Cottage Cheese: 8 Kid-Friendly Recipes That Use the Whole Tub

Cottage cheese is suddenly everywhere, and here's the good news for anyone feeding kids: blended smooth, it doesn't look or taste like cottage cheese at all. It turns into pizza, pancakes, cookie dough and ice cream. Here are eight recipes riding that wave, all ones kids actually eat, with exactly how much of the tub each one uses. Make two and the tub's gone.

Flatbread · 1 cupTwo-ingredient flatbread

The fastest-rising cottage cheese search right now. It's just cottage cheese and eggs baked into a soft, foldable sheet. Kids roll it up like a wrap with ham or turkey and cheese. You need: 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 eggs, and if you like, 3 tablespoons Parmesan, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

1. 1

   Step 1: Mix

   Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir together the cottage cheese, eggs and seasonings.

2. 2

   Step 2: Spread

   Spread it on a baking sheet lined with parchment.

3. 3

   Step 3: Bake · 30 to 40 min

   Bake until the edges are golden and the middle looks set.

4. 4

   Step 4: Cool and fill

   Let it cool at least 5 minutes, then cut, fill and roll.

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Pizza bowl · 1 cupPizza bowl (no crust)

Everything kids love about pizza, baked in a dish and eaten with a spoon. The cottage cheese gets blended and becomes the creamy layer under the sauce. You need: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, ½ cup shredded Parmesan (divided), 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 cup jarred pizza sauce, ¼ cup mini pepperoni (or cooked sausage), plus a spoonful of diced pepper and onion if your kids will allow it.

1. 1

   Step 1: Blend

   Heat the oven to 375°F. Blend the cottage cheese until smooth.

2. 2

   Step 2: Layer

   Stir in the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the Parmesan and the seasonings, and spread it in an oven-safe dish. Spread the pizza sauce on top.

3. 3

   Step 3: Top and bake · 10 to 12 min

   Add the pepperoni, any vegetables and the rest of the Parmesan. Bake until warmed through. Serves 2.

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Pancakes · 1½ cupsBlender pancakes

Fluffy, filling, and the blender hides every curd. You need: 1½ cups cottage cheese, 4 eggs, 1 cup old-fashioned oats, ⅔ cup whole-wheat flour, 6 tablespoons melted butter, 3 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon vanilla, ½ teaspoon salt.

1. 1

   Step 1: Blend · about 1 min

   Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth.

2. 2

   Step 2: Cook · about 2 min a side

   Scoop onto a lightly oiled skillet and cook until the edges set and the bottom is deep golden, then flip.

3. 3

   Step 3: Serve

   Makes twelve 4½-inch pancakes. Berries and syrup on top.

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Breakfast bake · 1 cupBlueberry breakfast bake

Like a soft blueberry oatmeal bar you cut into squares. Searches for it are up about fiftyfold over the past five years. You need: 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 eggs, ½ cup old-fashioned oats, ½ cup fresh blueberries, 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey), ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon vanilla, cooking spray.

1. 1

   Step 1: Mix

   Heat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8-by-8 dish. Whisk the eggs, then stir in everything else.

2. 2

   Step 2: Bake · 25 to 30 min

   Pour it into the dish and bake until the edges are golden and the center is set.

3. 3

   Step 3: Slice

   Let it cool before slicing into squares. Leftovers go in the fridge within 2 hours.

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Mac and cheese · ½ cupMac and cheese they won't question

Blend the cottage cheese into the cheese sauce and it simply disappears. You need: 8 ounces pasta, ½ cup cottage cheese, 1 cup milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 cup finely shredded sharp cheddar, ¼ teaspoon each salt, garlic powder and paprika, ⅛ teaspoon pepper.

1. 1

   Step 1: Cook the pasta

   Cook it according to the package.

2. 2

   Step 2: Blend the sauce

   Blend everything else until completely smooth.

3. 3

   Step 3: Thicken and toss · 4 to 5 min

   Warm the sauce in a skillet or pot over medium-low heat, stirring often, until it thickens a little, then stir in the drained pasta. Serves 3.

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Queso · 1½ cupsFive-minute queso

A warm, cheesy dip you make in the microwave. Put out chips and carrot sticks and it's an after-school snack. You need: 1½ cups cottage cheese, 2 teaspoons taco seasoning, ¼ cup canned tomatoes and green chilies, a handful of shredded cheese.

1. 1

   Step 1: Blend

   Blend the cottage cheese and taco seasoning until smooth.

2. 2

   Step 2: Microwave · 60 sec

   Spoon it into a microwave-safe dish, top with shredded cheese and microwave for 60 seconds.

3. 3

   Step 3: Finish

   Stir in the tomatoes and chilies, add a little more cheese on top and microwave again until it melts. Serves 2.

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Cookie dough · 1 cupCookie dough you eat with a spoon

The bowl-licking part of baking cookies, without the oven or the raw eggs. Blended oats stand in for wheat flour. You need: 1¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats, 1 cup cottage cheese, 3 tablespoons maple syrup, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, ⅓ cup mini chocolate chips.

1. 1

   Step 1: Make oat flour · about 1 min

   Blend the oats until they are a fine flour.

2. 2

   Step 2: Blend the dough

   Add the cottage cheese, maple syrup, vanilla and salt and blend until smooth and thick, scraping down the sides.

3. 3

   Step 3: Add the chips

   Scrape it into a bowl and fold in the chocolate chips.

4. 4

   Step 4: Chill · 30 min

   Cover and chill; it firms up as the oats soak. Serve in small scoops. Keep it covered in the fridge and eat within 3 days. Makes about 2 cups.

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Ice cream · 2 cupsPeanut butter chocolate chip "ice cream"

The viral one. Blended and frozen, cottage cheese turns into a creamy treat you can scoop. You need: 2 cups full-fat cottage cheese, ¼ cup maple syrup or honey, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, 2 tablespoons chocolate chips. Honey isn't safe for children younger than 1, so use maple syrup for them.

1. 1

   Step 1: Blend

   Blend the cottage cheese, syrup and peanut butter until smooth and creamy, then stir in the chocolate chips.

2. 2

   Step 2: Freeze · about 4 hours

   Spread it in a loaf pan and freeze until hard.

3. 3

   Step 3: Scoop

   Let it sit out 5 to 10 minutes so it scoops easily. Serves 3.

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Use the whole tubTwo recipes, and the tub is empty.

A 16-ounce tub is about 2 cups, and a 24-ounce tub about 3. So pair them up. A 16-ounce tub: flatbread and a pizza bowl (1 cup each), or mac and cheese and queso (½ cup and 1½). A 24-ounce tub: pancakes, cookie dough and mac and cheese (1½, 1 and ½ cups). Nothing's left to forget. Why is everybody buying it? Mostly protein: half a cup of 2% cottage cheese has about 12 grams, about the same as two large eggs. Once a tub is open, use it within about a week, and keep it where you'll see it, the way Stop Losing Food in Your Fridge explains.

Quick referencePin this.

Recipes adapted from: Slender Kitchen, Cottage Cheese Flatbread · Daisy Brand, Cottage Cheese Pizza Bowls and Protein Packed Mac & Cheese · America's Test Kitchen, Cottage Cheese Pancakes · Mississippi State University Extension, HappyHealthy, Blueberry Breakfast Bake · The Dairy Alliance, Cottage Cheese Queso · PeaceHealth, Cottage Cheese Ice Cream (adapted from Eating Bird Food). Search trends: Google Trends, US, past 5 years, rising queries for "cottage cheese" (flatbread and pizza bowl Breakout, blueberry breakfast bake +4,900%, cookie dough +2,700%), checked October 22, 2026. Honey and infants: CDC, Botulism Prevention. Keeping: USDA FSIS, FoodKeeper data (1 week after opening). Protein: USDA FoodData Central, cottage cheese, lowfat, 2% and egg, whole, raw. Checked October 22, 2026.