I’ve been making high protein recipes since 2017, but I was slow to come around on the cottage cheese trend. As a Greek yogurt enthusiast, I was sad to see everyone swapping it for blended cottage cheese 3-4 years ago. But over time I’ve started to experiment with it more and have really found some great applications.
I’m still not the biggest fan of straight up cottage cheese, so most of the 20 recipes in this post call for blending it with other ingredients to make everything from pasta sauce and enchiladas to creamy broth bowls and knife cut noodles. Though you will see a few things where blending isn’t required like loaded peanut butter banana toast or breakfast sausage bowls.
Let’s dive straight in and take a tour through some of my favorite high protein recipes to make with cottage cheese.
1. Chicken Enchiladas Verdes
Grab a jar of green enchilada sauce, tortillas, cheese, rotisserie chicken or your favorite Mexican chicken recipe, and some low fat cottage cheese. What do you have? All the components for high protein chicken enchiladas that are baked in cute little couples and begging to be topped with shredduce and a drizzle of nonfat Greek yogurt or sour cream.
- Calories: 465
- Protein: 42g
- Carbs: 37g
- Fat: 17g
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Enchiladas
2. Beef Enchiladas
What if you swapped green enchilada sauce for red and rotisserie chicken for taco beef? You’d be considered a genius in my book, and you’d be on your way to another high protein meal with the absolute minimal effort.
- Calories: 460
- Protein: 37g
- Carbs: 33g
- Fat: 15g
Recipe: High Protein Enchiladas
3. Creamy Red Pepper Pasta
Add cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, and about half a jar of roasted red peppers to a blender and you have an easy high protein pasta sauce. This recipe combines the sauce with pappardelle and a crispy Calabrian chili pepper and balsamic ground beef. A simple recipe with complex flavors. And lots of protein, of course.
- Calories: 465
- Protein: 32g
- Carbs: 69g
- Fat: 7g
Recipe: Red Pepper Pasta
4. Creamy Gochujang Broth Bowls
This was my first time making a creamy broth with blended cottage cheese, and I’m a little embarrassed it took me this long. I’m a sucker for any type of broth/sauce made with reduced fat coconut milk. Sure, you miss out on the mild coconut flavor by swapping it (unless you add some coconut oil). But the creaminess is there while adding a lot of protein and a lot less fat. In this case, the added flavor from things like gochujang do most of the heavy lifting anyway.
- Calories: 530
- Protein: 36g
- Carbs: 73g
- Fat: 5g
Recipe: Gochujang Brothy Rice Bowls
5. Creamy Gochujang Noodles
And speaking of gochujang, omit the broth and you have a high protein sauce for noodles that rocks hard. I added a sweet and umami caramelized sesame ground beef to instant knife cut noodles and the sauce. You’d never guess these noodles have 40g protein with just 8g fat per serving.
- Calories: 500
- Protein: 40g
- Carbs: 69g
- Fat: 8g
Recipe: Gochujang Noodles
6. Chicken Lasagna
Is it sacrilegious to make a lasagna with five ingredients? Yeah, probably so. But I’ve been called irreverent enough to stop caring. This lasagna combines rotisserie chicken with no boil-lasagna, lots of fresh cheese, and combination of low fat cottage cheese and Carbone spicy vodka sauce (or your choice of marinara).
- Calories: 525
- Protein: 50g
- Carbs: 39g
- Fat: 18g
Recipe: Chicken Lasagna
7. Queso con Carne
If you like Bob Armstrong dip or RO-TEL cheese dip with taco beef in it, this will be up your alley. The queso component is a combination of blended cottage cheese and full fat pepper jack cheese. I wouldn’t make queso without some actual cheese. C’mon!
- Calories: 240
- Protein: 24g
- Carbs: 11g
- Fat: 11g
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Queso
8. Chili Crunch Chicken Salad
Remember the viral cucumber salad craze? I made this chicken salad at the peak of that hype cycle, and it never got the love it deserved. It combines typical cucumber salad ingredients like chili oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and green onion. But it adds blended cottage cheese and chopped Trader Joe’s smoked chicken (or rotisserie chicken, cooked chicken breast, etc.) for an extra layer of protein and heartiness. Good stuff, even if a bit different!
- Calories: 160
- Protein: 19g
- Carbs: 9g
- Fat: 5g
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Chicken Salad
9. Street Corn Chicken Dip
Fresh off the heels of the chili crunch chicken salad, I made an esquites inspired version with frozen fire roasted corn, fresh herbs, blended cottage cheese, lime juice and zest, and some everything but the elote or chile lime seasoning.
- Calories: 210
- Protein: 26g
- Carbs: 16g
- Fat: 4g
Recipe: Street Corn Chicken Salad
10. Chicken Alfredo
I’ve tried a few cottage cheese alfredo sauce recipes from across the internet but always feel a bit disappointed. After making so many other high protein cottage cheese recipes by blended it with things like pasta sauce, marinara, and enchilada sauce, I figured using a jar of alfredo sauce was the quickest way to the promised land. Most of the other sauce recipes I’ve tried use lots of parmesan and mozzarella or butter anyway, so the added calories from the alfredo sauce aren’t all that significant. The finished sauce is thick and creamy, flavorful, and heat resilient.
- Calories: 405
- Protein: 30g
- Carbs: 51g
- Fat: 10g
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Alfredo Chicken Pasta
11. Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
Another application for blended cottage cheese and alfredo sauce is white chicken lasagna. Layers of the sauce go into a baking dish with no-boil lasagna, crispy air fried lightly breaded chicken, fresh mozzarella, parmesan, and parsley. If you’ve never had alfredo lasagna or lasagna with crispy chicken, you’re in for a treat!
- Calories: 500
- Protein: 43g
- Carbs: 31g
- Fat: 24g
Recipe: Alfredo Lasagna
12. Cheesy Chicken Burritos
Rotisserie chicken, fire roasted corn, black beans, and frozen fajita veggies (for convenience) are combined with a green chile cheese sauce inside protein tortillas. Think: Tex-Mex chicken casserole in hand held form.
- Calories: 450
- Protein: 39g
- Carbs: 47g
- Fat: 12g
Recipe: Chicken Burritos
13. My “Ultimate” Protein Mac and Cheese
I tested a bunch of the most popular high protein mac and cheese recipes back in 2023 to find my favorite and develop an “ultimate” version. I settled on a one-pan baked mac that’s a chicken bacon ranch style with a crispy breadcrumb topping. Traditional? Far from it. Delicious? You already know.
- Calories: 475
- Protein: 41g
- Carbs: 43g
- Fat: 18g
Recipe: Protein Mac
14. Pesto Pasta with Chicken
Feel free to make a pesto from scratch without all the olive oil before blending it with cottage cheese, but I find the convenience of blending some Trader Joe’s basil pesto with cottage cheese is a more than serviceable two-ingredient pasta sauce that’s ready in minutes. This recipe pairs the duo with high protein pasta and air fried lightly breaded frozen chicken (and optional roasted pistachios) for a nutrient dense but super simple meal.
- Calories: 420
- Protein: 30g
- Carbs: 46g
- Fat: 14g
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Pesto Pasta
15. Fat Elvis Cottage Cheese Toast
There are so many variations on cottage cheese toast to make. Sweet? Savory? How about a combination of the two? Powdered peanut butter keeps the fat under control and affords calories for crispy bacon to go alongside caramelized bananas.
- Calories: 290
- Protein: 20g
- Carbs: 46g
- Fat: 4g
Recipe: Cottage Cheese Toast
16. Hawaiian Mac Salad
The flavors of grated onion and carrot, vinegar, and spices ensure the cottage cheese for mayo swap is hard to even notice. You may lose a few degrees of creaminess, but it’s very minor.
- Calories: 210
- Protein: 9g
- Carbs: 31g
- Fat: 5g
Recipe: Mac Salad
17. Spicy Ranch Dip
Inspired by Tex-Mex style creamy jalapeño dip, this dip blends salsa verde, tomatillos, pickled jalapeño peppers, ranch seasoning, cilantro, and cottage cheese together to make a high protein snack in minutes. It’s great for tortilla chips or taco topper, but it’s a healthier snack when paired with fresh veggies or at least baked chicharrones.
- Calories: 80
- Protein: 7g
- Carbs: 10g
- Fat: 1g
Recipe: Zesty Ranch Cottage Cheese Dip
18. Turkey Sausage Breakfast Bowls
One of the few non-blended cottage cheese applications you’ll find on this list, these bowls combine low fat cottage cheese with homemade turkey breakfast sausage crumbles, scrambled eggs, and roasted sweet potatoes. The flavors and textures are perfect together.
- Calories: 490
- Protein: 45g
- Carbs: 37g
- Fat: 18g
Recipe: Breakfast Bowls
19. Yum Yum Sauce
If you make a lot of stir fries and Asian-inspired dishes, this sauce is definitely worth mixing up and storing in your refrigerator. My original recipe calls for nonfat Greek yogurt, but I also make it with blended cottage cheese. It’s perfect for adding some extra protein, visual interest, and flavor.
- Calories: 35
- Protein: 2g
- Carbs: 5g
- Fat: 1g
Recipe: Low Fat Yum Yum
20. BBQ Chicken Wraps
Another recipe of mine that originally called for Greek yogurt that works great with blended cottage cheese. Pulled rotisserie chicken is tossed with bbq sauce then wrapped in flatbreads with a creamy ranch coleslaw and pickles. Cottage cheese isn’t always a 1:1 swap for Greek yogurt, but in the case of creamy slaw with other seasonings and sauces like this, it’s a win. You can always add a splash of vinegar to cottage cheese sauces if you’re missing a bit of tang.
- Calories: 485
- Protein: 49g
- Carbs: 39g
- Fat: 17g
Recipe: Rotisserie Chicken Wraps
Wrapping Up
I hope you found a recipe or two you can add to next week’s meal plan. If you enjoyed this roundup and want to explore more like it, check out my roundups for high protein pasta or frozen lightly breaded chicken bites next.
