If you're looking for a high protein breakfast or lunch idea, this savory cottage cheese bowl is just the thing! It comes together in less than 10 minutes, has all easy steps and is topped with lots of veggies and seeds to get those healthy vitamins!
Do check out my ground turkey sweet potato hash for another savory breakfast or brunch idea!
Have you become a cottage cheese fan like I have? I've found that it's so versatile, and can easily be used as a high protein breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack. Perfect if you're looking for a vegetarian and gluten free option!
Making this savory cottage cheese bowl is super simple, and takes minutes. You can either leave the cottage cheese as it is, or give it a blend if you like a more whipped texture. Then top with veggies, seeds and herbs.
On a cottage cheese kick like me? Then for savory cottage cheese recipes do check out my cottage cheese toasts, cottage cheese tzatziki and cottage cheese dill dip and, for a sweet treat, my cottage cheese and honey and cottage cheese smoothie are both delicious!.
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
High protein breakfast or lunch. Cottage cheese is a high protein food, with 14g per half cup in the low fat version (Healthline). Protein helps keep our blood sugar levels more stable than just carbohydrates and so feel fuller for longer (BBC Good Food), whether that's until lunch time or dinner time!
Simple ingredients. We use fresh cheese, veggies, herbs and seeds for these healthy cottage cheese breakfast bowls. All easy to find in stores, and you can swap the veggies in and out to those you have to hand.
Quick and easy. It takes less than 10 minutes to come together, and all we need to do is a bit of dicing of vegetables and herbs.
🧀 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Cottage cheese - there are many types of cottage cheese with full fat, low fat (or reduced fat) and non-fat options. I suggest to choose a plain, unflavored one, and with as few additives as possible. Full fat cottage cheese has more flavor.
- Dill - this gives the cottage cheese so much flavor, and you want to use fresh herbs rather than dried.
- Pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds - these give even more protein and healthy fats to the cottage cheese bowl. I suggest to use plain unsalted seeds.
🥕 More suggestions for toppings
I like to use English cucumber, radishes for their peppery tang and red bell pepper, along with some seeds, but there are many other options to try:
- Grated carrot
- Celery
- Beets
- Tomatoes (not low histamine)
- Avocado (not low histamine)
- Lettuces
- Green onion
- Pesto roasted vegetables
- Chicken salad (no mayo)
- Sesame seeds
- Pistachios
- Air fried root vegetables (allow to cool)
- Roasted broccoli and Brussels sprouts (allow to cool)
📖 Swaps and variations
Swap dill for another herb. There are so many options, including basil, cilantro and parsley.
Change up the veggies. Cottage cheese with vegetables is delicious and can be so versatile. Have a look above for more veggie options to choose from!
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making this savory cottage cheese bowl is very easy, with just a few steps. No need for any fancy kitchen equipment, and it comes together fast!
Step 1
Finely dice the fresh dill, and slice or dice the cucumber, radish and red bell pepper into small pieces (image 1).
Step 2
Spoon the creamy cottage cheese into your serving bowl, and sprinkle in diced dill, a pinch of salt and black pepper (if using). Give it a good stir to combine (image 2).
Step 3
Scatter on the diced vegetables, and sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds (image 3). Season a little more to preference, then enjoy your savory cottage cheese bowl recipe!
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- For more flavor to your fresh cheese, choose a full fat cottage cheese.
- Adjust the amount of dill to preference. If you love a herby flavor, add a sprinkle more.
- Stir the cottage cheese and dill well to combine and flavor the cheese.
- If the texture of the cheese isn't your favorite, then you can easily make whipped cottage cheese for a smooth consistency (just whip as is, without other ingredients).
📋 Frequently asked questions
You can easily blend or whip the cottage cheese in a food processor if you prefer a smoother texture.
The amount of protein will vary slightly between brands, and between 'regular', reduced fat and non-fat options. In their overview of the benefits of cottage cheese, Healthline describes that a half cup of low fat cottage cheese has 14g of protein.
Cottage cheese bowls are super versatile! Serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner, perhaps with some sides.
Cottage cheese has a creamy, slightly tangy flavor which lends itself to savory recipes if paired with vegetables and herbs, or sweet recipes if combined with a sweetener such as honey and fruit.
🍽 How to serve cottage cheese bowls
- Pair with my chia seed crackers, my air fryer pita chips or rice cakes.
- For a more hearty lunch or summer dinner, serve with a fresh salad such as my beet broccoli salad or my fennel and cucumber salad. My air fryer lettuce is a super quick option for some greens!
🥣 More fresh cheese recipes
With cottage cheese and fresh cheeses being as popular as they are, you may like to see my ricotta salad as well as these other fresh cheese recipes!
I'm always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes! And I love to hear from you - so please do leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐ and comment if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Savory Cottage Cheese Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1.5 tablespoon dill diced
- ¼ cup English cucumber sliced
- ¼ cup radish sliced
- ¼ cup red bell pepper diced
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 1 tablespoon shelled hemp seeds optional
- pinch salt
- pinch black pepper optional
Instructions
- Finely dice the dill, and stir through the cottage cheese with a pinch of salt and black pepper (optional) in your serving bowl.
- Dice the bell pepper, radish and cucumber. Scatter over the cottage cheese bowl, then sprinkle over the pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds (if using).
Notes
- Adjust the amount of dill to taste preference.
- If you prefer, you can easily blend the cottage cheese first for a smoother texture.
- For more flavor, I suggest to choose full fat cottage cheese.
- Nutritional information is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- cottage cheese isn't rated on the SIGHI list, but is stated to be 'well tolerated' on their histamine potential list. Note that this isn't their comprehensive list for MCAS. Check the label for other ingredients.
- dill, which scores 1 with a note, 'small amounts usually not a problem. High salicylate content'.
- black pepper, which scores 2.
Sandy H says
Omg I’m recently low histamine and this recipe is incredible. It tastes like I’m straight up eating tzatziki. Yummy! Thank you for sharing this and all your other recipes 🩷
Claire says
Hi Sandy! So glad you like the cottage cheese bowl! There's also a cottage cheese tzatziki recipe here on the site if you love the flavors 🙂