The Worst Cottage Cheese Brand Is Way Too Mushy For Our Taste

For today's consumers, cottage cheese has moved well beyond being your grandmother's favorite snack (although it probably still is that, too). Adaptable, mild, and rich in protein, cottage cheese has made a comeback for those of us looking to add a bit more nutritional heft to our most decadent recipes like hearty ricotta gnocchi and extra creamy Alfredo sauce. But if you've tried to join the cottage cheese wave and couldn't get past the taste or texture, it may have been because you purchased the wrong brand. Unlike comparisons of other cheeses and spreads, like our ranking of every Boursin cheese flavor, the worst cottage cheese on offer is well and truly awful.

Unfortunately, when Chowhound food writer Robyn Blocker tried and ranked brands of locally available cottage cheese, she found that out the hard way. Blocker compared eight low-fat cottage cheese varieties, looking for a rich flavor with a slight tang and a creamy consistency with perfectly sized, chewy cheese curds. Sadly, when sampling Publix's 1% Cottage Cheese, she tasted an inedible, watery mess. So, when shopping at Publix, you should stick to the Pub Subs and other favorites, and skip the chain's brand of low-fat cottage cheese.

Let's start with the positives. As with all food rankings, taste is subjective. So if you like the taste of Publix 1% Cottage Cheese, you'll be well rewarded by its price. Robyn Blocker acquired a 24-ounce container for just $3.99, which is only $0.17 per ounce. Not bad at all if you're just pureeing your cottage cheese into other ingredients. They also offer fat-free and 4% milkfat varieties at similar prices, so perhaps something was just off with the 1% version.

Now for the negatives. Taste-wise, Blocker describes this cottage cheese as tangy, but in the bad, maybe-this-has-expired way. Rather than being thick and creamy, this option was excessively watery. As soon as she uncovered a cheese curd, it was mushy and water-logged. Not exactly a texture you'd like to eat on its own and perhaps not a consistency that's easy to incorporate into a dish. What knocked Publix down a few more pegs was its ingredient list. Blocker points to guar gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan, and also maltodextrin as not-so-simple additives, the last of which is one that some consumers are advised to avoid for health reasons.

Sometimes, the product is worth the price — Blocker's favorite cottage cheese brand, Good Culture 2% Cottage Cheese, was the most expensive option. But there's no reason to pay good money for a subpar product, so skip out on Publix's low-fat cottage cheese and save yourself the possible stomach pain.