Fromage Frais substitute

Best substitute

Fromage blanc

Use the same amount as the fromage frais you are replacing

Best for dips and dressings

Close match

Fromage blanc is the closest swap at 1:1, and full-fat quark is nearly as good. Otherwise use plain Greek yogurt 1:1 - it is tangier, so stir in a tablespoon of cream per half cup to soften the sourness. For sweet recipes and cheesecakes, whole-milk ricotta blitzed until completely smooth works well. Cream cheese thinned with milk is the supermarket fallback, but it is salted and much heavier, so use about 3/4 cream cheese to 1/4 milk and expect a denser result.

Other fromage frais substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Full-fat quark
Different taste
Use the same amount
Quark is the German and Eastern European version of the same drained fresh curd.
What changes
It is a little firmer and drier, with a clean, milky, almost neutral flavor, so a fruit fool or a dip made with it tastes slightly flatter and less lively. A teaspoon of lemon juice per half cup brings the brightness back.
Best for
baked cheesecakes, dips, creamy pasta sauces, pancake batters, fruit desserts
Quark holds up better in a warm sauce than yogurt does, because most of its free water has already been drained away.
3Plain Greek yogurt
Different taste
Use the same amount or ¾ cup Greek yogurt + 2 tablespoons cream for a closer match
Easy to find and the right thickness, but noticeably more sour.
What changes
A dessert made with plain Greek yogurt in place of fromage frais reads as tangy rather than creamy-mild, and in a savory dip it will dominate delicate herbs. Adding a spoon of cream or creme fraiche softens the acid and adds the fat fromage frais gets from being cream-enriched.
Best for
dips and dressings, no-bake desserts, toppings for fruit and cake, lighter baking
Use full-fat. Nonfat Greek yogurt is chalky and its acidity is much more aggressive, which shows badly in sweet recipes.
4Whole-milk ricotta, blended smooth
Different taste
Use the same amount
Straight from the tub ricotta is grainy and wrong, but 30 seconds in a food processor turns it silky and it becomes a genuinely good match: mild, faintly sweet, creamy rather than tangy.
What changes
The main difference from fromage frais is that it lacks any real sourness, so acid-forward recipes need a squeeze of lemon.
Best for
baked cheesecakes, sweet fillings and tarts, pasta fillings, dessert creams
Drain very wet ricotta in a sieve for 20 minutes first, or the extra whey will loosen your mixture.
5Cream cheese thinned with milk
Taste and texture differ
Use 1 cup fromage frais for every ¾ cup cream cheese + ¼ cup milk
The most widely available fallback and the least faithful one.
What changes
Cream cheese is salted, gums up around the tongue and carries far more fat, so a fruit fool made with it tastes rich and dense instead of light and fresh, and a savory dip needs its salt rechecked. Beat it soft first, then dribble the milk in.
Best for
cheesecakes, frostings, thick spreads and dips
Use the spreadable tub style rather than a foil-wrapped block, since block cream cheese has stabilizers that keep it stiff even when thinned.
6Cottage cheese, blended smooth
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount
Blend small-curd cottage cheese until no lumps remain and you get something close in tang and in protein, though slightly saltier and never quite as silky - there is usually a faint graininess left even after blending.
What changes
Best where it will be cooked or heavily flavored rather than eaten plain with fruit.
Best for
baked dishes and gratins, savory dips, high-protein swaps, pancake batters
Blend with a splash of milk to get it moving, and blend longer than feels necessary - 60 seconds, scraping down twice.

What is Fromage Frais?

Fromage Frais is Fromage frais is a soft, unaged French fresh cheese made by draining cultured milk curds, giving a smooth spoonable product that is milder than yogurt and much lighter than cream cheese.

Cooking tips

Fromage frais is doing the job of light creamy body plus a mild lactic tang. It is what British and Australian recipes reach for when they want the mouthfeel of cream without the fat, which is why swapping in cream cheese changes the character of the dish far more than swapping in yogurt does.
Fat percentage matters more than the name. Virtually fat-free fromage frais behaves like thick yogurt and can turn watery when whipped, while a cream-enriched pot behaves almost like a light mascarpone. Match the fat level of your substitute to the one the recipe assumes.
Never boil it or any of its low-fat substitutes. Fromage frais, quark and yogurt all curdle in a bubbling sauce because there is not enough fat to protect the proteins. Take the pan off the heat, stir it in, and serve.
Fromage frais will not whip to stiff peaks on its own. To lighten a mousse, whip a little cream separately and fold it in rather than trying to aerate the cheese itself.
It weeps if it sits. Assemble tarts, cheesecakes and dips with fromage frais or its substitutes close to serving, or drain the cheese in a sieve for half an hour first so there is less free liquid to escape.

Frequently asked questions

What is fromage frais and is it a cheese or a yogurt?

It is technically a fresh cheese - milk is cultured and the curds are drained - but it is unaged, unsalted and spoonable, so it sits somewhere between thick yogurt and cream cheese. Recipes usually treat it as a lighter alternative to cream. French labels sometimes call the little pots petit fromage frais.

Is fromage frais the same as fromage blanc?

Very nearly. Both are drained fresh curd cheeses and they swap 1:1 in any recipe. In practice fromage frais is more often sold with a little cream stirred back in, which makes it milder and richer, while fromage blanc tends to be leaner and slightly tarter.

Can I use Greek yogurt instead of fromage frais?

Yes, one for one, and it is the easiest swap in a US supermarket. The catch is acidity: Greek yogurt is markedly more sour, which is fine in a savory dip but obvious in a delicate fruit dessert. Stir a tablespoon of cream or creme fraiche into each half cup to bring it closer.

Can I leave fromage frais out of a recipe?

Usually not, because it is normally the creamy base rather than a seasoning - in a cheesecake, a dip or a fruit fool it is doing the structural work. If you have no fresh cheese or yogurt at all, lightly whipped cream with a squeeze of lemon is the nearest improvisation, and the result will be considerably richer.

Why is my fromage frais dessert runny?

Low-fat fromage frais holds a lot of water, and beating or sugaring it makes that water come out. Drain it in a sieve for 30 minutes before you start, fold rather than whisk, and use a higher-fat product or a spoon of whipped cream to give the mixture something to hold on to.

Related substitutes

More cheese substitutes

Fromage Frais substitute

Other fromage frais substitutes

2Full-fat quark

3Plain Greek yogurt

4Whole-milk ricotta, blended smooth

5Cream cheese thinned with milk

6Cottage cheese, blended smooth