What to use instead of cream cheese
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Setting a baked cheesecake
High fat plus enough casein to hold structure means the batter sets with the eggs into a dense smooth solid rather than a curd.
MascarponeRan out
1:1 by weight, plus 1 tbsp lemon juice per 8 oz
Richer and softer set, and without the lemon it tastes sweet and blank. Bake 10 to 15 min longer and cool it in the oven or it sinks.
Quark or drained farmer cheeseRan out
1:1 by weight, drained 30 min in a sieve if wet
Lighter, tangier and much less rich. It weeps at high heat, so drop the oven to 300F and go long.
Whole-milk ricotta, blitzed smooth and drainedRan out
1:1 by weight, drained overnight, blitzed 2 min in a processor
Grainier and much lighter, closer to a Sicilian cheesecake than a New York one. Browns more on top.
Cashew-based plant cream cheeseDairy-free
1:1 by weight, plus 2 tbsp cornstarch per 16 oz
Sets soft without the starch. With it, it slices, but the texture is smoother and slightly gummy compared to a dairy cheesecake.
What doesn't work: Sour cream on its own in place of the cream cheese. It is roughly half the fat with twice the water, so the batter never gets thick enough to hold the eggs. The middle bakes soupy and the whole thing weeps as it cools.
Spreadable tangy layer on bread
Fat high enough to stay put on a warm surface, with acid from the culture cutting it so it does not read as pure grease.
LabnehRan out
1:1 by volume
Tangier and looser, so it spreads wetter and soaks into a bagel crumb more. Salt it lightly.
QuarkRan out
1:1 by volume
Sharper and considerably leaner, so it can taste chalky on its own. Beat in 1 tbsp cream per 4 oz to fix that.
Mascarpone with lemonRan out
4 oz mascarpone + 1 tsp lemon juice + a pinch of salt
Much richer and it melts on warm toast. Almost no tang unless you add the lemon.
Plant cream cheeseDairy-free
1:1 by volume
Coconut-oil versions firm up hard from the fridge and need ten minutes out. Cashew versions taste closer but are sweeter.
What doesn't work: Greek yogurt on a bagel. It has the tang and about a fifth of the fat, so it slides off the cut face and soaks the crumb underneath within a minute. The fat is what holds it in place.
Binder holding a hot filling or dip together
It is stable enough to hold at a low bake because the fat is emulsified into the curd, so the filling stays creamy rather than separating.
Whole-milk ricotta, drainedRan out
1:1 by weight, drained 30 min, plus 1 tbsp cornstarch per cup
Milder and grainier. Without the cornstarch it weeps a thin layer of whey around the edge of the dish.
Garlic-and-herb cheese spreadRan out
1:1 by weight, drop any garlic powder in the recipe
Already seasoned and salted, so taste before you add more. Slightly looser when hot.
Plant cream cheeseDairy-free
1:1 by weight
Holds well under a bake. It sets stiff and slightly gluey as it cools, so serve the dip hot.
What doesn't work: Sour cream as the binder in a hot dip or a crab rangoon. Around 18 percent fat and unstabilised, it breaks the moment the filling goes past a simmer, and the dip separates into grainy curd with oil pooling at the edge.