Nancys Cultured Cottage Cheese

By: Caroline Yoder | Jun 1, 2007

As a vegetarian, I am often in search of an alternative source of protein. Meat alternatives such as veggie burgers and “faux” meat products usually provide sufficient amounts, but also often carry a hefty price tag. Cottage cheese is usually the food that I turn to when I want to add a reasonably priced, good source of protein. We are talking a whopping 12 -14 grams of protein per half cup! And it does double duty because it can function as a snack or you can use it in your cooking - it helps thicken up protein shakes and smoothies.

When I stumbled upon Nancy's Cultured Cottage Cheese on sale a few months ago at Whole Foods, I was excited to try it because this particular brand adds a little something extra to the mix. It is "slowly cultured with L. acidophilus, B. bifidum and four strains of lactic cultures, to develop its unique old-fashioned tangy character." So basically this cottage cheese is an attempt to incorporate yogurt's health benefits into another form of dairy. A superstar hybrid of yogurt and cottage cheese would be a welcome addition to my diet, filling in many nutritional gaps.

Unfortunately, my hopes for a yummy nutritional powerhouse turned out to be a sour tasting tub of goop. The texture was liquidy, and the taste was reminiscent of a horrible past experience with expired milk. In fact, I checked and rechecked the expiration date and made sure that my refrigerator was still functional. I even purchased a second tub, thinking that perhaps I had sampled a tainted batch. My investigation confirmed that this cottage cheese just tasted funky, plain and simple.

If you're willing to sacrifice your taste buds, then you'll get 14 grams of protein with only 80 calories, 1 gram of total fat and 3 grams of sugars (and total carbohydrates) per 1/2 cup serving (there are 2 servings per container). Nancy's is surprisingly low in other nutrients, delivering a mere 6% of the RDA for calcium. However, it is lower in sodium than most other brands, with 12% of the RDA per half cup; cottage cheese often contains upwards of 20%.

I purchased Nancy's Cottage Cheese on sale at Whole Foods; otherwise I think it is a bit expensive at almost $4.00 for a 16 ounce tub. I won't be buying this again anyway - sale or not!

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