Cottage Cheese Eggs

At a glance

What stands out: Not only are these cottage cheese eggs the creamiest you’ll ever eat, they’re also low-carb and packed with protein! You’ll love that they’re straightforward enough for a weekday breakfast, too.

How long it takes: 7 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: nonstick skillet
Servings: 1

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Level up Your Scrambled Eggs

Protein is having a moment, and so is cottage cheese. In order to nail our protein goals, we’re trying to find ALL the ways to work cottage cheese into every meal we can. We've found the results can be hit or miss, but cottage cheese eggs have become one of our favorites. (This peach banana cottage cheese smoothie is pretty darn memorable too.)

Not only do you get extra protein in your breakfast with these cottage cheese eggs, they’re also legitimately rich in their own right. The cottage cheese helps keep the scrambled eggs from getting dry, and it adds a rich creamy element to the mix. You can spruce cottage cheese eggs up with fresh herbs and other toppings (like ketchup, if that’s your thing), but they’re so tasty, you don’t need to!

Cottage Cheese Scrambled Eggs

A straightforward way to incorporate cottage cheese into your breakfast. If you’re not a fan of eating cottage cheese on its own, this recipe is a great way to sneak it into your diet. Our mom, who has always professed a dislike for anything cottage cheese, raves about these scrambled eggs made with cottage cheese.

A protein-packed breakfast option. With two eggs and a quarter cup of cottage cheese as the main ingredients, this recipe has 18 grams of protein to keep you feeling full and satisfied until lunchtime. (As a point of reference, two eggs without cottage cheese have 12 grams of protein.)

Speedy and simple to make. With only 2 minutes of prep time and 5 minutes of cook time, these cottage cheese eggs are reliable for busy weekday mornings when you want a hot, lighter breakfast but don’t have a lot of time. We also find myself turning to cottage cheese eggs when we're looking for a speedy lunch or even dinner.

What goes in

• Eggs: Choose fresh large eggs. You’ll need two for this recipe but it’s straightforward to double or triple it to make as many as you like.
• Small curd cottage cheese: We've found that full-fat cottage cheese is a standby option. Nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese tends to make the scrambled eggs watery. You could use large curd cottage cheese but the larger curds will be more noticeable in the scrambled eggs.
• Black pepper: Freshly ground black pepper adds a pop to the flavor.
• For cooking: Choose your favorite for making scrambled eggs: butter, oil, or olive oil spray.

Recipe Tip

Cottage cheese tends to be a little salty so you may not need to add any salt to the eggs. Cook the cottage cheese eggs first, then taste and add salt if needed.

How it comes together

Mix the eggs and cheese. Crack the eggs into a small bowl, then whisk in the cottage cheese until blended.

Prepare. Warm a nonstick pan over medium-low heat, then add oil, butter, or olive oil spray.

Cook. Add the egg mixture to the pan. Once the edges begin to set, use a rubber or silicone spatula to push them to the center. Continue this process, pushing the cooked edges to the middle and stirring every few seconds.

Finish. Once the eggs are mostly set but are still soft and creamy, remove the pan from the heat. If you want them firmer and dryer, you can leave the eggs in the pan a bit, still stirring and flipping, until they reach the desired texture but we find cottage cheese eggs taste best if they are slightly underdone as compared to overdone. Season with pepper, and serve.

Straightforward Recipe Variations

Add your favorite seasonings. Everything bagel seasoning, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, or all purpose seasoning are a few of our favorite options. Fresh herbs like parsley, chives, and dill are fantastic too.

Make them meaty. Diced ham (like leftover crockpot ham!) and cooked crumbled bacon are both rich options to add even more protein to your breakfast.

Sprinkle cheese on top. Add shredded cheddar or crumbled feta on top of your cottage cheese eggs for double the cheesy goodness.

Drizzle with a sauce. Chimichurri, hot sauce, or pesto are all great options to drizzle over your eggs for added flavor. Try our cilantro pesto or this basil pesto recipe.

Ways to serve it

• Muffins. Complement these savory eggs with sweet banana bread muffins or apple cinnamon muffins. Be sure to take a look at all of our muffin recipes to choose your favorite!
• Toast or English muffins. Serve your scrambled eggs on top of toasted bread or English muffins. This is good with sliced avocado and sautéed spinach!
• Breakfast meat or potatoes. Serve your cottage cheese eggs alongside air fryer bacon or breakfast sausage links. They go great with crispy roasted potatoes, too!
• Waffles or pancakes. You can never go wrong with buttermilk pancakes or our favorite cornbread pancakes.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate: Scrambled eggs are best eaten fresh but you can keep any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Scrambled eggs don’t freeze well, so we don’t recommend freezing them.

Reheat: Warm up leftover eggs in the microwave in 30-second intervals until they’re heated through. You can also reheat them in a nonstick pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

• Yield: 1
• Prep: 2 minutes
• Cook: 5 minutes
• Total: 7 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup small curd full fat cottage cheese (see note)
• ground black pepper, to taste
• butter, oil, or olive oil spray

Method

1. In a small bowl, whisk eggs with cottage cheese until well-combined. You can easily increase the recipe as desired, keeping the ratio of eggs to cottage cheese the same (i.e. 4 eggs, ½ cup cottage cheese; 6 eggs, ¾ cup cottage cheese, 8 eggs, 1 cup cottage cheese, etc.).
2. Heat a small nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat. Add oil or butter.
3. Pour the eggs into the pan, and as you see them setting around the edges, use a rubber or silicone spatula to gently push the cooked eggs into the middle of the pan. Continue to cook, folding and stirring the eggs every few seconds, but not constantly.
4. When the eggs still look wet but are mostly set, remove from heat. If desired, let the eggs continue to cook in warm pan, stirring or flipping over until no liquid egg remains. Cottage cheese eggs are best served when they are still soft and creamy.
5. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt, if desired. Cottage cheese is somewhat salty, so you may find that no extra salt is needed. Serve immediately.

Notes

Cottage cheese: we find that full-fat cottage cheese is a standby option. Nonfat or low-fat cottage cheese tends to make the scrambled eggs watery. Large curd cottage cheese will work but will be more noticeable in the scrambled eggs.

Yield: The recipe as written makes one serving. Multiply recipe as needed to increase servings.

Variations: Season the eggs with everything bagel seasoning, Italian seasoning, or red pepper flakes. Diced ham or bacon crumbles can be added. Serve with fresh minced herbs like oregano, basil, or chives. Add a drizzle of pesto or chimichurri.

Storage & reheating: Scrambled eggs are best eaten fresh, but you can keep any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The quickest and easiest way to reheat eggs is to pop them in the microwave (30 second intervals) to heat through.