August 16, 2026 • 9 mins
Cheesy and Fondue learn all about cottage cheese. We learn why it is called cottage cheese. We learn how it was once patriotic. We find out about the diet plant, pineapple and an odd presidential cottage cheese topping. And of course, we tell a very cheesy joke!
Find us at www.justcheesy.com and everywhere you enjoy social media! https://linktr.ee/JustCheesy
Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp!
Show Notes
https://www.nmpf.org/cottage-cheese-and-a-boom-built-to-last/
https://www.tastingtable.com/2158558/cottage-cheese-popularity-explained/
https://www.tastingtable.com/1557290/how-cottage-cheese-got-its-name/
https://www.tetrapak.com/en-us/insights/cases-articles/cottage-cheese-trends
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/tiktok-made-cottage-cheese-popular-110041165.html
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/why-cottage-cheese-might-harder-174000245.html
https://brancourts.com/cottage-cheese-uncovering-the-origins-of-its-name/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/cottage-cheese
https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-cottage-cheese
https://grubamericana.com/2025/06/22/once-a-dairy-darling-cottage-cheese-makes-a-comeback/
https://www.foodrepublic.com/1792498/two-ingredient-breakfast-richard-nixon-cottage-cheese-ketchup/
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(00:02):
Just Cheesy the podcastpresented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue.
I'm Cheesy.
In this week's episode, we'regoing to talk all about the trendiest
food in America. Cottage cheese.
What?
We're going to find out whyit's called cottage cheese. We're
learning about a governmentmaking it patriotic. We find out
(00:24):
what killed it and brought itback. We're talking a diet plate,
a pineapple ring, and apresident we've talked about before.
And of course, we tell aCheesy. Stay tuned for cottage on
Just Cheesy the podcast. So,Cheesy, what would you say the trendiest
food in America is right now?Truffles, maybe?
Ice cream?
No. Cottage cheese.
Cottage cheese? No.
Really? Cottage cheese?
(00:45):
No.
You know the cheese yourgrandmother ate off of lettuce with
a pineapple ring on top? Acertain president maybe had it as
his favorite.
Ew.
Well, this stuff cannot bekept in stock by stores.
Really?
And let me tell you, thesenumbers are. Are just wild. Cottage
cheese sales bottomed out in2022 at 534 million pints.
(01:09):
Whoa.
And then the performancestarted to go the other way.
Really?
In 2023, it came up 9.4%. 24.It was up another 12.5. In 2025,
it jumped 14.3% to 746 millionpints, according to National Milk
Producers Federation.
Holy cow.
(01:29):
And according to Yahoo. News,on a July analyst call, the CEO of
Albertsons said she had todouble check the numbers, and cottage
cheese is actually a stronggrowth category.
Wow.
Yahoo News also says OrganicValley's cottage cheese sales grew
over 30% in the first half of 2025.
Holy cow.
They had a marketing managerwho said it's selling faster than
(01:51):
they can make it.
Why?
Well, it's kind of because ofTikTok. It's become the new superfood.
With protein as all the rageright now. There are tons of viral
recipes. The following weirdones. Cottage cheese ice cream. Not
too weird. Cottage cheeseflatbread. Cheesecake. Banana bread.
Okay.
Queso buffalo chicken dip.People blend it into pasta sauce.
(02:15):
Some people freeze it into a dessert.
That's not too weird.
No, you're right. Thoseweren't too weird.
Yeah. Okay.
There's a couple other oddones. There's a cottage cheese with
onion chips. And the viral onethat I think is probably the strangest
was the cottage cheese andmustard plate.
Ew.
But none of these are thestrange around. And before we get
(02:36):
into that, I was thinking, whyis cottage cheese Called cottage
cheese.
Yeah. What?
Right. Cheddar's named after avillage. Parmesan is named after
a region. And cottage cheese,is it named after a building?
A cottage?
Yeah. Yeah, it really is. No,the first recorded use of the term
goes back to at least 1831. Itwas in a publication called G's Lady's
(03:00):
book. And the theory isexactly what it sounds like.
Really.
According to tasting, you leftmilk out and didn't keep it cold.
So the naturally occurringbacteria produced lactic acid and
the milk soured and curdled onits own. You'd strain off the whey
and what was left was a soft,lumpy. No, a soft, lumpy cheese.
(03:20):
And that was it. There was norennet. There was no aging. There
was no cave. It was a farmer'ssmall house that was called a cottage.
And so the cheese made at thecottage became cottage. Cottage cheese.
They think it may have evenbeen the first cheese ever produced
in the United States becauseit was the easiest possible thing
to do. Milk you were about to lose.
Whoa.
(04:30):
No maker of cottage cheese isa sponsor, but if they were, their
ad would go right here.Cottage cheese has been popular and
unpopular and popular againover and over.
Right.
This is not cottage cheese'sfirst comeback. It's not even its
second.
Really.
According to WebMD, the firstbig one was World War I. The U.S.
(04:50):
department of Agricultureactively promoted cottage cheese
to the American public as aprotein source. Sound familiar?
Yeah.
But in that case, they wantedto save the ME soldiers overseas.
So the official pitch was eatcottage cheese. It's high in protein
and more meat goes to thetroops. There was even an eat more
cottage cheese poster producedby the U. S. Department of Agriculture
(05:13):
in 1918. Well, the foodhistorian.com has a little excerpt
from a cookbook from the time.Okay, you think the tick tock trends
are weird. Well, here you go.
Okay.
They had a hot weather supper.Cottage cheese roll made with rice
and leftover salmon on a bedof lettuce. Okay. Not too bad with
mayo, of course.
Yeah.
They had oatmeal bread withnuts. Oh, they're going to get me
(05:36):
with this one. They have whey lemonade.
No way.
And crispy 5050 raisincookies. Okay, so it rises in popularity
during World War I, becomes astaple, and then in the 80s, something
else takes it out.
What would take it out?
Well, the big food fad in the80s was yogurt. It became so popular
as a health food grubAmericana that cottage cheese slid
(06:01):
down under 2 pounds perperson. And apparently it stayed
there till around 2023.
Wow.
And according to Tetra Pack,this was a huge surprise. It was
the brands. They were actuallycaught completely off guard, and
they couldn't make enough,really. The reason cottage cheese
keeps making a comeback ispretty much the same every time.
It is.
You don't have to do anythingwith it. It's high in protein and
(06:23):
it's cheap.
Yeah.
And that's pretty much thesame thing that's being said on TikTok
today. Yahoo says the marketcould hit $149 billion by 2030. There's
an era that I like to think iscottage cheese's heyday. Really between
1918 and the 1980s were the 1950s.
Oh, yeah.
(06:44):
And you've seen the picturesof this. It's a lettuce leaf, and
on it is a big blob of cottage cheese.
Yeah.
According to vertahealth.comin the 1950s, something called the
diet plate became standard atdiners across the country. And according
to pictures on Internet, thecontents varied quite a bit.
Oh, yeah.
(07:04):
Sometimes it was just lettuceand cottage cheese. Yeah. Sometimes
it was lettuce and cottagecheese and a hamburger patty.
Yep.
And who could forget jello andcottage cheese?
I love jello.
But the one that really comesto mind for me is cottage cheese
and pineapple. And I guessthere's sort of a reason for it.
They say here after World WarII, canned pineapple became widely
(07:25):
available. And they say itturned what was once a luxury fruit
into something accessible toordinary Americans. And they say
combined with the cottagecheese boom and boom it did. The
peak consumption was in 1976at 4.63 pounds per person per year.
Now it's about 2.4 pounds. Andthis is even with the TikTok craze.
(07:49):
But longtime listeners of theshow. You know where I'm going next.
Mustard, pineapple, jello.None of these compare to what was
eaten by Richard Nixon.
Oh, yeah.
We covered this in Presidentsand Cheese, and we found out that
President Nixon at cottagecheese with ketchup on it nearly
(08:09):
every single day.
Ew.
And you know why?
Why?
He told reporters he didn'teven like it, but it was good for
him. And the ketchup made itpossible to finish it. I can't remember
if we've told this storybefore, but it cracks me up every
time.
Oh, yeah.
So the night of theinauguration for Nixon, there was
no cottage cheese in the WhiteHouse, and a staffer had to get in
(08:30):
the car and drive all overWashington, D.C. looking for some.
And it was after that that thekitchen kept it permanently. Talked.
I'm ready for a joke. Fondue.
Okay. Why did Nixon putketchup on his cottage cheese?
Who knows?
Because he was good atcovering things up.
That's so political.
Oh, I guess it was political,but it was a little bit cheesy. Thanks
(08:55):
for listening to Just Cheesy,the podcast episode Cottage.
Thank you.
If you liked today's episode,please leave us a review. Share it
like or subscribe, please. Andif you find some cottage cheese at
the store, grab it. There's ashortage. Until next time.
Stay, Cheesy, everybody.
Just Cheesy the podcastpresented by Just Cheesy Productions.
Hi there. I'm your host, Fondue.
I'm Cheesy.
In this week's episode, we'regoing to talk all about the trendiest
food in America. Cottage cheese.
What?
We're going to find out whyit's called cottage cheese. We're
learning about a governmentmaking it patriotic. We find out
(00:24):
what killed it and brought itback. We're talking a diet plate,
a pineapple ring, and apresident we've talked about before.
And of course, we tell aCheesy. Stay tuned for cottage on
Just Cheesy the podcast. So,Cheesy, what would you say the trendiest
food in America is right now?Truffles, maybe?
Ice cream?
No. Cottage cheese.
Cottage cheese? No.
Really? Cottage cheese?
(00:45):
No.
You know the cheese yourgrandmother ate off of lettuce with
a pineapple ring on top? Acertain president maybe had it as
his favorite.
Ew.
Well, this stuff cannot bekept in stock by stores.
Really?
And let me tell you, thesenumbers are. Are just wild. Cottage
cheese sales bottomed out in2022 at 534 million pints.
(01:09):
Whoa.
And then the performancestarted to go the other way.
Really?
In 2023, it came up 9.4%. 24.It was up another 12.5. In 2025,
it jumped 14.3% to 746 millionpints, according to National Milk
Producers Federation.
Holy cow.
(01:29):
And according to Yahoo. News,on a July analyst call, the CEO of
Albertsons said she had todouble check the numbers, and cottage
cheese is actually a stronggrowth category.
Wow.
Yahoo News also says OrganicValley's cottage cheese sales grew
over 30% in the first half of 2025.
Holy cow.
They had a marketing managerwho said it's selling faster than
(01:51):
they can make it.
Why?
Well, it's kind of because ofTikTok. It's become the new superfood.
With protein as all the rageright now. There are tons of viral
recipes. The following weirdones. Cottage cheese ice cream. Not
too weird. Cottage cheeseflatbread. Cheesecake. Banana bread.
Okay.
Queso buffalo chicken dip.People blend it into pasta sauce.
(02:15):
Some people freeze it into a dessert.
That's not too weird.
No, you're right. Thoseweren't too weird.
Yeah. Okay.
There's a couple other oddones. There's a cottage cheese with
onion chips. And the viral onethat I think is probably the strangest
was the cottage cheese andmustard plate.
Ew.
But none of these are thestrange around. And before we get
(02:36):
into that, I was thinking, whyis cottage cheese Called cottage
cheese.
Yeah. What?
Right. Cheddar's named after avillage. Parmesan is named after
a region. And cottage cheese,is it named after a building?
A cottage?
Yeah. Yeah, it really is. No,the first recorded use of the term
goes back to at least 1831. Itwas in a publication called G's Lady's
(03:00):
book. And the theory isexactly what it sounds like.
Really.
According to tasting, you leftmilk out and didn't keep it cold.
So the naturally occurringbacteria produced lactic acid and
the milk soured and curdled onits own. You'd strain off the whey
and what was left was a soft,lumpy. No, a soft, lumpy cheese.
(03:20):
And that was it. There was norennet. There was no aging. There
was no cave. It was a farmer'ssmall house that was called a cottage.
And so the cheese made at thecottage became cottage. Cottage cheese.
They think it may have evenbeen the first cheese ever produced
in the United States becauseit was the easiest possible thing
to do. Milk you were about to lose.
Whoa.
(04:30):
No maker of cottage cheese isa sponsor, but if they were, their
ad would go right here.Cottage cheese has been popular and
unpopular and popular againover and over.
Right.
This is not cottage cheese'sfirst comeback. It's not even its
second.
Really.
According to WebMD, the firstbig one was World War I. The U.S.
(04:50):
department of Agricultureactively promoted cottage cheese
to the American public as aprotein source. Sound familiar?
Yeah.
But in that case, they wantedto save the ME soldiers overseas.
So the official pitch was eatcottage cheese. It's high in protein
and more meat goes to thetroops. There was even an eat more
cottage cheese poster producedby the U. S. Department of Agriculture
(05:13):
in 1918. Well, the foodhistorian.com has a little excerpt
from a cookbook from the time.Okay, you think the tick tock trends
are weird. Well, here you go.
Okay.
They had a hot weather supper.Cottage cheese roll made with rice
and leftover salmon on a bedof lettuce. Okay. Not too bad with
mayo, of course.
Yeah.
They had oatmeal bread withnuts. Oh, they're going to get me
(05:36):
with this one. They have whey lemonade.
No way.
And crispy 5050 raisincookies. Okay, so it rises in popularity
during World War I, becomes astaple, and then in the 80s, something
else takes it out.
What would take it out?
Well, the big food fad in the80s was yogurt. It became so popular
as a health food grubAmericana that cottage cheese slid
(06:01):
down under 2 pounds perperson. And apparently it stayed
there till around 2023.
Wow.
And according to Tetra Pack,this was a huge surprise. It was
the brands. They were actuallycaught completely off guard, and
they couldn't make enough,really. The reason cottage cheese
keeps making a comeback ispretty much the same every time.
It is.
You don't have to do anythingwith it. It's high in protein and
(06:23):
it's cheap.
Yeah.
And that's pretty much thesame thing that's being said on TikTok
today. Yahoo says the marketcould hit $149 billion by 2030. There's
an era that I like to think iscottage cheese's heyday. Really between
1918 and the 1980s were the 1950s.
Oh, yeah.
(06:44):
And you've seen the picturesof this. It's a lettuce leaf, and
on it is a big blob of cottage cheese.
Yeah.
According to vertahealth.comin the 1950s, something called the
diet plate became standard atdiners across the country. And according
to pictures on Internet, thecontents varied quite a bit.
Oh, yeah.
(07:04):
Sometimes it was just lettuceand cottage cheese. Yeah. Sometimes
it was lettuce and cottagecheese and a hamburger patty.
Yep.
And who could forget jello andcottage cheese?
I love jello.
But the one that really comesto mind for me is cottage cheese
and pineapple. And I guessthere's sort of a reason for it.
They say here after World WarII, canned pineapple became widely
(07:25):
available. And they say itturned what was once a luxury fruit
into something accessible toordinary Americans. And they say
combined with the cottagecheese boom and boom it did. The
peak consumption was in 1976at 4.63 pounds per person per year.
Now it's about 2.4 pounds. Andthis is even with the TikTok craze.
(07:49):
But longtime listeners of theshow. You know where I'm going next.
Mustard, pineapple, jello.None of these compare to what was
eaten by Richard Nixon.
Oh, yeah.
We covered this in Presidentsand Cheese, and we found out that
President Nixon at cottagecheese with ketchup on it nearly
(08:09):
every single day.
Ew.
And you know why?
Why?
He told reporters he didn'teven like it, but it was good for
him. And the ketchup made itpossible to finish it. I can't remember
if we've told this storybefore, but it cracks me up every
time.
Oh, yeah.
So the night of theinauguration for Nixon, there was
no cottage cheese in the WhiteHouse, and a staffer had to get in
(08:30):
the car and drive all overWashington, D.C. looking for some.
And it was after that that thekitchen kept it permanently. Talked.
I'm ready for a joke. Fondue.
Okay. Why did Nixon putketchup on his cottage cheese?
Who knows?
Because he was good atcovering things up.
That's so political.
Oh, I guess it was political,but it was a little bit cheesy. Thanks
(08:55):
for listening to Just Cheesy,the podcast episode Cottage.
Thank you.
If you liked today's episode,please leave us a review. Share it
like or subscribe, please. Andif you find some cottage cheese at
the store, grab it. There's ashortage. Until next time.
Stay, Cheesy, everybody.
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