Yup, you read that right. GREEK cream cheese! Walmart just started stocking this product and asked if I’d be willing to try some and write a post about it. I am always up for trying new foods, and I really like cream cheese so I figured what the heck!
The supplier was incredibly generous on this one. I got EIGHT packages of each kind of cream cheese. That’s a heck of a lot of cream cheese! The kids have been enjoying it on bagels and toast. I’ve been decadent and tossed a couple of chunks into my morning omelet (mmm). I used it to make my Mock Alfredo Sauce recipe. Basically we’ve been enjoying the heck out of it!
So what makes Greek Cream Cheese different than other cream cheese? Well first of all it’s actually a blend of cream cheese and Greek yogurt. To me it seemed to have an extra bit of “tang” to it that I really liked. But the big difference is in the nutritional values:
That’s right, compared to regular cream cheese it’s got twice the protein, half the fat and contains live cultures. Woohoo!
So besides all the other “regular’ cream cheese uses, I figured I’d try making it in a recipe. I have been wanting to try Alton Brown’s Savory Cheesecake for a couple of years. I love sweet cheesecake and was really curious about the savory kind. I started out by making some minor changes. Instead of a bagel chip crust I decided to use Ritz crackers, and instead of using 6 oz smoked trout (really?) I used a can of crabmeat. I left out the chives. Otherwise I followed the directions.
The cheesecake came out looking like a dense NY style cheesecake.
Unfortunately I didn’t actually LIKE the recipe. That’s pretty embarrassing when you have to write about it.
I’m not sure if my changes were part of it-typically Alton Brown’s stuff is excellent. I imagine that smoked trout would have a stronger flavor then crabmeat, but not sure it would have been enough to really change my opinion. The one can of crabmeat I used seemed to get lost in the cheesecake–it probably would have been better to do 3 or 4 cans. Regardless the cake itself just tasted like I was eating a bar of cream cheese. There wasn’t any depth of flavor or savory-ness to it. It wasn’t that it tasted bad, it just didn’t particularly taste good. I may try to salvage it by just creaming the whole thing back together with some herbs and spices, adding a bit of liquid to loosen it up and use it as a dip for some veggies and crackers.
None of that was the fault of the Greek Cream Cheese though. I think the product itself is very tasty and am very happy to have a few more tubs left in the fridge!
If you want to see what some of the other Walmart Moms did, Lille Punkin made a delicious sweet style Greek Cream Cheese Cheesecake (mmm-wish that was what I had in the fridge) and Classy Mommy made a lovely Greek Cream Cheese & Fluff Fruit Dip.
****This is a sponsored post****
Disclosure: As a participant in the Walmart Moms Program, I’ve received product samples and compensation for my time and efforts in creating this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A good way to use extra cream cheese is to make an easy pasta dish. Just boil and drain your pasta, add part of a jar of pesto, and melt in a bunch of cream cheese. Or use homemade pesto if you don’t mind sacrificing some of the quick and easy-ness. Add some cooked chicken or canned beans to make it more filling.
I don’t have any measurements for this, just add the pesto until the pasta is coated, but not dripping with it, then melt in enough cream cheese to make it creamy.
You might be able to add your not so good cheesecake (without the crust) if you don’t think you’d mind the fishy flavor in the pasta.
Mmm. That sounds yummy Jenny. Sometimes I need something quick-I love to cook from scratch but occasionally get caught up in things and then dinner sneaks up on me, tubing my meal plan ideas.
I was very interested until I realized this mixes cream cheese and greek yogurt. I can’t have lactose, so cream cheese is out, but the live and active cultures make the yogurt okay. I was briefly excited at the thought of making recipes with cream cheese again! Oh, well.
Bummer Karina, Have you ever tried making yogurt cheese as a cream cheese alternative? Where you strain the yogurt to make it more solid?
While I wasn’t crazy about the taste on bagels, I found that adding it to mashed potatoes made them super creamy and delicious.
Was it too sour for you? I really liked the tang of it, but I could see where that could be different for different folks.
I am sorry to dissapoint you all but this Thing is Greek only in its name.
Unless it is produced in Greece and bears its disticnt name -like say, katiki- (there is no chesse called cream cheese in Greece) it cannot be called that.
True-it’s not from Greece by any stretch of the imagination. It is made with the product that is called “Greek Yogurt” here in the states, so that is where the name comes from. I guess it must be kind of like “French Fries”–which aren’t from France.
how much are these?
I have been enjoying it here in Michigan, for a year, each morning on a toasted split english muffin with a dollop of preserves in the middle. I eat that foe breakfast at my desk and don’t crave fast food anymore. I’ve lost a few pounds and gotten back some muscle tone. No other changes to my diet or exercise.
The only problem is that I can’t find it here anymore. Walmart discontinued it.
I’ve got all my coupons from the packages in my kitchen drawer and no way to buy it anymore.
Sad. The Philly company has got my business back, but I have to cut the amount in half.