If you are someone who spends a good amount of time on social media apps like TikTok and Instagram, chances are you have seen that cottage cheese has now become that “it” food that everyone is using to add more protein to their recipes. I remember when I was growing up, fat-free cottage cheese was the ultimate diet food and, honestly, it tasted as such. As I got older, I tried 2% and full-fat versions of cottage cheese and found that I enjoyed them as a satisfying part of a snack, pairing either version with pretzels, crackers, or everything bagel chips if I was in a savory mood or mixing one of them with fruit if I felt more in a sweet mood. I’m not sure how I ended up on #cottagecheesetok, but my “For You Page” on Tiktok started showing video after video of people using cottage cheese in interesting (and sometimes off-putting) ways, and I became fascinated by this trend. As someone who does enjoy cottage cheese from time to time, I decided to try out some of these recipes to see if they might be something I would want to add to my meal/snack rotation. The results were varied, so I thought I might share with you all some of the cottage cheese “adventures” I have taken over the past three or four months and their letter grades.
Cottage cheese pancakes (A-)
I gotta be honest, I was not so sure about these when I first heard of them, but I decided to give them a whirl as my usual breakfast of eggs was starting to get a bit boring. The recipes I have seen basically have the same formula: cottage cheese, eggs, flour (or oats), baking powder, vanilla, and a sweetener. Going on a tip from another cottage cheese enthusiast, I tried blending the cottage cheese with an immersion blender to make it smoother and less chunky, and I think this made a big difference. This recipe is one of the times when I didn’t really taste the cottage cheese that much and that was okay with me. My only criticism of this method is that the pancakes come out “wet” and not fluffy, but if you are okay with that, then this could be a solid breakfast idea. I also like that you can make them and then freeze them/defrost them for future breakfasts. Topped with fruit, syrup, and/or any toppings you like (chocolate chips, whipped cream, Nutella, anyone?), these were satisfying and tasty.
Cottage cheese ranch/French onion dip (B-)
This is one of those really quick and easy cottage cheese ideas that I thought sounded promising. Basically, it involves blending up the cottage cheese (see above) and then adding different spices/flavorings to it to mimic ranch dip or French onion dip. Since I enjoy both of those dips with chips, veggies, etc., I thought “why not?” Well, I would say that the cottage cheese versions of these dips were okay, but not great. Texturally, they just weren’t creamy enough, and I felt like the cottage cheese flavor overpowered the other ingredients. For clarification, I added a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch powder to one batch and a packet of French onion soup mix to another batch. Were they edible? Yes. But if I was in the mood for chips and dip, this wouldn’t do the trick for me.
Adding cottage cheese to egg salad, chicken salad, tuna salad (C-)
I am someone who enjoys an egg/tuna/chicken salad on occasion, so I was curious to see how adding some cottage cheese to these would affect their taste. Spoiler alert – I did not like it in any of the above. Again, I tried blending the cottage cheese ahead of time to make it smooth, and while that did help texturally, I found that the saltiness of the cottage cheese negatively impacted whatever protein I was using. Just as with the dips above, I felt like the cottage cheese taste overpowered the proteins it was mixed with, and it was not enjoyable for me.
Adding cottage cheese to pasta dishes (A)
I have seen so many creative ideas when it comes to using cottage cheese in pasta dishes and, honestly, most of the ones I have tried have been tasty. Basically, all of the recipes take blended cottage cheese and mix it in with whatever pasta sauce you are using for the dish. That could mean adding it to marinara, pesto, Alfredo, or mac and cheese. Blending cottage cheese into the sauces gives them a nice creaminess, and I didn’t feel like the cottage cheese flavor overpowered the pasta. I even tried using blended cottage cheese in lasagna (instead of using ricotta), and I thought it was great. Definitely my favorite cottage cheese adventure.
Cottage cheese ice cream (D)
File this experiment under “I knew it would be bad, but tried it anyways.” The recipes I saw online called for blending up cottage cheese and then mixing it with various sweeteners/additions and then freezing it to create “ice cream.” While some of the flavors I tried were edible, none of them resembled ice cream and could never take its place. Do yourselves a favor and skip this one. Trust me.
I’d say my cottage cheese adventures were variably successful, and I have found myself adding some of the above creations to my repertoire (mostly the pancakes and the pasta dishes). It’s good to experiment with food, and you never know unless you try something. Do any of our readers have some foods that they have experimented with? What did you like? What didn’t work? Let us know!