Decide on the dish before you pick the store. For lasagna or stuffed shells, any supermarket ricotta cheese with a short label will do, and Walmart, Kroger, or Target will have it in the dairy case. For cannoli, crostini, or a spoonful on toast, it is worth a trip to an Italian deli or a Whole Foods cheese counter for a hand-dipped basket. Everything below follows from that one choice.
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What Ricotta Cheese Is, and Why the Tub Differs From the Basket
Ricotta is a fresh Italian whey cheese made by recooking the leftover whey from mozzarella or provolone production, which is what the name means: recooked. Heat and acid coagulate the remaining proteins (mostly whey proteins, with some casein when milk is added) into soft, creamy white curds with a slightly sweet finish. It began as a resourceful byproduct of cheesemaking in Sicily and Sardinia. Most American tubs now use milk and whey together, or milk instead of whey entirely, for a richer, more dense curd.
Who buys it? Cooks building baked pasta, ravioli, manicotti, and pizza; bakers filling pastry shells; and anyone who wants a mild, high-protein spread for toast with fresh herbs. Ounce for ounce it carries less sodium than aged types like parmesan or cheddar, which explains the culinary range from savory trays to dessert. One wrinkle strict vegetarians run into: a whey-based tub starts from cheese that was set with animal rennet, so look for a milk-only or vegetarian-rennet label. The Wikipedia entry on ricotta covers the Sicily and Sardinia backstory.
Read the Label Before the Price Tag
A good tub has a short ingredient list, a curd that holds its shape on a spoon, and a fat grade matched to the dish. Going by the panels grocers reproduce online, the best-known brands split cleanly on gums.
| Brand (full-fat tub) | Listed ingredients | Added gums |
|---|---|---|
| BelGioioso Ricotta con Latte | Whey, cream, milk, vinegar, salt | None |
| Polly-O | Milk, whey, cream, vinegar, salt | None |
| Calabro Hand-Dipped | Whole milk, vinegar, salt | None |
| Galbani | Whey, milk, vinegar | Xanthan, locust bean, guar |
Whole Milk Versus Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese
Whole milk ricotta is the richer option and the one most classic recipes assume; that richness carries raw uses like cannoli cream or a dollop over pasta. The skim grade is leaner and bakes to a firmer set, so a tray slices cleanly, but it tastes flat eaten straight. Nonfat turns chalky and weeps water.
Stabilizers, Gums, and the “Style” Trap
Gums such as xanthan, locust bean, and guar get added because fresh cheese has a short shelf life and sheds liquid in transit. They mute flavor and can set gummy once baked. Ultra-pasteurized tubs, processed at high temperature for a longer date, also lose some of the sweet cream note. A thin layer of liquid on top of a gum-free tub is normal; stir it back in or pour it off. Anything sold as ricotta “style” or “blend” is a bigger warning: a hedged name usually means milk powder and stabilizers cut in to hit a price point, and the curd bakes flat and rubbery.
Where to Buy Ricotta Cheese in Stores
Walmart
Walmart, the largest grocery seller in the United States, carries the broadest everyday lineup: Great Value, Galbani, Frigo, and Polly-O, in the refrigerated dairy aisle beside the cream cheese. Check the Walmart selection page first if you want a specific brand, since neighborhood-format stores carry a thinner mix.
Target
Target keeps a house-brand tub plus a national label, the fastest stop when you need one 15-ounce container for a weeknight tray. The Market Pantry listing confirms local stock.
Kroger, Publix, and Regional Chains
Kroger, Publix, Safeway, Albertsons, H-E-B, Meijer, and Wegmans each stock a store label alongside Galbani and Polly-O. If a supermarket carries sheep’s milk or imported ricotta at all, it sits at the full-service cheese counter, not in the dairy aisle, so ask there.
Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, and the Clubs
Whole Foods Market lists Calabro hand-dipped ricotta and Polly-O; check the specialty cheese case before deciding a store does not stock it. Trader Joe’s rotates a house tub. Sprouts leans to smaller producers. Costco, Sam’s Club, and BJ’s sell larger tubs or multipacks (BJ’s lists a Polly-O three-pack), which pay off only for a crowd, because ricotta is perishable once opened.
Fresh Basket, Sheep’s Milk, and Buffalo Ricotta
Fresh basket ricotta is curd ladled by hand into perforated containers so the whey keeps draining, which leaves a fluffy, irregular curd that holds up on crostini. Neighborhood Italian delis are where these baskets show up, often made that morning. Call ahead, since batches are small, and ask what day the cheesemaker delivers. Before Christmas and Easter, expect thin supply.
Sheep’s milk ricotta, sold as ricotta di pecora, runs tangier and firmer than cow milk tubs. The best-known example is Ricotta Romana, a protected-origin (PDO) sheep’s whey ricotta from the Lazio region around Rome. Water buffalo ricotta is the richest of the three and rare in the US; Calabro makes a ricotta di bufala that Murray’s Cheese sells. One tip we give readers hunting these: ask whether the tub is fresh or previously frozen, since some imported ricotta ships frozen and thaws a little grainy.
Do not confuse any of these with ricotta salata, the pressed, salted, aged version made for grating. If you are building a full Italian or Latin American cheese board, our cotija cheese guide covers another crumbly grating cheese that sits in a different part of the store.
Ordering Ricotta Online Without a Warm Box
Online, only cold-chain grocery works: Amazon Fresh, Instacart, Shipt, Walmart.com, Target.com, and specialty shippers that pack with ice.
Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market on Amazon
Where delivery reaches you, same-day grocery on Amazon #ad covers BelGioioso, Galbani, Polly-O, and 365 by Whole Foods Market in refrigerated delivery. Shelf-stable pouches sold as ambient groceries on the main site are a different product, so stay inside the Fresh or Whole Foods storefronts.
Instacart, Shipt, and Store Pickup
Instacart pulls from Kroger, Publix, Costco, Wegmans, and Sprouts. Shipt covers Target and a rotating set of regional grocers, so check which chains serve your ZIP code before you build a cart. Take the earliest delivery slot and ask the shopper to grab the latest date on the lid. Walmart.com and Target.com also do same-day pickup, which keeps the tub coldest.
iGourmet, Murray’s, and Direct From the Producer
For imported and specialty styles, iGourmet’s selection ships perishables in insulated packaging, Murray’s Cheese ships Calabro’s cow and buffalo ricotta, and Antonelli’s Cheese Shop in Austin ships nationally. Order Monday through Wednesday so nothing sits in a carrier warehouse over a weekend.
Safety: Recalls, Storage, and When to Toss It
Fresh ricotta is a high-moisture, low-acid cheese, which gives Listeria more room to grow than a dry, aged wheel does. The most recent US case: in June 2026, Clover Hill Dairy of Mechanicsville, Maryland, recalled its soft ricotta (requesón) and then all of its cheese after the FDA outbreak investigation linked it to 15 illnesses in four states and one death. Because the cheese was relabeled under other brand names, the FDA told shoppers to check for permit number 24-128. CDC has since declared that outbreak over, but the lesson holds: buy from a store with steady turnover, and be cautious with relabeled soft cheese if you are pregnant or cooking for someone older or immunocompromised.
- Keep it cold. USDA guidance is to hold the refrigerator at 40°F or below. Store the tub at the back of a shelf, not in the door, and keep it out of room temperature while you assemble.
- Finish it fast. Plan to use an opened tub within about a week, with a clean spoon each time.
- Toss, do not trim. USDA advice on moldy food is to discard soft cheeses with mold rather than cutting it away, because mold threads spread through a soft, wet curd.
- Skip bulging lids. A domed lid means fermentation started, and pooled liquid well past a thin surface film means the curd is breaking down.
- Freeze only for baking. Freezing bursts the curd and it thaws grainy. Fine buried in baked ziti, useless raw.
Where Paying More Is Worth It
Store brands cost the least, national brands a step more, and hand-dipped baskets the most per ounce. Compare unit prices on the shelf tag, since prices move by region and store format.
| Tier | Best use | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Store brand | Lasagna, baked ziti | Often gum-stabilized, fine under sauce |
| National brand | Everyday cooking, stuffed shells | Cleaner labels, consistent curd |
| Hand-dipped basket | Crostini, cannoli, tomato salad | No gums, fluffy curd, best served raw |
Here is where paying more is wasted: any dish where the ricotta ends up under sauce. In a heavily sauced lasagna, an artisan basket tastes like a supermarket tub out of the oven. Spend the premium on crostini or a spoonful over sliced tomato with an herb or two. We tell readers the same thing about homemade. To make ricotta at home, heat the milk just short of a boil, add citric acid or vinegar, let the white curds clump, then strain the curds through a fine cloth. Homemade wins on freshness, not on cost.
Our Ricotta Picks
These five picks come from comparing ingredient panels, fat grades, and stocking breadth across the retailers above.
Best overall: BelGioioso Whole Milk Ricotta. Wisconsin-made with no gums, with a sweet curd that bakes clean. Check BelGioioso on Amazon #ad.
Best budget: Polly-O Original. The classic New York supermarket tub. Kraft Heinz sold it to Lactalis with its natural cheese business, and Lactalis sold Polly-O to BelGioioso in 2021 to satisfy a Justice Department antitrust review. Still widely stocked and dependable for a weeknight tray. Find Polly-O on Amazon #ad.
Best artisan: Calabro Hand-Dipped. Made in East Haven, Connecticut, from a three-ingredient recipe, with a pillowy curd best eaten with olive oil, sea salt, and grilled bread. Shop Calabro on Amazon #ad.
Best organic: Organic Valley. The farmer-owned cooperative’s whole milk tub lists only three ingredients on its own product page, and it turns up at Whole Foods Market and ShopRite. See Organic Valley on Amazon #ad.
Best for baking: Galbani Part-Skim. Galbani builds stabilizers into its tubs (the whole milk panel lists three gums), which keep the curd drier, so less liquid pools in a baked tray. Made by Lactalis and stocked almost everywhere. Find Galbani on Amazon #ad.
Start with the label: full-fat for anything raw or sweet, the leaner grade for anything baked, and no more than four or five ingredients either way. If your store stocks only gum-thickened tubs, order ricotta cheese through Amazon Fresh or Instacart from a chain carrying BelGioioso or Calabro, or drive to an Italian deli on a Saturday morning. Pairing notes from our other guides: build a tray with fresh pasta sheets, finish cannoli with mascarpone, bake it into a cheesecake, and keep cheesecloth handy to drain a tub that arrives wet.
Ricotta Questions, Answered
Is ricotta cheese the same as cottage cheese?
No. Cottage cheese is a drained, curdled milk product with large, distinct curds and a salty tang. Ricotta starts from whey, so the curd is finer, sweeter, and smoother. It also releases far more liquid in a baked tray, so swapping one for the other rarely works unless you drain and blend the substitute first.
Was Polly-O discontinued?
No. Polly-O changed owners, not names. BelGioioso bought the brand from Lactalis in 2021 and still sells Polly-O ricotta in supermarkets and warehouse clubs. The brand that did disappear is Sorrento, which Lactalis renamed Galbani.
Why does my stomach hurt after eating it?
Fresh cheese holds far more lactose than aged wheels like parmesan, where months of aging consume most of the milk sugar. Portion size compounds that: a lasagna layer spreads one tub across eight servings, while a bowl with honey is a much larger dairy load in one sitting.
Is ricotta salata the same thing?
No. Ricotta salata is the pressed, salted, aged version, firm enough for grating over pasta or shaving onto a tomato salad. In use it sits closer to queso fresco or feta than to the soft tub in the cold case, and it is stocked with the specialty cheeses, not beside the tubs.
Are store-brand tubs worth buying?
Often, yes. Great Value, Kroger’s private label, and 365 by Whole Foods Market all turn out usable tubs at a real discount to the national brands. Flip it over first: gum-stabilized store brands bake into a gummier set than a clean-label brand.
Editorial Note
When we checked grocer product listings, Polly-O acquisition coverage, and the FDA outbreak notice in October 2026, we updated the ingredient table and picks, and we dropped dollar price ranges because they vary too much by region to state reliably. No medical professional reviewed this page.