What Is The Lowest Fat Cheese? Your Complete Guide

Nonfat or fat-free cottage cheese is generally considered the lowest-fat cheese option, with some varieties containing less than 1 gram of fat per.

Most people assume cheese is a trade-off between flavor and fat. That cheddar you love packs roughly 9 grams of fat per ounce, which adds up fast. But the cheese aisle is more varied than many shoppers realize.

A handful of cheeses sit at the extreme low end of the fat spectrum, and a few of them even hit zero grams of fat per serving. The trick is knowing which cheeses to reach for and whether the trade-off in texture and taste is worth it for your goals.

Nonfat Cottage Cheese and Fat-Free Swiss Lead The Pack

The lowest-fat cheese category belongs to two contenders. Nonfat cottage cheese contains roughly 0.8 grams of fat per 1-ounce serving, according to nutrition data from cottage cheese nutrition. That barely registers on a daily fat budget.

Fat-free Swiss cheese is the other heavy hitter, clocking in at zero grams of fat per serving. This makes it one of the few cheeses that genuinely adds no fat to your meal — a rare find in the dairy case.

For reference, a standard 1-ounce slice of full-fat cheddar contains about 9 grams of fat. That means nonfat cottage cheese has roughly 91% less fat per ounce than cheddar. The gap is significant.

A Quick Note On Serving Sizes

Cottage cheese is often eaten in larger portions (half-cup to full-cup servings) compared to sliced cheese, which is typically used as a topping or in smaller pieces. If you eat a full cup of nonfat cottage cheese, the fat total is still only about 2 to 3 grams.

Why The “Low Fat” Label Can Be Deceptive

Shoppers often assume that anything labeled “reduced-fat” or “low-fat” is automatically a good swap. The reality is more complicated.

• Reduced-fat cheddar: A single slice can still contain around 2.5 grams of saturated fat, per brand data. That’s lower than regular cheddar but not negligible.
• Part-skim mozzarella: Contains about 9% saturated fat, which is roughly half the saturated fat of full-fat cheddar (19%). It’s a meaningful difference.
• Swiss cheese: Comes in at about 8% saturated fat, making it a relatively low-saturated-fat hard cheese option.
• Pepper Jack and Colby Jack: Both sit at about 7% saturated fat, which is moderate but still far above nonfat options.
• American cheese: Contains roughly 13% saturated fat — lower than cheddar but higher than mozzarella or Swiss.

The British Heart Foundation recommends checking nutrition labels carefully, as some reduced-fat cheeses are not significantly lower in saturated fat than their full-fat counterparts. A quick comparison of the “saturated fat per 30g” line on the back of the package will tell you more than the front-of-box claim.

Comparison of Low-Fat Cheese Options

This table shows how popular low-fat cheeses stack up against each other in terms of fat and saturated fat content per 1-ounce serving.

Nonfat options clearly dominate the low-fat category, but part-skim ricotta and mozzarella are solid middle-ground choices for recipes where a creamy texture matters and you don’t want zero fat.

How To Choose The Right Low-Fat Cheese For Your Needs

Picking the lowest-fat cheese for a recipe depends on how you plan to use it. A spreadable cheese for toast requires different properties than a melting cheese for pizza.

1. For spreading or snacking: Nonfat cottage cheese or quark work well. Cottage cheese also provides about 3.3 grams of protein per ounce, which adds up quickly in a larger serving.
2. For melting on pizza or pasta: Part-skim mozzarella is a solid choice. It melts well and offers noticeably less saturated fat than cheddar or provolone.
3. For salads or cold dishes: Fat-free feta or crumbled nonfat cottage cheese can work. Ricotta also fits here but is higher in fat than cottage cheese overall.
4. For strong flavor in small portions: Parmesan is surprisingly low-calorie per serving because its intense flavor means you use less. A tablespoon of grated Parmesan adds big taste for minimal fat.
5. For a quick sandwich: Reduced-fat Swiss or part-skim mozzarella slices offer a middle path — lower fat than cheddar, but not zero fat like the nonfat options.

Camembert is another soft cheese option that’s relatively low in calories, though its fat content per ounce is higher than cottage cheese or fat-free Swiss. Portion control matters more with the richer cheeses.

What About Protein and Cooking Practicality?

Cheese isn’t just about fat. The protein content varies significantly between types, and some low-fat options actually deliver more protein per calorie.

Cottage cheese is the clear winner here. A half-cup serving of low-fat cottage cheese provides about 14 grams of protein for roughly 90 calories. That’s a much better protein-to-calorie ratio than most hard cheeses. For comparison, an ounce of cheddar gives you about 7 grams of protein for 115 calories.

In cooking applications, part-skim mozzarella and ricotta perform better than nonfat cheeses. They melt more evenly and have a creamier mouthfeel. The Verywell Health guide on cheese choices notes that many people find part-skim mozzarella a practical swap for full-fat cheddar in dishes that mozzarella vs cheddar fat, where the fat savings add up without sacrificing texture.

The Soft Cheese Advantage

Soft, fresh cheeses like quark, cottage cheese, and ricotta tend to be naturally lower in saturated fat and salt than aged, hard cheeses, per heart health organizations. This makes them a good default choice when you want cheese without the fat load.

The Bottom Line

Nonfat cottage cheese and fat-free Swiss are the undisputed lowest-fat cheeses, with nonfat cottage offering under 1 gram of fat per ounce and fat-free Swiss hitting zero. For everyday cooking, part-skim mozzarella and ricotta provide a practical balance of lower fat, good texture, and decent protein. Parmesan works well as a flavor booster in tiny amounts.

If you’re managing cholesterol, watch the saturated fat line on the label rather than just the “low-fat” claim, and lean toward the softer fresh cheeses when you have the option.

Your registered dietitian can fit these lower-fat cheese choices into your daily saturated fat target — especially helpful if your bloodwork shows elevated LDL and you want to keep cheese in your meals.