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Dairy · Cheese

Quark Cheese: Nutrition, Benefits & How to Make It

What quark cheese is and how it's made, its nutrition by fat level, how it compares with Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, what the protein research shows, and how to make and use it at home.

By Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS·16-min read
Meet the Medical Advisory Board
Evidence-based41 sources citedUpdated October 21, 2026
Published Oct 21, 2026Last updated Oct 21, 2026Editorial policyMedical review policyFact-checking policy
A wooden bowl of fresh, crumbly white quark with a wooden spoon on a green checked cloth
Quark ranges from smooth and spoonable to dry and crumbly.
The Dr. Axe Score™
5.5/10
Overall Dr. Axe Score · Quark Cheese

Plain quark scores 5.5 as a high-protein, low-salt cultured dairy with one direct human trial and strong composition data.

Scientific Evidence
4.8/10
One industry-funded trial fed people quark itself (29 men, one session); the rest comes from casein, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese studies.[16][15]
Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory
4.4/10
Live lactic acid cultures and, in full-fat quark, vitamin A; no trial has measured inflammation after eating quark.
Clinical Effectiveness
6.6/10
A high-protein, low-salt cultured food that fits a protein-at-every-meal approach; most quark is cow's milk and it still carries lactose.
Nutrient Density
6.4/10
A USDA whole-milk quark label gives about 11 grams of protein per 100 calories (10.67 g protein, 93 calories per 100 g) with 33 mg sodium per 100 g, against about 11 grams per 100 calories and 315 mg sodium in USDA creamed cottage cheese.[5][8]
Why this score?
Why Quark Cheese scores 5.5 / 10

    Weighting: Evidence 30% · Antioxidant & Anti-Inflammatory 25% · Clinical Effectiveness 25% · Nutrient Density 20% (4.8×0.30 + 4.4×0.25 + 6.6×0.25 + 6.4×0.20 = 1.44 + 1.10 + 1.65 + 1.28 = 5.47, shown as 5.5). How we score

    A transparent, weighted index built for foods. See how it’s calculated →
    Dr. Josh Axe · Free quiz

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    Quark cheese at a glance

    Quark cheese is a fresh, unaged cultured cheese, spoonable like thick yogurt, and yes, it's good for you: a good source of protein, naturally low in salt, and made with live cultures.1341012 Choose it plain and full-fat, ideally from goat or sheep milk.

    • Protein runs from about 7 grams per 100 grams in full-fat quark to about 11 to 15 grams in low-fat quark.
    • Sodium is about 29 to 45 milligrams per 100 grams, far below cottage cheese.
    • In a single-session trial, quark with 30 grams of protein raised muscle protein building in 14 young and 15 older men.16 Related research covers casein, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese.192120
    • You can make it at home from milk and a cultured starter in about two days.

    Quark is a fresh, unaged soft cheese made when lactic acid bacteria sour milk until its casein sets into a soft curd, and the whey drains away.101112 It's a good source of protein and naturally low in salt.134 I recommend choosing it full-fat and, when you can find or make it, from goat or sheep milk.3640

    On my show, I walk through 10 biblical superfoods, and the tenth is fermented dairy, typically cultured goat milk or cultured sheep milk.36 I teach that the best dairy is the lacto-fermented kind, the family quark belongs to: yogurt, kefir, hard cheeses, cultured cream cheese, cottage cheese and cultured cream.40

    Goats and sheep only have A2 casein. You might have noticed that your body tolerates sheep milk yogurt or goat cheese better than it does cow's milk, and if that's the case, stick to the sheep and goat's milk.Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNSFrom The Bible's Grocery List: 10 Foods That Slow How Fast You Age, The Dr. Josh Axe Show (2026), at 31:50

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    Did you know?

    • Quark is very popular in many European countries, where it is sorted by fat in the dry matter, from low-fat to full-fat.1013

    • Researchers have made quark from kefir and from buttermilk churned from yogurt, without any added starter culture.12

    • Whole-milk quark ranges from 9.0% to 17.2% fat, so the fat level on the label changes what you get.10

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    What is quark?

    Quick answer

    Quark is a fresh, unaged soft cheese made by souring milk with lactic acid bacteria until the casein sets, often helped by a little rennet, then draining off the whey.101112 It tastes mildly tart and spoons like thick yogurt, or crumbles when drained longer.

    The starter bacteria are mainly Lactococcus lactis, and the milk sets at about pH 4.6 to 4.8.12 English uses the German name, quark. In Germany the lean kind is Magerquark.4 Close cousins sold in the U.S. include cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, skyr and farmer's cheese.

    Job reached for this same picture of milk setting into cheese: "Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?" (Job 10:10).35 Fermented dairy has a place in the biblical diet.36

    Most quark in stores starts as cow's milk, and quark-style acid-curd cheese can also be made from goat's milk.13

    Quark nutrition facts

    Quick answer

    How much protein quark carries depends on its fat level: from about 7 grams per 100 grams in full-fat quark to about 11 to 15 grams in low-fat quark.134 Quark is naturally low in salt, at about 29 to 45 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams.134

    Swiss Food Composition Database records for plain quark by fat level, and the UK CoFID record for skimmed-milk quark (10 samples). Europe grades quark by fat in the dry matter.1234

    Per 100 gFull-fat quarkHalf-fat quarkLow-fat quarkUK Magerquark
    Calories183996174
    Protein6.9 g9.4 g10.6 g14.6 g
    Fat15.6 g5 g0.2 gtrace
    Carbohydrate3.7 g4.1 g4.2 g4.0 g
    Calcium93 mg110 mg110 mg120 mg
    Sodium29 mg32 mg33 mg45 mg
    Vitamin A (RAE; UK value retinol equivalent)160 µg52 µg3 µg2 µg
    Riboflavin0.3 mg0.41 mg0.39 mg0.30 mg
    Vitamin B120.38 µg0.47 µg0.42 µg0.7 µg

    A 150-gram serving, about a small tub, of low-fat quark gives 15.9 to 21.9 grams of protein, 32% to 44% of the daily value, with riboflavin at 35% to 45% and vitamin B12 at 26% to 44%.34 The same serving of full-fat quark gives 10.4 grams of protein.1 Full-fat quark carries vitamin A, 160 micrograms per 100 grams, which low-fat quark loses with the cream.13

    A whole-milk quark sold in the U.S. lists 140 calories, 16 grams of protein and 6 grams of fat per 150 grams on its label, with pasteurized whole milk and cultures as its ingredients.5 Fat levels vary by product, so the label decides. With about 4 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams, plain quark also fits a keto diet food list in ordinary servings.134

    Quark vs. Greek yogurt vs. cottage cheese

    Quick answer

    Quark sits between Greek yogurt and cottage cheese: spoonable like yogurt, curd-based like cottage cheese, and far lower in salt than cottage cheese, at about 29 to 33 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams against 315.138 Protein per 100 grams is similar across low-fat quark, nonfat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese, at 10.2 to 11.1 grams.389

    Per 100 gFull-fat quark (Swiss)Low-fat quark (Swiss)Greek yogurt, whole milk (USDA)Greek yogurt, nonfat (USDA)Cottage cheese, creamed (USDA)
    Calories18361975998
    Protein6.9 g10.6 g9.0 g10.2 g11.1 g
    Fat15.6 g0.2 g5.0 g0.39 g4.3 g
    Calcium93 mg110 mg100 mg110 mg83 mg
    Sodium29 mg33 mg35 mg36 mg315 mg

    Sources: Swiss database13 and USDA FoodData Central.689 A USDA Foundation record for whole-milk Greek yogurt lists similar values, with 2.61 grams of lactose per 100 grams.7 All three foods carry a few grams of lactose per 100 grams.4789 Skyr is an Icelandic strained cultured dairy.

    Quark carries about a tenth of the sodium of cottage cheese

    Quark carries about a tenth of the sodium of cottage cheesePlain products, sodium per 100 grams, from national food databases. Cottage cheese, creamed (USDA): 315 mg sodium per 100 g; Greek yogurt, plain, whole milk (USDA): 35 mg sodium per 100 g; Low-fat quark (Swiss database): 33 mg sodium per 100 g; Full-fat quark (Swiss database): 29 mg sodium per 100 gPlain products, sodium per 100 grams, from national fooddatabasesCottage cheese,creamed (USDA)315 mg sodium per 100 gGreek yogurt,plain, wholemilk (USDA)35 mg sodium per 100 gLow-fat quark(Swiss database)33 mg sodium per 100 gFull-fat quark(Swiss database)29 mg sodium per 100 g
    Source: Swiss Food Composition Database (FSVO), quark records 351173 and 351862; USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy 171304 and 172179 [1, 3, 6, 8]Database values for plain products; brands vary, so the label decides. 315 milligrams is 14% of the daily value; 29 to 33 milligrams is about 1%.

    What your body does with quark's protein

    1Milk sets into casein curd.

    Lactic acid bacteria sour the milk until its casein gels; the watery whey drains off, so quark is mostly casein.1012

    2Casein digests slowly.

    In tracer studies, casein released amino acids into the blood as a long, moderate plateau, apparently because it leaves the stomach slowly; whey gave a fast, short spike.17

    3Less protein breakdown.

    Whole-body protein breakdown fell 34% after casein, not after whey, and the net protein balance over 7 hours came out better with casein.17

    4Muscles build in younger and older men.

    In a single-session trial of 29 men, after quark with 30 grams of protein, muscle protein building rose at rest and rose further in an exercised leg, as much in men 65 to 85 as in men 18 to 35.16

    5Even overnight.

    In a randomized trial of older men, casein before bed raised overnight muscle protein building.19

    Quark benefits: what the research shows

    Quick answer

    Quark's best-supported benefits are its protein, its help with fullness between meals, its live cultures, and its naturally low salt and carbohydrate. In a single-session trial that fed 29 men quark, 30 grams of its protein raised muscle protein building as much in men 65 to 85 as in men 18 to 35.16

    For most people, I recommend at least 30 to 40 grams of protein three times a day.39 A 150-gram serving of low-fat quark gives about 16 to 22 grams toward that meal target, and full-fat quark about 10 grams.134 See how much protein per day for the full picture.

    1

    Protein that builds muscle

    Emerging evidenceHuman studyParallel-group trial · 29 men · one session, plus casein and Greek yogurt trials

    Fourteen young men (18 to 35) and 15 older men (65 to 85) ate enough quark to get 30 grams of protein after a single-leg workout, in a dairy-industry-funded trial in which both groups ate quark with no comparison food. Muscle protein building rose about 70% at rest in both groups, from 0.030 to 0.051 %/h in young men and from 0.036 to 0.062 %/h in older men, and further in the exercised leg to 0.071 and 0.078 %/h, with no difference between young and older men.16 That matters with age, when sarcopenia, muscle loss, becomes a concern.

    Greek yogurt has a training trial. In a randomized trial of 30 untrained young men in a 12-week lifting program, 15 men in each group ate fat-free plain Greek yogurt (20 grams of protein a serving, 2 to 3 times a day) or a carbohydrate pudding with the same calories. Combined 1-rep max strength rose from 357 to 455 kg (+98) with yogurt, against 379 to 435 kg (+57) with pudding; biceps thickness rose +0.46 vs +0.12 cm, and fat-free mass +2.4 vs +1.3 kg. The yogurt group also ate about 39 grams more protein a day, and the maker donated the yogurt.21

    Casein before bed has its own trials. In a randomized trial in which neither the men nor the researchers knew who got what, 48 older men were split into four groups; 40 grams of casein before sleep raised overnight muscle protein building to 0.044 %/h, against 0.033 %/h on placebo, and 20-gram doses didn't move it beyond placebo.19 In a placebo-controlled trial of 44 young men lifting for 12 weeks, a nightly casein-rich drink raised strength by 164 kg, against 130 kg with a noncaloric placebo.18

    As I said on my show, casein is found in greater amounts in cottage cheese, and the evening or night is probably the best time to take it for a slow, sustained drip.38 Quark is casein-rich in the same way.

    Study takeaway: quark with 30 grams of protein raised muscle protein building at rest and after exercise, as much in men 65 to 85 as in men 18 to 35.

    Young men eating Greek yogurt gained 98 kg on their combined lifts, vs 57 kg on a pudding

    Young men eating Greek yogurt gained 98 kg on their combined lifts, vs 57 kg on a pudding30 untrained young men · 12 weeks of lifting · fat-free plain Greek yogurt (20 g protein a serving) 2-3 times a day vs a carbohydrate pudding with the same calories. Start: Greek yogurt 357 kg, combined 1-rep max of 4 lifts, Carbohydrate pudding 379 kg, combined 1-rep max of 4 lifts; 12 weeks: Greek yogurt 455 kg, combined 1-rep max of 4 lifts, Carbohydrate pudding 435 kg, combined 1-rep max of 4 lifts30 untrained young men · 12 weeks of lifting · fat-freeplain Greek yogurt (20 g protein a serving) 2-3 times a dayvs a carbohydrate pudding with the same calories357455Greek yogurt (kg, combined 1-rep max of 4 lifts)379435Carbohydrate pudding (kg, combined 1-rep max of4 lifts)Start12 weeks
    Source: Bridge A et al. · Frontiers in Nutrition, 2019 (Table 1) [21]Combined strength on four lifts after 12 weeks of training with Greek yogurt or a carbohydrate pudding.
    2

    Fullness between meals

    Emerging evidenceHuman studyRandomized trials · 15 to 60 adults · Greek yogurt and dairy preloads

    In 15 healthy women, each of whom tried every snack, a 160-calorie Greek yogurt snack with 24 grams of protein held off the next meal until 178 minutes, against 124 minutes with no snack, 152 with a 5-gram snack and 158 with a 14-gram snack; hunger was lower and fullness higher after the 24-gram snack than the 5-gram snack.22 Pooled feeding studies find that higher-protein meals leave people fuller than lower-protein ones.23

    Dairy preloads point the same way. In randomized trials in which each person tried water, skim milk, whole milk, Greek yogurt and cheddar, with 60 and 58 young and older adults, all dairy servings reduced 3-hour appetite 8% to 17% more than water, and Greek yogurt reduced it 9% more than skim milk.24 The later of these trials was dairy-industry-funded.25 As a high-protein, spoonable dairy, quark fits the same snack pattern; see high-protein snacks.

    Study takeaway: a Greek yogurt snack with 24 grams of protein held off the next meal almost an hour longer than skipping a snack.

    3

    Live cultures

    Emerging evidenceIn vitro (lab)Lab-made quark · 2 batches per type; Dutch diet study · 34 adults

    In lab-made quark from pasteurized cow's milk set at 35 °C, Lactococcus counts on day 1 were 7.79 log CFU/g when set with a dairy culture, 7.05 when made from kefir and 7.26 when made from buttermilk churned from yogurt, and on day 14 of cold storage they were 6.19, 5.43 and 6.22 (2 batches each).12 On that log scale, 7 is about 10 million bacteria per gram and 6 about 1 million. Versions heated to 100 °C while the curd set started lower on day 1, at 7.32, 6.54 and 6.76, and by day 14 measured 6.39, 6.42 and 6.70, similar to or higher than the unheated versions.12 Check the label for live cultures.

    In a study of 34 Dutch adults' diets, quark and fresh cheese supplied about 14 percent of the live lactic acid bacteria people ate, behind yogurt and cheese.14 Quark belongs with the other fermented foods and probiotic foods as a source of live cultures in the diet.

    Study takeaway: freshly made quark carried about 10 million lactic acid bacteria per gram in lab testing.

    Lab-made quark still carried live cultures after two weeks cold

    Lab-made quark still carried live cultures after two weeks coldLactococcus counts in quark made in a lab from cultured skim milk, kefir or buttermilk churned from yogurt, all cow's milk, set at 35 °C, 2 batches each. Day 1: Set with a dairy culture 7.79 log CFU per gram (Lactococcus), Made from kefir 7.05 log CFU per gram (Lactococcus), Made from buttermilk churned from yogurt 7.26 log CFU per gram (Lactococcus); Day 14: Set with a dairy culture 6.19 log CFU per gram (Lactococcus), Made from kefir 5.43 log CFU per gram (Lactococcus), Made from buttermilk churned from yogurt 6.22 log CFU per gram (Lactococcus)Lactococcus counts in quark made in a lab from cultured skimmilk, kefir or buttermilk churned from yogurt, all cow'smilk, set at 35 °C, 2 batches each7.796.19Set with a dairy culture (log CFU per gram(Lactococcus))7.055.43Made from kefir (log CFU per gram (Lactococcus))7.266.22Made from buttermilk churned from yogurt (logCFU per gram (Lactococcus))Day 1Day 14
    Source: Ozturkoglu-Budak S et al. · Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2021 (Table 2) [12]Lactococcus counts fell over 14 days of cold storage in all three lab-made quarks set at 35 °C.
    4

    Naturally low in salt and carbs

    Strong evidenceComposition · Swiss and UK national databases

    Plain quark carries about 29 to 45 milligrams of sodium and about 4 grams of carbohydrate per 100 grams across fat levels.1234 No added salt or sugar is needed to make it, which is why plain quark, rather than flavored fruit quark, is the everyday choice.

    Study takeaway: plain quark gives you cultured dairy protein with about 1% to 2% of the daily value for sodium per 100 grams.

    5

    Riboflavin, B12 and phosphorus

    Strong evidenceComposition · Swiss and UK national databases

    Per 150 grams, quark gives riboflavin at 35% to 47% of the daily value, vitamin B12 at 24% to 44%, phosphorus up to 24% and calcium at 11% to 14%, depending on fat level and record.1234 Calcium supports your bones as part of the whole diet.

    Study takeaway: a small tub of quark covers about a third to nearly half of your daily riboflavin.

    Which quark should you buy?

    Quick answer

    Buy plain, full-fat quark with live cultures, ideally made from goat or sheep milk, and skip flavored, sweetened quark. Cultured A2 cow's quark is an option if you tolerate it.

    I tolerate goat's milk in small amounts pretty well, but I don't do as well with cow's milk.36 Soft goat cheese and sheep cheese sit on my eat list, while non-A2 cow dairy and low-fat or fat-free cheese sit on the avoid side.40 When you buy any dairy, I recommend the full-fat version.40 Low-fat quark carries more protein per 100 grams, and full-fat quark carries more vitamin A.13

    In one trial in which each person tried both milks and neither the people nor the researchers knew which was which, 45 Han Chinese adults with self-reported milk intolerance had fewer digestive symptoms on milk with only A2 milk casein than on milk with both A1 and A2 casein over 14 days each; the trial was co-authored by an A2 milk company.33 Compared with A2-only milk, the milk with both A1 and A2 casein brought higher inflammation-related blood markers and longer gut transit times.33 If sheep or goat dairy sits better for you, stick with it.36

    Look for quark in the dairy case of larger groceries and natural-food stores, at European delis and at farmers markets. For a dairy-free swap, coconut yogurt or coconut kefir fills the same spoonable spot.

    How to make quark at home

    Quick answer

    Warm 2 cups of whole goat's milk to a simmer, cool it, stir in ½ cup of plain goat's milk kefir or plain cultured buttermilk, leave it covered at room temperature about a day until thick, then drain it overnight in cheesecloth in the fridge. It makes about a cup and keeps up to four days covered in the fridge.34

    This recipe is adapted from a tested cow's-milk recipe, which stirs cultured buttermilk into warmed milk as the starter.34 Using goat's milk kefir in place of the buttermilk is this page's adaptation. Researchers have also made quark from kefir itself.12 Goat acid-curd cheese is made the same general way.13

    1. Pour 2 cups of whole goat's milk (or sheep's milk) into a heavy stainless pan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
    2. Take it off the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
    3. Stir in ½ cup of plain goat's milk kefir or plain cultured buttermilk.
    4. Pour it into a glass or ceramic container, cover it, and leave it at room temperature about a day, until it thickens like yogurt.
    5. Spoon it into a cheesecloth-lined strainer over a bowl and drain it overnight in the refrigerator, until the whey runs clear.
    6. Spoon the quark into a covered container. It keeps up to four days in the fridge.34

    Step 1 heats the milk to a simmer, so pasteurized milk or raw milk from a farm you know and trust both work here. Add a pinch of salt or chopped herbs if you like; the tested recipe includes neither.34

    How to use quark

    Spoon quark into a breakfast bowl with berries and ground flax, the way my meal plans use Greek yogurt or kefir.41 A high-protein yogurt bowl works with quark in place of the yogurt. Stir herbs and garlic into quark for a dip, spread it on sourdough, stir it into eggs, bake it into cheesecake, or swap it for sour cream or cream cheese in baking. If you sweeten a bowl, raw local honey, a teaspoon to a tablespoon, is enough.

    My mom's cancer recovery came through nutrition and lifestyle alongside her medical care, and one of the things she incorporated was the Budwig protocol: a meal of flax oil and quark, a fermented dairy you can think of like cottage cheese or goat's milk kefir. For her, we went out to the country and bought raw organic goat's milk kefir, and she mixed a bunch of flax meal into it and ate it daily.37

    Quark side effects and who should skip it

    Quick answer

    Skip quark entirely with a milk allergy. With lactose intolerance, a small serving often sits fine, since a 150-gram serving carries about 6 grams of lactose.42627 In pregnancy, choose quark made from pasteurized milk.

    Milk allergy. Quark concentrates casein, so it isn't for anyone with a cow's milk allergy. Goat's milk is no workaround for a true milk allergy: in food challenges in which neither the children nor the researchers knew who got what, 24 of 26 children with cow's milk allergy also reacted to goat's milk.28

    Lactose. Quark is not lactose-free. The UK record measures 4.0 grams of lactose per 100 grams, so a 150-gram serving has about 6 grams.4 Most people with lactose intolerance handle 12 to 15 grams, about a cup of milk, without symptoms or with mild ones, especially in small amounts with meals.2627 Start small, or use coconut yogurt instead.

    Raw-milk quark in pregnancy. The FDA advises pregnant women not to drink raw milk or eat foods made from raw milk because of Listeria risk, and lists pasteurized soft cheeses such as cottage cheese as the low-risk choice; the American Academy of Pediatrics advises pasteurized-only milk and milk products for pregnant women and children.2930 In pregnancy, choose pasteurized-milk quark. For everyone else, the decision comes down to the farm.

    Medicines. The ciprofloxacin label says not to take it with dairy products alone; it may be taken with a meal that contains them.31 Milk lowered levothyroxine absorption in a small study of 10 adults, so take levothyroxine the way your prescription says, apart from dairy.32

    Added sugar. Flavored fruit quark can carry added sugar. Plain quark needs none; sweeten it yourself with berries or a little raw honey.

    Who should be careful with quark:

    • If eating anything leads to throat swelling, trouble breathing or dizziness, call 911; it's an emergency

    The bottom line

    Is quark cheese good for you?

    Yes. Quark is a fresh cultured cheese and a good source of protein, with very little salt, live cultures when the label says so, and useful amounts of riboflavin, B12 and phosphorus. In a single-session trial of 29 men, quark raised muscle protein building at rest and after exercise in younger and older men alike, and casein, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese research supports fullness and overnight muscle building.

    Buy it plain and full-fat, ideally from goat or sheep milk, or make it at home from goat's milk and kefir. Spoon it over berries at breakfast, stir it into dips and eggs, or eat a small bowl in the evening the way you would cottage cheese.

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    Four phases over 90 days, the top 10 metabolic foods with daily amounts, and a 7-day protein-forward meal plan. Have recent bloodwork? Analyze it free.

    Free with your Dr. Axe account (email or Google). You'll also get the protocol's short email series and the Dr. Axe newsletter; unsubscribe anytime.

    Open the free protocol →

    Quark cheese: frequently asked questions

    Is quark healthy?

    Yes. Plain quark is a fresh cultured cheese with about 7 to 15 grams of protein and only about 29 to 45 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams, depending on fat level.134 Choose it plain and full-fat, ideally from goat or sheep milk, and skip flavored, sweetened versions.

    Is quark a yogurt or a cheese?

    Quark is a cheese: a fresh, unaged soft cheese made when bacteria sour milk until the casein sets into curd and the whey drains off.1012 It spoons like thick yogurt, which is why the two get confused.

    What does quark taste like?

    Quark tastes mildly tart and fresh, like a cross between plain Greek yogurt and a very soft fresh cheese.12 Full-fat quark tastes richer, and low-fat quark tastes tangier.

    Quark vs Greek yogurt: which has more protein?

    They're close: low-fat quark has 10.6 grams of protein per 100 grams and nonfat Greek yogurt 10.2 grams, while full-fat quark has 6.9 grams and whole-milk Greek yogurt 9.0 grams.3916 The fat level you pick matters more than which food you pick.

    Is quark the same as cottage cheese?

    No. Both are fresh curd cheeses, but quark is smooth or finely crumbly and cottage cheese keeps distinct curds, and cottage cheese carries far more sodium, 315 milligrams per 100 grams against about 29 to 33 in quark.813

    Does quark have probiotics?

    Quark made with live cultures carries live lactic acid bacteria: lab-made quark held about 10 million per gram when fresh and about 1 million after two weeks cold.12 Check the label for live cultures; in the lab test, quark heated while it set started with lower counts on day 1.12

    Is quark lactose-free?

    No. Quark carries about 4.0 grams of lactose per 100 grams, so a 150-gram serving has about 6 grams, half the 12 grams most people with lactose intolerance handle without symptoms or with mild ones.42627

    Is quark vegetarian?

    Often, but check the label. Quark is frequently made with a little rennet to help the milk set, and rennet can be animal or microbial, so look for the rennet type on the package.1112

    Can you eat quark before bed?

    Yes. Quark is casein-rich, and in older men 40 grams of casein before bed raised overnight muscle protein building, while 20 grams didn't move it beyond placebo.19 Cottage cheese before bed didn't change next-morning metabolism or hunger in 10 active women.20

    Is quark good for weight loss?

    It can support a weight-loss plan as a filling, high-protein food, though quark itself has not been tested for weight loss. A Greek yogurt snack with 24 grams of protein held off the next meal almost an hour longer than no snack in 15 women (178 vs 124 minutes), and pooled studies find higher-protein meals leave people fuller.2223

    What can you substitute for quark?

    Plain Greek yogurt is the closest spoon-for-spoon swap, and cottage cheese blended smooth works in baking. Ricotta and cream cheese swap by texture in recipes such as cheesecake.

    Where can you buy quark?

    Look in the dairy case of larger groceries and natural-food stores, at European delis and at farmers markets. If you can't find it, the homemade recipe above uses milk and cultured buttermilk or kefir.34

    Can you make quark from goat's milk?

    Yes. Acid-curd cheese is made from goat's milk, and the home recipe above adapts a tested cow's-milk recipe to whole goat's milk with goat's milk kefir or cultured buttermilk as the starter.1334

    How long does homemade quark last?

    Up to four days covered in the refrigerator, according to the tested recipe this page adapts.34

    Can you eat quark when pregnant?

    Yes, when it's made from pasteurized milk. The FDA advises pregnant women to avoid foods made from raw milk because of Listeria risk; the side effects section has the details.29

    Freshness & update log

    October 21, 2026 — Rewritten and re-sourced under Dr. Axe's byline. Rebuilt the nutrition facts by fat level from Swiss and UK national food databases, with the U.S. branded label shown as one example; added a quark vs. Greek yogurt vs. cottage cheese comparison; ranked the benefits from the one trial of quark itself plus casein, Greek yogurt and cottage cheese research, each named as studied; corrected the description of how quark is made, including rennet; replaced the homemade recipe with an adapted tested recipe that keeps up to four days; gathered lactose, milk allergy, raw-milk pregnancy and medicine guidance into one safety section; and scored quark cheese with the Dr. Axe Score.

    References

    1. Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). Swiss Food Composition Database: Curds min. 40% fidm (Quark, nature, Rahm), food ID 351862. Accessed October 18, 2026.
    2. Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). Swiss Food Composition Database: Curds, plain, half fat (Quark, nature, halbfett), food ID 351426. Accessed October 18, 2026.
    3. Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO). Swiss Food Composition Database: Curds with at most 10% fidm (Quark, nature, mager), food ID 351173. Accessed October 18, 2026.
    4. Public Health England. McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021: Cheese, Quark (skimmed milk soft cheese, Magerquark), food code 12-174. Published March 2021.
    5. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Grass fed quark, plain (Branded Foods, label data). FDC ID 686746. Accessed October 18, 2026.
    6. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Yogurt, Greek, plain, whole milk. FDC ID 171304 (SR Legacy). Accessed October 18, 2026.
    7. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Yogurt, Greek, plain, whole milk. FDC ID 2259794 (Foundation Foods). Accessed October 18, 2026.
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    Dr. Josh Axe

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    Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

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