included plenty of cultured dairy and fermented foods, he felt better and after three years, was asymptomatic.

What Makes Good Culture Cottage Cheese So Good?

The answer is simple. The taste was important to Merrill too—and it started with the cows. It was essential for the brand to create a regenerative and pasture-raised milk supply. But it didn’t stop there. Bothered by the gums, thickeners, and chemical preservatives used by other companies, Good Culture only uses five simple ingredients: skim milk, whole milk, cream, sea salt, and live and active cultures. In his words, “real food just tastes better!” And those live and active cultures “allow for a clean fermented dairy note to come through, creating a delicious flavor profile.”

My personal experience with cultured cottage cheese was similar to Merrill's. I appreciated how flavorful it was and of course, enjoyed that signature tang. The texture was perfectly creamy and the curds were tender but still distinctive. After trying six other brands of cottage cheese, the cultured was my favorite, by quite a bit. I found those other brands boring and bland. Perhaps they’d be fine buried in a baked pasta dish or used to make cottage cheese ice cream (or these other desserts), but not to eat directly out of the carton.

The Bottom Line

If you want to enjoy really good cottage cheese, go for cultured versions. Remember, not all cottage cheese is cultured, so read labels and ingredient lists to be sure. It’s so good you only need a spoon to enjoy it.