At some point in the last few decades, we fell out of love with cottage cheese. The nation’s eaters loved the stuff — today, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone that’d choose it over Chobani.
But there’s nothing quite so dead it can’t be brought back with a makeover (at least when it comes to food).
Rekindle the love affair with 23 of our favorite savory cottage cheese recipes.
Must all cheese be sexy to be allowed the privilege of nudging its way onto your plate?
For those of you inclined to argue that cheese has never been sexy, we’re sorry for you and shudder to think about the kinds of charcuterie boards you’ve had to contend with.
Everyone else will agree: cheese is an altogether sensory experience.
But that’s no reason to take cottage cheese out of the running altogether.
Cottage cheese makes a perfect alternative to more expensive cheese, like ricotta. Just drain well until the curds are mostly dry and it becomes a nearly cup-for-cup substitution.
It’s generally saltier and ricotta is more sweet, so just keep that in mind when cooking.
Certainly, a fresh, lovingly-considered cottage cheese is a wholesome, not-sweet breakfast option, which is getting fewer and farther between.
In these 23 options, cottage cheese is folded into recipes that level up the use of this comparatively inexpensive soft cheese, also known as the quaint curds and whey of nursery rhyme status.
So have a little faith the next time you’re in the dairy aisle — you’ll be rewarded with a mild, salted, creamy and subtly squeaky cottage cheese that you can then bake into a delightful cornbread recipe, sling in a breakfast casserole, add richness to a crustless quiche, or even pile onto avo-toast.
Seek ye the #14 pasta below with cottage cheese folded in—it’s a winner! FOLD IN THE CHEESE.
Let’s get into our pick of the best savory cottage cheese recipes out there:
If you’re not a morning person, this creamy, comforting breakfast bowl will help you recharge.
We like to top it best with syrupy sweet strawberries to kickstart the day.
This loaf’s got the most curious silky, dense texture; it’s not altogether unlike a soda bread.
Depending on your mood, this bread toasts wonderfully and also stays soft for days on end.
Spread it with some seafood butter for a splendid afternoon lunch.
We love the fact that you can put this together in under 15 minutes — perfect for the interval between pre-lunch and actual lunch.
Serve with a side of heavy, ruffled chips.
Do you love the combination of garlic and chives in a dip like we do?
If your answer is a yes, this dip should be a must-try.
You can prepare it well in advance and best served alongside crunchy, raw vegetables or salty pretzels.
We also like to add a little mayonnaise but purists are welcome to do without.
To make the most of this loaf, you’ll need a griddle and a big dish of butter (the high quality, salted kind).
It can carry breakfast perfectly well on its own, but nobody will object to a bit of Nutella and sliced banana.
Cottage cheese recipes don’t get better than this!
These are a winner with the little ones, which isn’t to say that we aren’t fond of them, too!
Serve alongside a simple salad and you’ll thank yourself later for such a delicious recipe.
Southerners insist that you should make cornbread with white cornmeal and that it should never be sweet, whereas Northerners ascribe to a yellow-er, fluffier bread with a subtle, lingering sweetness.
Whatever camp you fall under — this recipe is a hit.
A little coleslaw, some hot spicy pork ribs, and you’re golden.
For people that often wake up wishing they’d smashed their alarm clock to bits with a mallet, Looney Toons style, we’re awful sticklers for lovingly-considered breakfast.
This dish is the perfect good morning.
A simple, warming dish of eggs with biting green chilies and soft, creamy cottage cheese that’s best enjoyed with a crusty baguette.
A breezy, uncomplicated, perfectly balanced salad that’s got enough substance to be enjoyed as a light lunch or light dinner; jazz it up with a bit of sriracha if you’re after something a little hotter.
Sometimes a rich, meaty, robustly cheesy feast is all that will do.
And this is precisely that — get your fix.
Conclude with a cold flute of white wine.
Phenomenal.
We’re not cooks of the overly-prescriptive variety, which is why this casserole is one of our favorites.
All you’ve got to do is bedazzle a baking dish with some cheddar cheese, coarse sausages, and bread, then pop it in the oven for 40 minutes at 350 F — there’s breakfast.
These savory, rustic muffins are a marvelously quick affair — an asset on those pinched, harried days when time is in short supply, and there are errands a-plenty.
All out of cottage cheese ideas?
Sink right into this warm, comforting dish of pasta.
Silky and comforting, it’s an altogether sensory experience that demands a commitment to indulgence and pleasure-seeking.
They tell you to follow your gut instinct.
Well, this is ours.
Quite literally.
Eating chips and dip is the most fun there is.
Abandon your futile search for the perfect guacamole — we’ll pass on the bland, pea-green gloop, thanks — this is way, way better, anyway.
Blessedly simple and quite willing to be doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled, this recipe is positively foolproof.
The pairing of tuna with cottage cheese and avocado is an excellent one.
It’s like a deconstructed tuna sandwich but better, of course.
17. Lasagna Roll-Ups
Lazy lasagna destined for a ten-minute weeknight dinner or weekend spent in front of the T.V.— a lovely little “does what it says on the box” number that’s completely lacking in any pretension (and also elegance, but who needs sophistication after a long day).
We take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to our mashed potatoes, but this iteration is undeniably yum.
Some cooks coarsely lob the cheese and pasta together and call it mac and cheese, and they’ve got the right.
This one is less a definitive recipe and more a blueprint; do as you like or don’t.
Avocado on toast — innocuous breakfast food or the unconscionable indulgence standing between supposedly broke millennials and homeownership?
Well, uh, it’s awful hard to know, isn’t it?
We’ll let wealthy entrepreneurs and out-of-touch columnists decide.
Till then, here’s to bottomless brunch and mimosas in the AM.
This recipe is one fancy focaccia.
But perhaps then all focaccias are, to some degree, fancy.
Anyway, this is beautiful bread.
This little number pulls together fast and is poured into a buttered deep-dish pie pan or casserole, no crust allowed.
It has a short list of ingredients, and I’d be tempted to add more spice, so dabble if you will, but go easy: the ham and cheese are adding salt, and you want the green onion flavor to shine.
Want it to stand taller? Use an 8×8 square glass pan. Otherwise, this is more of a tart.
Pro tip: Check it after 35 minutes with a knife edge or toothpick, especially if you don’t want a super-brown top to it.
I’ve been putting off adding my own Easter Pie recipe to CookingChew.com because this is a complicated recipe that takes a lot of time.
I personally LOVE Pizza Gain because it was a specialty from my Italian grandmother.
It has so much history, especially in my family, and it has so many names that I couldn’t recall if these were all the same thing.
This recipe has gorgeous layers of meat and cheese with a golden double crust of JOY.
My family often made Pizza Rustica/Pizza Gain on a budget, so I’m including this recipe even though it DOES NOT call for cottage cheese.
Substitute the ricotta called for with drained and dry cottage cheese, which is what my grandmother used.
This is a fun read by the folks at Curious Cuisiniere about Pizza Rustica history AND the recipe looks like everything delectable I can recall of my own experience.
Don’t be afraid to use alternative ingredients, but this is an authentic rendition worth serving to your favorite visitors.
The bottom line
We say cottage cheese on toast works fine, but it’s also the star of any salad that’d benefit from adding dairy and pretty much all breakfast foods ever.
As we’re not particularly-scientific cooks, what’s most appealing about cottage cheese is its versatility.
If you find yourself wondering what to eat with cottage cheese, you ought to know that the answer to that question is anything.
Everything.
Go on then — what’re you waiting for?
🧀What Does Cottage Cheese Taste Like?🧀
23 YUMMY Savory Cottage Cheese Recipe ⭐️
Looking for ways to enjoy cottage cheese? Here are 23 different ways to have savory cottage cheese recipes at home!
Ingredients
- Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowls
- Cottage Cheese Dill Bread
- Cilantro Cottage Cheese Dip
- Garlic And Chives Cottage Cheese Dip
- Walnut Cottage Cheese Bread
- Stuffed Shells
- Cottage Cheese Cornbread
- Breakfast Casserole With Eggs And Cottage Cheese
- Green Chilli Egg Casserole
- Grandma’s Cottage Cheese Salad
- Cottage Cheese Lasagna
- Sausage Bread Casserole
- Cottage Cheese And Egg Muffins With Ham
- Buffalo Chicken Alfredo Pasta
- Mexican Cottage Cheese Dip
- Tuna, Cottage Cheese And Avocado Salad
- Lasagna Roll-Ups
- Cottage Cheese Potatoes
- Favorite Mac And Cheese
- Avocado, Cottage Cheese, And Cherry Tomatoes On Toast
- Tomato Parsley Cottage Cheese Focaccia
- Crustless Cottage Cheese Quiche
- Pizza Gain (Italian Pie, Easter Pie, Pizza Rustica)
Instructions
- Choose one or more options from our list of savory cottage cheese recipes here!
- Create your new favorite dish.
- Pat yourself on the back for making food at home for you to enjoy!
- Share and comment! Did you make any tweaks so it’s all your own?