Neufchâtel Cheese vs. Cream Cheese: How the Cheeses Differ

The Neufchâtel cheese in grocery stores today bears some resemblance to its original version, but with a few differences. Traditional Neufchâtel, which dates back to the sixth century and is the oldest cheese in France, is a cow’s milk cheese that often comes in a heart shape. When the soft cheese ripens, French Neufchâtel develops a soft, edible rind like that found on Brie or Camembert cheese

Neufchâtel cheese takes its name from the maritime commune of Neufchâtel-en-Bray in Normandy. In France, Neufchâtel receives an AOC certificate (AOC stands for “appellation d'origine contrôlée,” or “Controlled Designation of Origin"), meaning the product is true Neufchâtel from approved regions in France. This type of regulation is similar to that for Champagne and Prosecco, alcoholic beverages that come from specific regions of France and Italy, respectively. In the United States, there is also a version of Neufchâtel cheese known as American Neufchâtel, which more closely resembles generic cream cheese.

Cream cheese is a soft, spreadable cheese with origins in the United States. In the late 1800s, William Lawrence, a dairyman in New York, created the first cream cheese after buying a Neufchâtel factory and adding cream to the cheesemaking process. This cream cheese—sometimes dubbed “American cream cheese” or “regular cream cheese”—cannot bear a Neufchâtel label, as it doesn’t hail from France, where Neufchâtel cheese originates.

It is not incorrect to say cream cheese is the American version of French Neufchâtel. But the two cheeses are not the same thing, even though they taste similar and you can swap one for the other in most recipes, like in cream cheese frosting and cheesecake. Cream cheese does not mature at all and is a fresh cheese that you should treat as such.

French Neufchâtel cheese and cream cheese contain similar ingredients, but their production processes differ. Namely, cream cheese involves cream and pasteurization while Neufchâtel involves neither.

To make regular cream cheese, a cheesemaker adds lactic acid to pasteurized whole milk and cream to aid in forming curds. The cheesemaker drains the curds away from the whey and heats them. In a commercial setting, a cheesemaker also adds stabilizers like guar gum or carrageenan to help set the cream cheese. For homemade cream cheese, you can use an acid like lemon juice to form the curds plus rennet to stabilize the cheese. Homemade cream cheese has a much shorter shelf life than store-bought varieties, which already have a short shelf life due to the fresh cheese nature of cream cheese.

Neufchâtel requires an almost identical production process to cream cheese but uses only milk and no cream. In traditional Neufchâtel cheesemaking, once the cheese has started to set, the cheesemaker wraps it in a soft rind to promote natural mold growth and to produce a natural, edible rind. The Neufchâtel then matures for six to eight weeks before it’s consumable. The longer the aging process, the firmer the cheese becomes. But it remains a fresh cheese that you should eat fairly soon after production.

French Neufchâtel cheese and cream cheese are both tangy, unripened white cheeses. They can complement sweet and savory dishes well. However, there are a handful of key differences between both of these spreadable dairy products, including:

1. 1. Cream cheese has a higher fat content. For a product to be cream cheese, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must determine that it contains at least thirty-three percent milk fat with no more than fifty-five percent moisture content. Neufchâtel doesn’t have to adhere to the same guidelines. Neufchâtel must contain more than twenty percent milk fat but less than thirty-three percent milk fat, and it must have a maximum moisture content of sixty-five percent. This means Neufchâtel always contains less fat and usually a higher moisture content than cream cheese.
2. 2. Cream cheese is more widely available. French Neufchâtel originates only in France and is hard to come by outside of that country. This is because its production involves raw cow’s milk, which is illegal in the United States and many other countries. By comparison, regular cream cheese production takes place in a multitude of countries around the world.
3. 3. Neufchâtel cheese uses only milk. Neufchâtel production uses raw cow’s milk, also called unpasteurized cow’s milk, although production outside of France usually uses pasteurized cow’s milk. Utilizing just milk in the process results in a lower fat content. Regular cream cheese, on the other hand, introduces cream into the mixture, which results in its higher fat content.
4. 4. Neufchâtel has a grainier texture. While cream cheese is soft and smooth like a mascarpone cheese, Neufchâtel has a grainy texture that is similar to Italian ricotta cheese but not as extreme as cottage cheese curds. Neufchâtel will have this noticeably grainier texture at any temperature, however both cheeses are spreadable at cold and room temperatures. Both are viable options for toppings, bagel spreads, and frostings.
5. 5. Traditional French Neufchâtel is tangier. As French Neufchâtel matures, it takes on a tangier taste than regular cream cheese does, as the latter does not spend time maturing. The edible rind on Neufchâtel adds a bit of a tangy, funky flavor as well.

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