Boursin Garlic & Herb Cheese: 2g Protein per 2 Tbsp, Labelgrade C (60/100)
C 60 / 100 — A garlic-and-herb soft cheese built for flavor, not macros. The ingredient panel is short and recognizable, and there's effectively no sugar — but this is a fat-forward spread: 4.5g of saturated fat per 2-tablespoon serving against just 2g of protein. The Labelgrade C- reflects exactly that: it's a treat, scored as a protein food, and it doesn't pretend to be one.
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Boursin Garlic & Herb is a soft, spreadable Gournay-style cheese that delivers 2 g of protein and 80 calories per 2-tablespoon (23 g) serving (USDA FDC 1850293) — about 8.7 g of protein per 100 g. It is, by design, a flavor product: cultured milk and cream whipped with garlic, herbs, and spices into something you spread on a cracker or melt into a pan sauce. The Labelgrade is C (60 / 100), and the math behind it is blunt — for every 2 g of protein you also take on 4.5 g of saturated fat, roughly a quarter of the day’s recommended limit in one modest dollop. The ingredient panel is genuinely short and there’s zero sugar, but Labelgrade scores every food as if you were eating it for protein, and Boursin is a treat. Eat it because it tastes like a special occasion, not because it’s doing anything for your macros.
Why the C
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | C | 63 / 100 | 8.7 g per 100 g (2 g per serving) — low. The cream that makes it spreadable also dilutes the protein |
| Ingredient quality | B+ | 80 / 100 | Short, recognizable panel: cultured milk and cream, buttermilk, salt, garlic, herbs, three stabilizing gums, sorbic acid. No artificial color or flavor |
| Saturated fat load | F | 21 / 100 | 4.5 g per serving (~19.6 g per 100 g) — high. One 2-Tbsp dollop is ~23% of the 20 g FDA daily limit. This is the grade’s anchor |
| Sodium load | D | 49 / 100 | 110 mg per serving (~478 mg per 100 g) — meaningful for such a small portion, typical for a salted soft cheese |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0 g sugar — perfect, as expected for a savory cheese |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g — expected for a dairy product |
| Overall | C | 60 / 100 | A clean-label indulgence scored like the rich treat it is. The saturated-fat ceiling isn’t a flaw to fix — it’s what a cream-based spread is. Best understood as a flavor upgrade for crackers, bread, steak, or chicken, not a nutrition decision |
Two perfect scores (sugar and a clean panel) can’t lift the grade because two structural F’s pull against them: saturated fat and the missing-by-nature fiber. The honest read is that the C is doing its job — it’s flagging a fat-and-flavor food so you don’t mistake it for one of the high-protein cheeses it sits next to in the dairy case.
What the cream actually buys you
Boursin’s texture is the whole product, and it comes straight off the ingredient line. Cultured milk and cream is the base — most cheeses start from milk alone — and that added cream is what lets Boursin spread like soft butter instead of slicing like a wheel. The trade is visible in the macros: an 8-to-2 fat-to-protein ratio (8 g fat, 2 g protein) is the fingerprint of a cream-enriched spread, not a curd-based cheese.
The three gums are the other half of the trick. Carob bean (locust bean), xanthan, and guar gums are there to hold all that cream together so the round doesn’t weep oil or separate at room temperature — they’re texture insurance, not filler, and they’re the reason a soft cheese this rich stays uniform. Sorbic acid finishes the panel as a mild preservative “to protect flavor.” It’s a short, legible list for something this indulgent, which is exactly why ingredient quality grades B+ even as the fat grades F.
How it stacks up in its own aisle
| Product | Protein per serving | Per 100 g | Calories | Saturated fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boursin Garlic & Herb (this product) | 2 g (23 g) | 8.7 g | 80 | 4.5 g |
| Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese | 2 g (28 g) | 7.1 g | 100 | 6 g |
| Breakstone’s Lowfat Cottage Cheese | 10 g (113 g) | 8.8 g | 80 | 1.5 g |
| Babybel Original (semisoft) | 5 g (21 g) | 23.8 g | 70 | 4 g |
Against its true peer — Philadelphia cream cheese — Boursin is a wash on protein (both land at 2 g) and actually a hair lighter on saturated fat per serving, because Philly’s serving is a larger 28 g and packs 6 g of sat fat. The honest difference between them isn’t nutrition, it’s that Boursin shows up pre-seasoned and Philly is a blank canvas.
The two cheeses that beat it do so by being something else entirely. Cottage cheese is the lopsided winner for anyone shopping a dairy case for protein: five times the protein per serving at a third of the saturated fat, for the same 80 calories. Babybel packs nearly three times Boursin’s protein density per 100 g because it’s a firm, curd-based cheese with no added cream — but it can’t spread, which is the one thing Boursin is for. Boursin’s edge over all three is purely sensory: none of them taste like garlic-and-herb Gournay.
How to actually use it
Frame it the way you’d frame butter or a finishing sauce, because nutritionally that’s its closest cousin — a 2 Tbsp dollop carries about as much saturated fat as a tablespoon of butter, and contributes about as much protein (the 2 g here is the equivalent of roughly a single bite of cooked chicken breast). That makes it a flavor multiplier, not a course: stir a spoonful into mashed potatoes or a pan sauce, melt it over a hot steak or roast chicken, or spread it thin on a cracker. Used that way, a small amount makes plainer, higher-protein food taste like more — which is the entire reason to keep a round in the fridge.
A note on the package: the USDA Branded Foods entry lists a 184 g weight, but Boursin’s everyday consumer round is the 5.2 oz (150 g) size. The per-serving macros on this page are identical either way. Boursin runs several flavors on the same cultured-milk-and-cream base — Shallot & Chive, Cracked Black Pepper, Fig & Balsamic — and per-serving macros are nearly identical across the line, differing mainly in seasoning. Check the wrapper on limited editions.
Ingredients (from the USDA Branded Foods entry)
Pasteurized cultured milk and cream, buttermilk, salt, carob bean (locust bean gum), xanthan and guar gums, garlic, spices, onion, sorbic acid (to protect flavor).
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 2 Tbsp (23 g)
See how this fits your day — protein calculator · macro calculator
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (2 Tbsp (23 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 80 |
| Protein | 2g |
| Total Fat | 8g |
| Saturated Fat | 4.5g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 1g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Total Sugars | 0g |
| Sodium | 110mg |
| Cholesterol | 25mg |
| Calcium | 20mg |
| Iron | 0.36mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Boursin Garlic & Herb Cheese (5.2 oz (150 g) round) · UPC 079813060600. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains no listed meat or fish
no wheat, barley, rye, or malt detected in USDA ingredient list
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in Boursin Garlic & Herb cheese?
2 g per 2-tablespoon (23 g) serving (USDA FDC 1850293) — about 8.7 g per 100 g. That's low for a cheese. A whole 5.2 oz round holds only about 13 g of protein total. Boursin is a cream-based soft cheese, and the cream that makes it whippable is mostly fat, so it dilutes the protein you'd get from a firm aged cheese. Treat it as a flavor agent, not a protein source.
Why is the saturated fat so high relative to the protein?
Because Boursin is built on cultured milk AND cream — that second ingredient is the whole point. The cream gives it the signature spreadable, almost whipped texture, and cream is mostly fat. You get 8 g of total fat (4.5 g saturated) against just 2 g of protein per 2 Tbsp. That 4.5 g is roughly 23% of the 20 g FDA daily saturated-fat limit in one small dollop, and it's the single biggest drag on the grade — Labelgrade scores saturated-fat load an F (21/100).
Does Boursin have more saturated fat than cream cheese?
Per serving, slightly less — but the servings aren't the same size. Boursin is 4.5 g saturated fat per 2 Tbsp (23 g); Philadelphia is 6 g per 1 oz (28 g). Normalize to 100 g and they're nearly identical (Boursin ~19.6 g, Philadelphia ~21.4 g). Both are fat-forward cream cheeses with about 2 g of protein per serving. The real difference is seasoning, not nutrition: Boursin arrives pre-flavored with garlic and herbs.
Is Boursin keto-friendly?
Yes, from a macros standpoint: 1 g total carbs, 0 g sugar, 8 g fat per 2 Tbsp. It fits cleanly into ketogenic and low-carb patterns, where the high fat is a feature rather than a flaw. Just don't count on it for protein — at 2 g a serving it won't move a daily target.
Is Boursin gluten-free and vegetarian?
Gluten-free: yes — the panel is dairy, salt, gums, and seasonings, with no wheat or barley ingredients. Strictly vegetarian: not guaranteed. The label doesn't specify whether the cultures use microbial (vegetarian) or animal rennet, so cheese-avoiding vegetarians should confirm with Boursin directly. There is no added sugar and no artificial color or flavor.
What are the ingredients in Boursin Garlic & Herb?
Pasteurized cultured milk and cream, buttermilk, salt, carob bean (locust bean gum), xanthan and guar gums, garlic, spices, onion, and sorbic acid as a preservative. It's a clean, recognizable list for a flavored soft cheese — the three gums are texture stabilizers that keep the cream from weeping, and sorbic acid protects flavor and shelf life. Full list is at the bottom of this page, verbatim from USDA Branded Foods.
How does Boursin compare to cottage cheese for protein?
It's not close. A half-cup of Breakstone's lowfat cottage cheese delivers 10 g of protein for the same 80 calories as a 2 Tbsp dollop of Boursin's 2 g — five times the protein at a third of the saturated fat. They're different tools: cottage cheese is a protein food, Boursin is a flavor finish.