This article is sponsored by Daisy Cottage Cheese.
Sure, cottage cheese doesn’t usually make an appearance on cheese boards or get featured in wine pairings, but this dairy delight might actually be the most versatile food in your fridge. Don’t believe us? The ideas below prove that cottage cheese can lend a protein-packed punch to everything from oatmeal to ice cream.
1. Strawberry Cottage Cheese Toastie With Balsamic Glaze
For a high-protein, calcium-packed breakfast treat (made in less than 10 minutes!), simply blend cottage cheese into a ricotta-like spread and top with a sweet and tangy balsamic glaze.
2. Whole-Wheat Blender Waffles
You’d never guess it, but there’s a full cup of cottage cheese hiding in these waffles. To make life easier, the batter gets whipped up in a blender before it goes into the waffle iron.
3. Baked Mini Frittatas With Mushrooms, Cottage Cheese, and Feta
The combination of cottage cheese, feta, and mushrooms makes these muffin-shaped frittatas feel meaty and taste hearty despite their mini size. Serve them hot out of the oven or save them to nuke in the microwave for a quick weekday breakfast.
4. Cranberry Cottage Cheese Baked Oatmeal
Studded with cranberries and just enough white chocolate chips and coconut flakes, this hearty bake is sweet and delicious, but also practical and healthy thanks to the generous amounts of oats and cottage cheese that are also in the mix. A big batch will hold you over for breakfast through the week, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself heating up a portion for dessert too.
5. High-Protein Cottage Cheese Omelette With Kale and Mushrooms
Desperately need muscle-replenishing, post-workout fuel? Showing someone how easy it is to get protein on a vegetarian diet? Or just seriously hungry? Folding cottage cheese into this omelet provides over 30 grams of protein per serving. Plus, with lots of veggies and fresh herbs, it tastes pretty darn good too.
6. Skinny Mexican Cottage Cheese Dip
With avocado, black beans, cottage cheese, corn, jalapeño, and tomato, this flavor fiesta is the delicious mashup of guacamole, seven-layer dip, and salsa. It tastes great scooped up with tortilla chips, but it also works as a sandwich filling or a salad topper.
7. Beet Salad With Cottage Cheese and a Runny Egg
When you’re not in the mood for a lettuce-based salad, go the beet route (pun intended). Here, the magenta slices are marinated then topped with dollops of cottage cheese, a soft-boiled egg, and a smattering of walnuts for a surprisingly filling dish.
8. Creamy Cilantro Cheesy Guacamole
Thanks to heart-healthy avocado, guacamole is a great option for getting in those good fats. Stir in some cottage cheese, and it also becomes a protein powerhouse. We’re big fans of anything that makes a dish creamier and healthier at the same time.
9. Creamy Sweet Potato Bisque
Instead of heavy cream, low-fat cottage cheese is the dairy of choice in this velvety, thick soup. Blended with the sweet potato and a few seasonings, it’s a quick and easy way to get several macros in one bowl.
10. Easy Cottage Cheese Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs may have slipped into the shadows recently, but this blogger is bringing them back in a delicious, health-conscious way by swapping in cottage cheese and mustard for mayo. It’s the perfect example of how to reinvent a classic successfully.
11. Veggie-Packed Quinoa Burgers
Got leftover quinoa on hand? Spare yourself yet another standard salad and make burgers instead. Paired with cottage cheese, zucchini, and eggs for plenty of moisture, these baked patties are anything but dry even after 40 minutes in the oven.
12. Spinach and Mushroom Vegetarian Lasagna
An entire container of cottage cheese takes the place of ricotta in this lightened-up vegetarian lasagna, which also features an impressive variety of produce. Cheesy, rich, and secretly nutritious, it’s an instant crowd pleaser, even without the meat.
13. Healthy Loaded Baked Potatoes
These potatoes are loaded—just with better-for-you ingredients. Healthy doesn’t mean all or nothing, so keep the bacon and cheddar but swap out the sour cream for cottage cheese and add in fresh bell peppers for some much-needed color and crunch. It’s all about balance.
14. Butternut Squash and Cottage Cheese-Stuffed Pasta
Not only does this recipe call for cottage cheese instead of heavier ricotta, but folding roasted butternut squash into the mix also keeps the shells from feeling too weighed down with dairy. Thanks to the healthier tweaks, only the pasta will be stuffed here—you, on the other hand, will just be pleasantly full.
15. Cottage Cheese Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Everyone needs a good mac and cheese recipe, but if you’ve been desperately seeking a healthier version that doesn’t skimp on flavor, your search ends here. It may have less fat than its counterparts, but this dish isn’t kidding around.
16. Sweet Potato and Cottage Cheese Pizza for One
Portion controlled (but easily multiplied for more people), high in fiber, and packed with protein, this homemade pizza is a smarter choice than anything you’d order in, but a scoop of cottage cheese makes sure it’s not compromising the crucial melty topping. With sweet potato, spinach, and chicken, it’s not the most conventional of pies, but it’ll become a regular on your table.
17. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Bars
No protein powder in these fuel-filled bars! These cookie dough-flavored treats get their staying power from an unlikely combination of chickpeas, eggs, and cottage cheese. Sounds kinda strange; tastes totally sensational.
18. Honey Cottage Cheese-Stuffed Pears
For a sweet treat that’s low maintenance but highly satisfying, try this five-minute fruit and cottage cheese fix. It’s so healthy it’s technically breakfast, but the lime and paprika honey drizzle gives it the special oomph that could pass it off as dessert.
19. Lightened-Up Dark Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies
You won’t see or really taste the cottage cheese in these extra-dark and insanely chocolaty brownies, but it gives these guys their creaminess. Thanks to the secret ingredient, these decadent squares don’t even need oil or butter.
20. Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Ice Cream
The bad news: If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can’t make this heavy cream-free, low-sugar, protein-packed frozen answer to cheesecake. The good news: You now have a really great reason to get an ice cream maker.
21. Chocolate Cottage Cheese Crinkle Cookies
Cocoa powder and cottage cheese together may sound like the edible equivalent of The Odd Couple, but just like Oscar and Felix, they somehow manage to work. And we promise all you’ll taste is chocolate.
