Turns out I was wrong about cottage cheese for 35 years (here’s how to actually like it!)
Cottage cheese needs a new PR team. Everything about it is revolting, which is probably why I avoided it for the first 35 years of my life.
I mean, shall we count the ways?
HERE'S EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG ABOUT COTTAGE CHEESE
1) "Cottage Cheese"?? Nothing about that name sounds delicious. Btw it's called that because it was literally "cheese made in a cottage" in the American farms of the 1800s but the name is just not helping its marketing campaign here.
2) It looks chunky. Gag.
3) The chunks are called "curds" which someone how makes them worse.
4) These curds are marketed by size, so you can opt for "small curd" or if that's not enough to make your stomach turn, spring for tub full of "large curd" cheese.
5) People who love cottage cheese say "oh yeah just eat it with anything! Berries and honey or make it savory with ranch dressing mix and dip carrots in it or eat it by the spoonful!" Is it sweet or savory? More like cream cheese or yogurt? The ambiguity of the flavor has left my head in a real conundrum.
6) Is it cheese? Yogurt? Dip? I DO NOT GET IT.
ENTER: MY CURIOSITY ABOUT COTTAGE CHEESE
Needless to say, I've had a very happy 35 years ignoring cottage cheese and getting my protein elsewhere.
There have been fewer chunks in my life and I've been getting along just fine.
But... (you knew there was a but, right?), cottage cheese is EVERYWHERE! All of the athletes or coaches or influencers who I follow and admire seem to be adding cottage cheese into their regular eating routines.
I love observing the people who are a few steps ahead of me in life (runners who are faster, lifters who are fitter) and seeing what they're doing in their lives. I don't want to copy someone who doesn't have the lifestyle I desire! I want to imitate the person who has the end result that I want.
And it seems like all of those super fit people just loooove their COTTAGE CHEESE.
Ok.
How I Add Cottage Cheese Into My Diet
Again, if there's an athlete I admire who seems to have a healthy relationship with food and fuel and body image, I love seeing what they're eating and following their instagram stories.
So after many-many-many-many times of seeing cottage cheese listed as a staple in their well-balanced diet, and seeing some pictures that honestly looked absolutely scrumptious, I decided to give it a try.
And I'm here to tell you: I was wrong! Cottage cheese is delightful! It's delicious! I'll share a few recipes (I mean, if we can even call them "recipes") here with you in a second!
For starters, if you want to get into cottage cheese, you have to reframe what it is.
One of the biggest reasons I avoided cottage cheese for the first 35 years of my life was confusion.
Like, is it sweet or savory? Is it more like yogurt or sour cream or ice cream or WHAT THE HELL IS IT?
The ambiguity was the main thing that kept me from eating it.
So if you're in the same boat, here's what worked for me:
I think of cottage cheese as a kind of burrata, and then it's actually really delicious.
If you were making an omelette, it wouldn't be weird to add a dollop of creamy, melty cheese to the middle of the omelette, right? Exactly same...but swap it for cottage cheese.Â
And you could grab salty rice cake and top it with a little bit of burrata and some freshly picked basil from the garden, correct? Do that, but make it cottage cheese.Â
3 really delicious ways to add cottage cheese into your diet
1. Whip it into your omelette. OMG I've been eating this on repeat, and I'm telling you it is deeelish, absolutely packed with protein, and it keeps me full all morning (even after a 6 mile run!)
1/2 cup egg white + 1 egg + 1/4 cup cottage cheese // blitz in the blender - really important because that's how you turn those curds into a high-voume, creamy cheese! // heat oil in a pan on med-low heat // pour the egg mixture in and let it cook, making sure to lift the edges with a spatula and occasionally tilt the pan to let the runny part run off the top // just before it's done add another 1/4 cup cottage cheese on the omelette and flop it over in half so it gets all melty.
I'll top it with tomato/avocado or just eat it plain with salt + pepper.
2. On a tomato + basil quaker rice cake (yes, and it has to be this particular flavor!!) Don't even bother with a plain rice cake. I mean, unless you want to be stuck in the "cottage cheese is bland and chunky" mindset forever. Just take your rice cake, add a dollop of cottage cheese, smooth it around with the back of the spoon, and add a few cherry tomato slices and basil shreds on top. Scrumptious!
3. Tiny protein egg bites. Super easy recipe and then you have breakfast ready to go every day. The key is NOT over cooking them because when you microwave to heat, they'll cook a little bit more. Just mix 6 eggs, a 16 oz carton of egg whites, and 1 cup of cottage cheese (plus salt & pepper!) and whisk it all together. Pour it into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20-ish minutes. Again, less time is better because you can finish cooking them when you heat in the microwave.
But Kelsey, can't you just get your protein elsewhere?
I can and I have! I eat plenty of chicken, turkey, eggs and egg whites, protein smoothies, and greek yogurt.
Idk y'all...it's just that when I look at the well-rounded diets of really fit/healthy people, it's not like they're eating cottage cheese once a week.
Nope. They're incorporating it into their diets like twice a day! Snacks, breakfast, baking, etc.
And it turns out it is a REALLY great source of protein. It's inexpensive, low in fat, high in protein, and (as far as I can tell) almost infinitely customizable.Â
Sure, I made it 35 years without it, but recently? I've actually liked eating it. I know, right?! We can all change and evolve! Hooray!
Full disclosure: I'm not a cottage cheese fanatic just yet. I do not understand how people eat it with fruit. The "cottage-cheese-as-a-sweet-treat" still makes me want to gag.
So maybe I'm not fully converted just yet. But I do think I can safely call myself a cottage cheese advocate and also I have nearly made it through a Costco-sized tub of cottage cheese before it expired.
That's really all you need to know.