PRODUCT: Cream Cheese & Sour Cream Hybrids With Greek Yogurt
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We have long been cutting down the fat content of our dips by mixing sour cream with fat free Greek yogurt. Sooner or later, dairy producers were going to figure out that creamy, nonfat Greek yogurt could be used to lower the fat count and calorie count in those two voluptuous, fatty and caloric dairy staples, cream cheese and sour cream.
“GREEK” SOUR CREAM We initially received the news from Breakstone, which launched the first nationally “hybrid” last month: delicious Greek Style Sour Cream. It contains 50% less fat, 40% less cholesterol, and twice the calcium and protein of regular sour cream (each two tablespoon serving has 4% of the daily value for calcium and 2 grams of protein). They sent us samples. It is smooth, creamy, far superior to nonfat sour cream, and no one will know the difference. Use it instead of full fat sour cream in any recipe. We were so excited, we devoured half the carton with a spoon. The product is certified kosher by OU. |
A guilty pleasure: sour cream with New York Style Bagel Chips. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE. |
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 Available in bricks and tubs. Photo courtesy Green Mountain Farms. |
“GREEK” CREAM CHEESE Then, we were trolling the aisles of our supermarket and saw Green Mountain Farms Greek Cream Cheese. Green Mountain Farms is a brand of Franklin Foods. Similar to the Breakstone Greek Sour Cream, the blending of nonfat Greek yogurt into cream cheese results in two times the protein and half the fat of conventional cream cheese, plus “live and active cultures.” Our market only carried the plain version, but it also is made in Cucumber Garlic, Garlic & Herb, Roasted Red Pepper and Sundried Tomato. The products are packaged in bricks and tubs. The line is certified kosher by OU. Strangely, we detected a very slight sweetness to the product, such that we checked the label to see if any sweetener was in it (there isn’t any). |
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While this might be delicious on a cinnamon raisin bagel, it was distracting on our poppy seed bagel with smoked salmon. The product consistency was less firm than conventional cream cheese (in the way that fat-free cream cheese can be), but not disconcertingly so. Try it yourself and see if you like it. When we’re in a fat-cutting mode, however, we’ll stick with Philadelphia Fat Free. Neither the Greek sour cream or Greek cream cheese is Greek in origin. The name simply refers to the Greek-style yogurt used in the blend. If you’re looking to cut back on fat, “Greek” is the new lower-fat. Opa!
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