Don't know what to make with leftover cottage cheese? Try a cottage cheese smoothie. It combines so smoothly with frozen fruit and milk to bring a thick and creamy texture and boost of protein.
As someone who has taken the long road to love like cottage cheese, I still get a little nervous when I have some leftover from a recipe. Healthy alfredo sauce, cottage cheese pancakes, and protein mac and cheese all only use part of a container and I don't eat it straight-up, so without a plan it would languish in the fridge for who knows how long.
Since blending it is always the name of my game, I added cottage cheese to a smoothie on a whim and was jazzed by how well it incorporates into milk to add thickness and protein. Its flavor when combined with fruit, vanilla almond milk, and agave nectar is also super mild to nonexistent!
A cottage cheese smoothie is the perfect recipe to have in your back pocket when you have some leftover.
Reasons to Love This Recipe
- Cottage cheese provides protein to a smoothie without the use of protein powder. One-quarter cup of cottage cheese in a small smoothie (half of the recipe) adds roughly seven grams of protein and is a good source of other nutrients.
- As always with my cottage cheese recipes, blending = no curds for us texture-adverse people.
- Using cottage cheese in a smoothie provides a similar creamy texture and flavor as smoothies with Greek yogurt.
- A small amount of agave nectar takes away the "tang" flavor of cottage cheese and bumps the sweetness level up perfectly when using unsweetened milk.
- As written this cottage cheese smoothie doesn't call for banana if you're not a fan (though it's easy to sub in if that's your preference).
Smoothie Ingredients
- Cottage Cheese: Either small or large curd cottage cheese works in a smoothie as it's getting blended, as does 2% or 4% fat. Choose a low-sodium or no-salt-added variety if that's important to you.
- Strawberries + Pineapple: These two fruits are commonly paired with cottage cheese as toppings in packaged cups, and combine for a sweet and complementary flavor in a cottage cheese smoothie. Frozen strawberries and frozen pineapple chunks work best.
- Milk: Any is fine. Though this smoothie contains dairy, I usually go with unsweetened vanilla almond milk as I always have it on hand.
- Agave Nectar: This is the secret ingredient! Just one teaspoon (for two servings) adds the perfect amount of sweetness along with the fruit and balances the flavors.
How to Make This Smoothie
- Add cottage cheese and fruit to a blender, then pour in most of the milk. If the milk you're using is unsweetened, add the teaspoon of agave nectar. If using sweetened milk, hold off on it for now.
- Blend well until completely smooth, adding the rest of the milk as needed in order to thin the smoothie out. Taste and add agave if desired.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- Opt for frozen fruit. Frozen fruit works best in a smoothie as you don't need to add ice and worry about the flavor becoming diluted. Be sure the frozen fruit you're using does not have added sugar as it's not needed here.
- Freeze your own fruit. For instance, drain a can of pineapple chunks, space them out on a parchment paper-lined plate or dish, and freeze until solid.
- Know your blender. If you're concerned your blender is not high-powered enough to blitz up whole frozen strawberries, consider buying frozen sliced strawberries or chopping up fresh strawberries and freezing them yourself.
- Variations. Add vanilla protein powder or a tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter for more protein, blend in spinach or your favorite greens powder, add soaked chia seeds (steps and details in my filling green smoothie post) or ground flaxseed for extra fiber and omega-3s.
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes
- High-fiber and protein overnight oats use Greek yogurt and your favorite protein powder for a creamy, no-cook breakfast that can be easily batch-prepped for the week.
- Collard greens for breakfast? Orange juice, vanilla yogurt, and more temper their bold flavor and deliver one extra tasty collard greens smoothie.
- These healthy baked oatmeal bars are sweetened primarily with maple syrup and ripe bananas and are great served warm, at room temperature, or cold!
- We love the spice blend in this homemade ground breakfast sausage recipe. Using turkey or chicken is an easy way to lighten it up.
More Smoothie Recipes
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating in the recipe card and/or a comment review below!
Cottage Cheese Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen strawberries or fresh
- ½ cup frozen pineapple chunks or fresh
- ½ cup cottage cheese 2-4%, small or large curd all fine
- 1 ¼ cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk start with 1 cup
- 1 teaspoon agave nectar or to taste
- Ice if not using frozen fruit
Instructions
- Add the strawberries, pineapple, and cottage cheese to a blender, then pour in 1 cup of milk. Add a handful of ice if not using frozen fruit. If using unsweetened milk, add the agave nectar. Don't add it (yet) if using sweetened milk.
- Blend until smooth, adding the additional ¼ cup of milk as needed to thin out the consistency to your liking.
- Take a taste of the smoothie then blend in the agave nectar if you'd like it sweeter.
Notes
- Pineapple - Half of a frozen banana can be substituted.
- Milk - Vanilla almond milk adds a hint of vanilla flavor, but your preferred milk, including dairy milk, works.
- Storage Instructions - While this smoothie is best served right away, leftover portions can be refrigerated for up to one day with fine results. I don't recommend saving some for later if using fresh fruit as it can get more watery and separate.
- Yield - This recipe makes 24 ounces in total.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
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