Spicy Cottage Cheese Ranch Dip

This high protein cottage cheese ranch dip is made with pickled jalapeño peppers, salsa verde, cilantro, tomatillos, and ranch seasoning. After my recent protein queso experiment, I’m on a low fat cottage cheese kick. I was never a big fan, but it makes thick and creamy cheese sauces and dips when blended that are lower calorie and packed with protein.

Ingredients for Jalapeño Ranch Dip with Cottage Cheese

It’s a short list, but I’ve included some tips for substitutions and customizations.

• Low Fat Cottage Cheese – I used 2% cottage cheese. Using fat free would save around 10 grams of fat and 90 calories (or roughly 10 calories per serving).
• Salsa Verde – Store bought is fine, but I’d love to see a cottage cheese dip hybrid with my avocado salsa.
• Pickled Jalapeño Peppers – I recommend using mild peppers to avoid a dip that’s overly spicy. Feel free to reduce the amount of jalapeño if you’re extra spice sensitive.
• Tomatillos – These add a bit of brightness and tang to the dip in addition to the salsa verde and jalapeño. If you have trouble finding tomatillos, you can use green tomatoes and a bit of lime juice or even fresh green peppers instead.
• Cilantro – If you’re not a fan of cilantro, consider another herb like parsley or maybe even scallions instead.
• Ranch Seasoning – I keep a giant tub of Hidden Valley ranch seasoning on hand to use in everything from protein mac n cheese to Texas pulled beef. You can make your own, but I doubt you have the key ingredient, buttermilk powder, on hand.

Adjusting Spice Levels

If you or anyone in your house is spice sensitive, I highly recommend going with the mildest salsa verde and pickled jalapeño peppers you can find. Taste them before blending! You can cut back on the peppers or even swap them for something like diced green chiles or extra salsa verde.

Pro tip: If you ever end up with a dip or sauce that’s too spicy, you can battle the heat with some acidity. Lime juice and vinegar are always great options. But in this case, folding in a bit of nonfat Greek yogurt would be great.

You’d get some extra tang and creaminess while also adding a protein boost to your ranch dip. This is also a great option for making your dip thinner. See my jalapeño ranch yogurt dip for a consistency comparison between this cottage cheese dip and yogurt dip.

Tips for Blending Your Dip

Aside from the tomatillos, nothing in this dip will take much blending power. So any food processor, blender, or immersion blender should get the job done.

My biggest tip for blending would be to take it slow. Blending on low to medium speeds will prevent too much air from being whipped in, keeping your dip nice and smooth as opposed to fluffy. Leave the fluffiness to whipped feta dip.

What to Serve with Cottage Cheese Ranch Dip

Oh man, you can put this stuff on everything.

It’s great as a chip or veggie dip with baked tortilla chips or baked pork rinds, sliced peppers and cucumbers, baby carrots, broccoli or cauliflower florets, or jicama chips. But it’s equally great drizzled over tacos and quesadillas, burrito bowls, salads, and all your other favorite Tex-Mex dishes.

More Pairing Ideas

• easy steak tacos
• Mexican pulled chicken tacos
• ground chicken chorizo
• crispy baked tacos
• ground chicken tinga tostadas
• Texas’ best beef fajitas
• ground pork tacos al pastor
• rotisserie chicken burritos
• sheet pan chicken wraps

However you end up serving your ranch dip, I’d love to hear about it. Recipe reviews and comments are always appreciated!