Cottage cheese is a soft, white cheese with a lumpy, bumpy texture that looks a bit like tiny curds or pebbles. Unlike firm cheeses like cheddar that you can slice, cottage cheese is moist and comes in small clumps. It has a mild, slightly tangy flavor and feels cool and creamy in your mouth.

The cheese gets its name from the small cottages where it was traditionally made. Hundreds of years ago, farmers would make this simple cheese at home using leftover milk that had started to sour. The process is straightforward: add an acid or special bacteria to milk, which causes it to separate into solid curds and liquid whey. The curds become cottage cheese.

People eat cottage cheese plain, mixed with fruit, or as part of meals like lasagna. Some people love its texture while others find it too lumpy. Athletes and people focused on fitness often eat cottage cheese because it contains a lot of protein. You'll find it in the refrigerated dairy section of grocery stores, usually in round plastic containers. The curds can come in different sizes, and the cheese might be mixed with cream to make it richer.