I Asked 3 Chefs To Name the Best Cream Cheese, and They All Said the Same Thing

Few comfort foods measure up to a toasted sesame bagel piled high with cream cheese, capers, and lox, but the glory of cream cheese extends beyond the bagel. It provides the heft in a decadent blueberry cheesecake, the rich swirl in a loaf of banana bread, and the tangy backbone of the frosting on every good carrot cake.

The stabilizers that make a bagel schmear so creamy also work overtime in savory recipes. They keep creamy mac and cheese from breaking, give mashed potatoes luxurious body, and—my personal favorite—prevent ice crystals for the smoothest, silkiest ice cream.

With cream cheese quietly carrying so much weight across breakfast, dinner, and dessert, I had to know: Which brand is really the best?

Cream Cheese for Schmearing vs. Baking

When it comes to spreading cream cheese on a bagel, it's a choose-your-own-adventure moment. Whipped varieties are airy, fluffy, and spreadable straight from the fridge, mimicking that classic bagel-shop spread. Plain cream cheese is a blank canvas to let toppings do the talking, while sweet and savory flavors have their die-hard loyalists. Honestly, when we're talking tubs of whipped schmear, it's hard to go wrong.

In cooking and baking, the stakes get higher. Cream cheese isn't just flavor—it's structure. Bricks of cream cheese are richer, denser, and simply more reliable. Whipped cream cheese, on the other hand, contains added lactic acid, which can make it grainy or watery once heated.

The Cream Cheese Experts

• Jessica Furniss: Recipe developer and food photographer
• Sophie Frazier: Food stylist and pastry chef instructor at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education
• Stephanie Pixley: Chef and deputy food editor at America's Test Kitchen

Our All-Around Favorite Cream Cheese

Frazier trusts Philadelphia's Original Cream Cheese for all her baking and frosting needs. "I want a full-fat, creamy, and tangy cream cheese," she says. "It’s definitely one of the more expensive ones, but I think the cost is justified by its ease of use."

Frosting, she says, is where things get tricky: "One of the most tedious parts of making cream cheese frosting is making sure you get out all the lumps without over-mixing." Over-mixing weakens stabilizers, releasing moisture and turning frosting soupy. Her advice is to bring the cream cheese to room temperature, add it after creaming the butter and sugar, and scrape the bowl occasionally. Crushing stubborn lumps with a spatula beats over-mixing every time.

Furniss is equally devoted. "I always go for the Philadelphia Cream Cheese block. It has consistently delivered over the years when it comes to its smooth, rich texture and bright, creamy flavor. It always whips up fluffy and never has any issues with separation or breaking down." (For a snack, though, she swears by Walmart's Great Value Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Cream Cheese smeared on apple slices.)

Pixley calls herself "a Philadelphia gal," and she means it. While studying in Italy, she discovered the closest translation for cream cheese is formaggio spalmabile, meaning "spreadable cheese"—but most Italians simply call it Philadelphia. They cut to the chase and go straight for the reliable icon. For baking, she says, "brick cream cheese is really the best way to go. Whipped varieties have air incorporated into them, which can affect texture. The brick is much easier to measure, she adds.

Pixley warns bakers to "avoid Neufchâtel at all costs!" Its lower fat and higher moisture content lead to soft, grainy results, and the flavor can't compete.

The Best Plant-Based Alternative

Rebecca Schlosberg, MS, RDN, is a baker and culinary dietitian. She reaches for Tofutti, which she says "spreads very similarly to regular cream cheese." Nut-based options can be gritty, and coconut-based ones often impart an unwelcome aftertaste. For best results with dairy-free cream cheese, she recommends whipping it before folding it into frostings or batters so it blends smoothly.

The Best Cream Cheese on a Budget

While Philadelphia may rule the kitchen, your wallet may disagree. Trader Joe's brick cream cheese comes in at a modest $1.99 for eight ounces, but it doesn't skimp on texture or flavor. If you're looking for a budget-friendly stand-in that still behaves beautifully in both baking and cooking, this one's a solid swap.

Look for Philadelphia cream cheese in the dairy section at the grocery store. Tofutti is harder to find, though it's stocked at Fresh Thyme and some regional grocery chains. Trader Joe's cream cheese is, of course, a Trader Joe's exclusive.