How much protein is in cream cheese?
Cream cheese has 1.8 g of protein per 2 tbsp (29 g) — that's 6.2 g per 100 g, or about 1.8 g per ounce. One 2 tbsp is roughly 4% of the 50 g Daily Value for protein.
USDA FoodData Central · regular · FDC 173418
Protein & macros by portion
| Portion | Protein | Calories | Fat | Carbs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 tbsp (29 g) | 1.8 g | 102 | 10 g | 1.6 g |
| 100 g | 6.2 g | 350 | 34.4 g | 5.5 g |
| 1 oz (28 g) | 1.8 g | 99 | 9.8 g | 1.6 g |
Values computed from USDA per-100 g data (FDC 173418, SR Legacy). regular.
Cream cheese is easy to misjudge if you only glance at the per-100g line. 6.2 g of protein per 100 g sounds like it might pull some weight — until you remember what a serving of cream cheese actually is. Nobody eats 100 g; that’s about seven tablespoons. A real-world schmear is 2 tbsp (29 g), and that delivers only ~1.8 g of protein for roughly 100 calories — and almost every one of those calories is fat. Cream cheese is a soft, rich fat spread, full stop. It is not a protein food, and it shouldn’t be counted as one.
Why cream cheese doesn’t count toward protein
The honest framing matters. Cream cheese is made from cream plus milk, so it’s engineered to be fat-forward: about 34 g of total fat per 100 g, more than 20 g of it saturated, which is what gives it that dense, spreadable smoothness. That fat is also why the calories add up fast while the protein barely moves. To squeeze a meaningful 20+ g of protein out of cream cheese alone, you’d have to eat the better part of a whole tub — well over 1,000 calories and a punishing load of saturated fat — long before the protein got anywhere near useful. The math simply doesn’t work. Compare it to a tub of cottage cheese or a cup of Greek yogurt, which hit serious protein for a small fraction of the fat and calories, and cream cheese lands exactly where it belongs: as a flavor, not a building block.
So when you’re tallying your protein for the day, leave cream cheese out of the column. The gram or two you’d get from a normal schmear is rounding error against a real target — and pretending otherwise just crowds out the foods actually doing the work.
What cream cheese is genuinely good at
None of this makes cream cheese a bad food — it makes it a misread one. Judged honestly, as a fat, it’s excellent at its actual job:
- Texture and richness. It’s the reason a bagel works, the body in a cheesecake, the silk in a frosting or a creamy pasta sauce.
- Flavor base for dips and spreads. A little goes a long way to make vegetables, crackers, or a savory bagel feel indulgent.
- A reasonable swap for butter or rich sauces in moderation — same role on the plate, a tangier taste.
The one discipline it asks for is the same one any rich fat asks for: portion awareness. Because it’s so calorie- and saturated-fat-dense, the gap between a thin tablespoon and a heavy double-schmear is the gap between a sensible 50 calories and a 200-calorie one. Spread it like you’d spread butter, not like you’re trying to hit a macro, and it stays a treat that works for you.
If you want a spreadable dairy that actually has protein
This is the swap worth knowing. If what you really want is a creamy, tangy, spreadable dairy that also feeds a protein goal, skip past cream cheese to its higher-protein cousins. Whipped cottage cheese (about 12 g of protein per 100 g) blends into a smooth, schmearable spread that holds up on a bagel or in a dip, and Greek yogurt (around 10 g per 100 g) dollops onto the same foods with a similar tang — both bringing several times the protein of cream cheese for far less fat. Use cream cheese when you want richness, and reach for cottage cheese or Greek yogurt when you want the protein. To turn any of these per-serving numbers into a daily target that fits your body and training, see our guide on how much protein per day. And if it’s specifically cream cheese you’re after, the branded picks below are the easy way to compare what’s actually in the tub.
Packaged cream cheese options, graded
If you'd rather grab it off a shelf, here are the best-graded cream cheese in our catalog — each scored on our transparent 6-dimension Labelgrade.
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Labelgrade 61/100 · 2 g protein · 100 cal
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in cream cheese?
About 1.8 g of protein in a realistic 2 tbsp serving (29 g), which works out to 6.2 g per 100 g (USDA FDC 173418). That same 2 tbsp carries roughly 100 calories, the large majority of it from fat — so the protein is almost an afterthought.
Is cream cheese a good source of protein?
No. The 6.2 g per 100 g figure is unremarkable to begin with, and nobody eats 100 g (about 7 tablespoons) in a sitting. A normal schmear is 1–2 tbsp and only ~1–1.8 g of protein. Cream cheese is a fat-based spread — count it as a fat, not toward your protein for the day.
Why is cream cheese so high in fat and calories?
It's made from cream plus milk, so it's built to be rich. Per 100 g it runs about 34 g of total fat — over 20 g of that saturated — for roughly 350 calories. That fat is what gives it the smooth, spreadable texture; it's also why the calories climb fast and the protein stays low.
Is cream cheese bad for you?
Not at all, in moderation — it's just a fat, not a health food or a protein food. A tablespoon or two on a bagel or stirred into a recipe is perfectly fine. The thing to watch is the saturated fat if you're eating it in quantity; treat it like butter or a rich spread rather than something you load up on for nutrition.
What's a higher-protein swap for cream cheese?
If you want a spreadable, tangy dairy that actually delivers protein, reach for Greek yogurt or whipped cottage cheese. Both spread or dollop onto a bagel or into a dip and bring far more protein per calorie — cottage cheese is around 12 g per 100 g and Greek yogurt around 10 g, versus cream cheese's 6.2 g — with a fraction of the fat.
Does whipped or low-fat cream cheese have more protein?
Not meaningfully. Whipped cream cheese is the same product with air beaten in, so per spoonful you get a bit less of everything, protein included. Reduced-fat ('Neufchâtel') styles cut some fat and calories but don't add real protein. None of them turn cream cheese into a protein source.
When was this data last verified?
2026-06-03, against USDA FoodData Central FDC 173418 (Cheese, cream; SR Legacy). We re-verify pages periodically and update when USDA revises its reference data.
Whole-food values are USDA reference data and are not assigned a Labelgrade — that score is for branded packaged products, where ingredients and added sugar/sodium actually vary. See our methodology and how much protein you need per day.