The Trendy Cheese To Try If You Love Cottage Cheese

Are you constantly slathering cottage cheese onto rice cakes and using it to make creamy breakfast bowls with fresh fruit and granola? Your love of this protein-rich food may have even inspired you to try some unexpected cottage cheese pairings such as pizza, tacos, and baked potatoes. However, you may be growing tired of eating cottage cheese day in and day out, especially if you've been doing so since it became popular a few years back. In that case, you may want to try farmer's cheese, which is just as appealing and versatile. Thankfully, Chowhound got the skinny on how to incorporate this trendy, high-protein cheese into your everyday diet from Registered Dietician at Lifeway Foods, Caroline Margolis.

For starters, Margolis states that the main difference between cottage cheese and farmer's cheese is that more whey (along with excess moisture) is removed from farmer's cheese during production. According to Margolis, "This creates a drier curd with a smooth, spreadable texture and a higher concentration of casein protein." Ultimately, the curds in farmer's cheese are pressed to create a more solid, uniform consistency. In terms of flavor, farmer's cheese has a creamy, mild taste similar to cottage cheese, yet showcases more tanginess. 

To give farmer's cheese a try, Margolis recommends choosing meals and snacks that can better accommodate this slightly firmer, more spreadable food. For example, use farmer's cheese as a convenient topping for crackers, bagels, or toast. Margolis adds, "You can also top it with fresh berries or sliced fruit, which complement the cheese's subtle tanginess without overpowering it." However you enjoy it, with only about 0.1 gram of lactose per serving, farmer's cheese is a friendly food to those with lactose intolerance. 

Even though farmer's cheese has a slightly different texture than cottage cheese, there are many similar ways to enjoy this alternative food. For example, Caroline Margolis says that farmer's cheese can be crumbled onto salads, layered into hot foods like lasagna, or used as a creamy pizza topping. You can also use it as a rich filling for dishes like savory stuffed shells or sweet-tasting crepes. What's more, Margolis says, "Farmer's cheese also works great when blended to make a higher protein ice cream or other desserts such as cheesecake for fruited tarts."

Since farmer's cheese is notably drier than cottage cheese, you may need to make tiny adjustments with certain recipes. For example, to make a mouthwatering, two-ingredient cottage cheese dip with dried ranch seasoning and farmer's cheese, consider adding a moisture-rich ingredient like milk to achieve the right consistency. Yet, aside from making minor adjustments here and there, in most cases, Margolis claims farmer's cheese and cottage cheese can be used interchangeably.

The biggest difference between farmer's cheese and cottage cheese (apart from texture) may be certain subtleties regarding taste. After all, farmer's cheese contains significantly less sodium than cottage cheese. That being said, now that you know the varied uses of farmer's cheese, take a break from buying the best and worst brands of cottage cheese and try some of this trendy alternative cheese in more of your favorite recipes.