3 Best Cottage Cheese Substitutes (Updated 2024)

Name: 3 Best Cottage Cheese Substitutes
Ingredients: Ricotta Cheese; Egg White; Fromage Blanc

Updated Mar 17, 2023Recipe Marker

It’s hard to talk about diet foods without mentioning cottage cheese. After all, the product enjoys a popular status among bodybuilders and athletes thanks to its high content of casein protein and low-fat content.

If you’re among those who have already incorporated this food into your diet, knowing possible cottage cheese substitutes can help you identify what other foods to turn to in case you’ve run out.

Here, we have compiled a list of the best alternatives to cottage cheese that promise almost similar flavors and features.

What Is Cottage Cheese Exactly?

To start, it’s important to clarify what cottage cheese is. By knowing this, you will be able to determine what products you can use to replace them.

Essentially, cottage cheese is a low-calorie cheese made from the curds of pasteurized cow’s milk.

When making cheese, different fat levels of milk are used, including nonfat, reduced fat, and regular milk.

What makes it different from most cheese is that cottage cheese is fresh, meaning it does not undergo an aging or ripening process.

To create it, you need to heat pasteurized cow’s milk, add a few drops of an acidic substance such as lime juice or vinegar, and let it sit to allow the milk to curdle.

After a while, you can then drain the heated milk to keep the curds soft and loose. Because of this process, the product generally had a mild flavor. It also comes in soft, white, and creamy textures.

Generally, cottage cheese is low in fat and contains an impressive amount of protein. Given these nutritional features, athletes favor it and it has been incorporated into weight loss plans for years.

However, since cottage cheese is fresh, it generally contains more lactose than aged cheeses, like Parmesan, Cheddar, or Swiss. Because of this, people with lactose intolerance and dairy allergies should avoid it.

To date, cottage cheese is often used in pancakes, salads, smoothies, lasagna, and baked goods.

Best Cottage Cheese Substitutes

Now that you have an idea of what cottage cheese is, it’s time to identify what products offer nearly the same features as this low-calorie food.

For your guide, here are among the best options you should know:

1. Ricotta Cheese

Topping the list of the best cottage cheese substitutes is none other than ricotta cheese. Similar to cottage cheese, ricotta comes in soft, shapeless blobs and offers a similar neutral taste.

In fact, you can use both in many recipes interchangeably.

Originally, ricotta cheese was made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk. However, to date, the product is now typically prepared using cow’s milk, especially in North America.

Texture and flavor aside, ricotta also offers high nutritional content perfect for those who want to build muscle and shed some weight.

Specifically, it serves as a good source of protein, calcium, and good fats.

The only difference you can expect when you use it as a cottage cheese substitute is that ricotta offers a slightly stronger flavor and is creamier.

2. Egg White

Surprised? Egg whites make a good replacement for cottage cheese, thanks to a nutritional composition at par with the latter.

Specifically, when you use egg whites, you can expect a hefty dose of protein and low-fat content.

With these, you can use them as a substitute for cottage cheese without ditching your muscle gain and fat loss plan.

On top of that, the food is also rich in potassium, and various types of vitamins and minerals, which all help in strengthening your bones and regulating your blood pressure.

3. Fromage Blanc

Last but not least we have Fromage Blanc, also called “white cheese.” Similar to cottage cheese, Fromage blanc is a fresh cheese, meaning it also has a creamy and soft texture.

Moreover, it also takes pride in its low fat and high protein content, which mirrors the nutritional composition of cottage cheese.

The only difference, however, is that while cottage cheese is neutral in flavor, Fromage blanc is described as yogurt-like, tasty, and buttery.

On top of that, Fromage blanc is also expensive and can be quite challenging to find.

The Bottom Line

Have you taken note of these cottage cheese substitutes? Whether you’re after the product’s low-fat content, rich protein, or mild flavor, expect that these alternatives can compensate for the absence of cottage cheese in your kitchen.

Feel free to try out any of these products today.

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