Daisy 4% Small Curd Cottage Cheese: 14.7g Protein, Labelgrade B- (74/100)

The short answer

Daisy 4% Small Curd Cottage Cheese delivers 14.7g of protein for 124 calories in a 113g serving (USDA FDC 2757139) — and it does it with an ingredient list you can read in one breath: cultured skim milk, cream, and salt. That’s 13g of protein per 100g, scaling to roughly 29g in a full cup. It earns a B- (74/100), dinged almost entirely by one thing — sodium. On everything else, this is one of the cleaner labels in the dairy case.

Why the B-

What actually sets it apart: the label

Pull three other cottage cheeses off the shelf and read the backs. You’ll likely find carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, mono- and diglycerides, or “natural flavors” added to control how the curd holds together and how the cream clings to it. Daisy’s entire brand is built on refusing to do that: cultured skim milk, cream, salt — and nothing else. No gums, no stabilizers, no preservatives. That’s why it pulls an A- on ingredient quality while most of its competitors don’t, and it’s the single most defensible reason to pay for this tub over a cheaper one. If you keep a short-ingredient kitchen, this is about as clean as packaged cottage cheese gets.

Cottage cheese is having a moment — and the macros explain why

There’s a reason cottage cheese went from grandma’s diet food to all over your feed. Per calorie, it’s one of the most protein-dense foods in the dairy case: 14.7g of protein for 124 calories means roughly 47% of the calories here come from protein — a ratio most snacks can’t touch. It’s also endlessly flexible. Eat it savory with cracked pepper and tomatoes, sweet with berries and a drizzle of honey, or blend it smooth and it disappears into high-protein pancake batter, dips, “alfredo” sauces, and overnight oats. The small curd matters more than it sounds: it’s softer and blends more cleanly than large curd, which is part of why this format is the one people reach for when they’re stirring it into something.

The 4% trade-off

This is the whole-milk version, and the number to know is 3.39g of saturated fat per serving — versus a leaner profile if you stepped down to Daisy’s 2% lowfat tub. That fat is doing real work: it’s what makes 4% taste rich and satisfying rather than chalky, and it helps the curd feel like food instead of a supplement. The honest framing is simple. If cottage cheese is your high-protein treat — the thing you eat because you like it — the 4% earns its saturated fat. If you’re eating it three times a day purely to hit a protein target and want to bank the calories elsewhere, the 2% is the smarter pick. Neither is wrong; they’re built for different jobs.

The one real knock: sodium

Cottage cheese is salty, full stop, and Daisy is no exception at 441mg per 113g — about 19% of a day’s sodium in a serving you might eat two of. Salt isn’t an additive bolted on here; it’s part of how the curd is made and seasoned, which is why even this clean a label can’t escape it. For most people it’s a non-issue. But if you’re managing blood pressure or watching sodium closely, this is the number to respect — and it’s precisely what holds an otherwise strong product at B- instead of higher.

Who it’s for

The high-protein eater who reads ingredient labels. You’re getting 14.7g of clean dairy protein with effectively zero added sugar and none of the gums most competitors lean on — perfect as a savory or sweet snack, or as the protein backbone of a blended dip or pancake. The only shopper who should pause is someone on a strict low-sodium plan, and the only real choice to make is 4% (this one, richer) versus 2% (leaner).

Ingredients

Cultured skim milk, cream, salt. (Verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry, FDC 2757139.)

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Scope: This page applies specifically to Daisy Cottage Cheese, Small Curd, 4% Milkfat Minimum · UPC 00073420524401. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.