Why We Ranked This Store-Brand Cream Cheese Dead Last In Our Taste Test

Cream cheese is a wonderfully flexible ingredient that you can work into everything from cheesecake to pasta sauces, or just smear it on a bagel, perhaps with some added extras. But despite its simplicity, not all cream cheeses hit the spot when it comes to quality, as Chowhound found out when we compared seven supermarket brands side by side. The worst of the bunch was Simple Truth Organic Cream Cheese, one of Kroger's in-house brands, so it's also available at stores under the Kroger umbrella like Dillons. While Kroger bills the brand as natural and free from "unwanted ingredients," the actual taste doesn't hold up to the supermarket's lofty attitude. 

Our taste test involved trying each brand's cream cheese on plain bagels, and using them to make both frosting and onion dip. In all three of those tests, Simple Truth's wasn't really up to snuff. On the bagel, it didn't have that tangy note you want from cream cheese, and it had a gritty texture to boot. In the frosting, it took a lot of work to cream it with the sugar, and the final product wasn't particularly smooth. In the dip, the texture was an issue again, acting more like a clumpy cottage cheese. 

All that, and it wasn't even very cheap. At $3.49, Simple Truth Organic Cream Cheese was over double the price of some higher-ranked options (including, ironically, Kroger Original Cream Cheese, which came in at No. 5 on our list). And the final nail in the coffin is that the foil tears and sticks when you're trying to unwrap it.

To be frank, there aren't a ton of opinions out there on the internet about Simple Truth Organic Cream Cheese (although there are various complaints about its "plant-based," or vegan, equivalent, including that its texture is similarly offputting). You could read this relative lack of opinions two ways: Not many people hate this brand enough to be loud about it online, but at the same time, not many people are really going to bat for it, either.

That said, of the limited reviews out there, there are some common themes. The biggest complaint seems to be that it's often out of stock in Kroger stores, which would suggest that people want to get their hands on it. And while a handful of people do like it, there aren't too many comments about the taste or quality of the product itself; it does seem that those who are complaining about it being out of stock mostly appreciate its organic status. One positive note is that some like its creaminess; despite that, others have echoed the same problems with flimsy packaging that we experienced.

So if Simple Truth is a questionable cream cheese, which should you buy? The best brand is tangy Tillamook Cream Cheese, which stands out for both flavor and texture when used in frosting, dip, and all by itself on a bagel.