Remember when cottage cheese was the sad tub sitting at the back of the fridge, eaten by nobody except committed dieters. That’s changed completely. Thanks to a wave of attention on social media and the ongoing obsession with protein, cottage cheese has had a proper glow-up. Supermarkets are now stocking rich, tangy, indulgent versions that taste nothing like the bland, squeaky stuff from years gone by. Here’s how the best options on supermarket shelves stack up against each other, and which ones are worth skipping.
What makes a good cottage cheese?
Flavour matters most, and the standout tubs strike a balance between a sharp, fermented tang and a rounder, sweeter creaminess underneath. Texture counts too. Nobody wants curds that squeak against your teeth, and the best products tend to have soft, plump curds suspended in a properly thick sauce rather than a watery one. A few tubs blur the line between cottage cheese and yoghurt entirely, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you’re after.
Price played a part in the ranking as well, though even the priciest option on this list stays fairly reasonable. Where information was available, provenance and how the dairy operates were factored in too.
The best overall pick goes to The Estate Dairy.
The Estate Dairy’s version, made with jersey milk from a Cheshire farm and sold through Ocado, topped the list by a clear margin. It’s dense, luxurious, and full of large curds that hold their shape well against the smooth, cultured base surrounding them. At roughly 58p per 100g, it isn’t the cheapest tub on the shelf, but the depth of flavour more than justifies the price. Ten grams of protein per 100g rounds off a properly excellent product.
The best budget buy is hardly a surprise.
Asda’s own-brand tub proves that a low price doesn’t mean a compromise on quality. The curds here are notably soft and generously sized, wrapped in a sauce that’s both silky and pleasantly sour. Made using British milk, it costs around 53p per 100g, making it one of the most affordable options on the list, and it delivers a protein count of 9.1%.
There are plenty of strong runners-up worth trying.
Waitrose’s Essential range impresses with a consistently thick, sweet-leaning pot that still carries a proper sour edge, made from nothing more than British milk and salt, with 10.3% protein. Co-op’s high-protein version stands out for sheer richness, boosted with cream and crème fraîche to reach 12% protein, the joint-highest score across the whole list, though the texture leans stiffer than some rivals.
Longley Farm’s Yorkshire-made tub brings firm, substantial curds topped with a visible layer of cream, giving it a particularly indulgent, high-fat character. Meanwhile, All Things’ natural cottage cheese, made with grass-fed British milk and a touch of pink Himalayan salt, delivers a complex, almost mascarpone-like richness that punches well above its modest price of around 67p per 100g at Ocado.
There are some solid but unremarkable options as well.
Graham’s Family Dairy tub, made purely from Scottish milk and salt, brings a sweeter profile alongside firm curds of mixed sizes, and shares that top 12% protein score alongside a Great Taste award from last year. Lidl’s Milbona pot offers a dense, fresh option with small curds and a clean lactic tang, coming in as one of the cheapest at 46p per 100g, though it’s only sold in store rather than online.
Piątnica’s Polish-made version leans milder than most, with very firm curds sitting in a gentler, sweeter cream rather than a sharp one, which won’t suit anyone chasing that classic sour punch.
Sadly, there’s one in particular you’ll want to skip.
Aldi’s Emporium tub lands at the bottom of the list. While it has a light, almost yoghurt-like consistency and a decent 11.9% protein count, the overall flavour comes across as less balanced than the competition, with a sourness that doesn’t quite blend into the rest of the profile.
