Dig into these 24 delicious recipes that highlight cottage cheese as the secret ingredient to add a protein-packed punch to every meal. From energizing breakfasts to satisfying lunches, hearty dinners, and tasty snacks, these recipes with cottage cheese are designed to make incorporating this surprisingly versatile ingredient into your diet both easy and enjoyable – even for those who maybe once though they didn’t care for this nutrient dense dairy product.
A favorite among health enthusiasts and foodies alike, cottage cheese has a mild flavor and creamy texture, it can easily be incorporated into a variety of dishes, from savory to sweet. Rich in essential nutrients like calcium, vitamin B12, and phosphorus, cottage cheese supports bone health, muscle function, and overall wellness.
Most of these recipes are gluten-free, sugar-free and lower carb where they can be, with a few exceptions – and can be modified to suit your dietary preferences. I hope you enjoy this mini recipes with cottage cheese cookbook!
Dinners and Lunches that Satisfy with Cottage Cheese
3-Ingredient Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust: The crust made low carb with cottage cheese, coconut flour and flax meal for extra texture and fiber. Gluten-free, lower carb and ready to be topped with your favorite ingredients.
Easy Cottage Cheese Alfredo No-Boil Pasta Bake: A family favorite and easy to make! Less fat, more protein than typical alfredo sauce.
Cottage Cheese Veggie Enchiladas with Green Chile Spinach Sauce: Flex up your Tex-Mex night with this vegetarian enchilada dish that is flavorful and mildly spicy.
Cottage Cheese Gnudis Florentine (Naked Spinich Ravioli): A clever and fun vegetarian dinner idea. Basically, gnudies are little dumplings — I made mine with gluten-free flour and cottage cheese.
Cheesy Mushroom Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats – Zucchini boats are smart way to use up the squash of summer. A vegetarian recipe pumped up with extra protein thanks to cottage cheese. I love mushroom pizza, but you can top however you like.
Appetizer Dips Made Over with Cottage Cheese
Cottage Cheese Queso with Green Chiles: Enjoy ooey-gooey queso with no guilt. This cottage cheese questo recipes is a makeover of everyone’s favorite hot cheese dip made from that mystery block of cheese — much more nutrient dense and the real deal!
Artichoke Green Chile Dip with Cottage Cheese: Guaranteed to be gone lickity-split at your next party, pot luck or patio gathering.
Sweet & Savory Breakfasts with Cottage Cheese
Matcha Protein Waffles with Cottage Cheese make a yummy, protein-packed option for mornings when you need a little pick-me-up. Load up with your favorite toppings, or take unadorned on the go — they are lightly sweet, so no syrup needed!
Cheesy Hatch Green Chile Chicken Egg Bake: Eggs, cottage cheese, and browned ground chicken breast make a hearty, healthy breakfast to fill up the family. Also, great for meal prep — you can freeze in individual portions for busy mornings.
Make-Ahead Blueberry Cheesecake Baked Oats: Whole grain goodness sweetened up with berries and some cottage cheese for protein balance.
4-Ingredient Low Carb Crepes: These delicate crepes are supringly easy to make and gluten-free. Nearly 5g grams protein and only 61 cal per each plain crepe — fill them up how you like, sweet or savory.
Strawberry Cottage Cheese Waffles: Cottage Cheese, strawberry protein powder . . . and strawberries on top make this a delight for berry lovers.
Basic Recipes Cottage Cheese Protein Waffles Easy, amazing and fantastic macros, these little waffles are actually anything but basic in the taste and texture category — I just called them basic because they make a great foundation for all your toppings of choice!
Mindful Sweet Treats and Cottage Cheese Desserts
Banana “Pudding” with Cottage Cheese is a flavorful walk down memory land (at least, if you you’re like me and remember your grandmother’s signature dessert with nostalgic fondness. This version is kept low carb, high protein thanks to blended smooth cottage cheese.
Sugar Free Chocolate Chip Cottage Cheese Cheesecake I’m just here for the chocolate chips, creamy filling and strawberries. The fact it is nutrient dense and protein packed is a bonus!
Individual Boston Cream Protein “Pies”: There is just something so satisfying about breaking into that hard shell made from melted sugar-free chocolate chips. Pumped up with cottage cheese and a gluten-free crust, this little treat is worth sharing (that’s why the recipes makes 2 servings!)
Pumpkin Cheesecake Chia Pudding with Pecan Praline Crumble could work equally well for breakfast or dessert! I keep canned pumpkin in my pantry so I can make year-round.
Mocha Cappuccino Protein Cheesecake Brownie: Yes, these are brownies — I just happened to cook in a round pan to make fancy!
Personal-sized No-Bake Cottage Cheese Cheesecake Cups
No-bake Mango Protein Cheesecake – A tropical hug in a mug — or a little bowl or mason jar, if you prefer. This is an easy way to boost your calcium, protein and fiber. Macros on point to eat for breafast, too!
 Treat yourself to pizza night done right with 3-Ingredient Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust, a gluten-free, low-carb and protein-packed alternative to traditional crusts. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Cottage-Cheese-Pizza-Crust-Gluten-Free-sq-1024x1024.jpeg I’ve been baking and cooking with cottage cheese for YEARS, so it’s funny to see all these viral cottage cheese recipes on TikTok, Instagram and such as if it’s something new! Using cottage cheese is a smart way to bump up protein, lower fat, and minimize carbohydrates in many recipes – pizza crusts included! The macros on this pizza crust are impressively good. The recipe makes two personal sized crusts (about 6” diameter each) with a single crust (before toppings of your choice) coming in at 163 cal, 4g net carb, 10g dietary fiber, 5g fat and 18g protein. The only ingredients used in this low carb pizza crust are cottage cheese, coconut flour and ground flax seed meal. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Cottage-Cheese-Pizza-Crust-ingredients-797x1024.jpeg TIPS FOR MAKING COTTAGE CHEESE PIZZA CRUST: COTTAGE CHEESE: When it comes to selecting cottage cheese for his keto pizza crust recipes, pick a small curd cottage cheese with 2% or 4% milk fat. Stay away from the Fat-free cottage cheese, it does not perform as well. Also, if you use small-curb cottage cheese, there is no need to blend the cottage cheese smooth (as some similar recipes call for). For reference, I used Good Culture 2% Classic Low-Fat Cottage Cheese. They also make a lactose-free cottage cheese, if that is needed. COCONUT FLOUR: This recipe only calls for ¼ cup of coconut flour, but it is a very “thirsty” flour and much less is required than other types of flour. For this reason, please to not make flour substitutes. GROUND FLAXSEED MEAL: I added ground flax seed to add more fiber to the recipes, along with omega fatty acids. If you can not source this, you can *likely* just substitute with 1 tablespoon more of coconut flour – but I have not tried this yet, so let me know if you do. OPTIONAL SEASONINGS: You won’t need salt because cottage cheese has enough sodium. But you might like to add garlic powder, everything bagel seasoning, fresh chopped herbs, or whatever else you would prefer. BAKING: You will need parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet to cover your baking pan and prevent sticking. COOLING & STORING: After removing the crust from the initial baking, you will want to let it cool almost completely. Otherwise, it will be too fragile to handle. This recipe makes two homemade personal-sized pizza crusts. If you are not using both, cover the leftover one and keep in the fridge to use later for up to 5 days. TOPPINGS: After your crust has mostly cooled, feel free to handle it to add sauce, more cheese, veggies, meats or whatever toppings you love. Pop back in the oven for about 10 minutes or until cooked to your preference. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Cottage-Cheese-Pizza-Crust-Gluten-Free-1024x647.jpeg I also have a 2-Ingredient, 2-Minut Pizza Crust recipe that the family loves too – it uses Greek Yogurt and self-rising flour (or an all-purpose gluten-free baking blend with a bit of baking soda). 2 Ingredient 2 Minute Pizza Dough https://thefitfork.com/2-ingredient-2-minute-homemade-pizza-crust/)
