High Protein Cottage Cheese Dessert Bowls (5 ways)
Kiss your sweet tooth goodbye with these cottage cheese dessert bowls. This high-protein treat can be made in under 5 minutes, with a base of plain cottage cheese, pudding cups, and flavored Greek yogurt. Top each bowl with unique toppings to make a flavorful high-protein dessert. Choose from Very Berry, Banana Pudding, Key Lime Pie, Strawberry Cheesecake and Chocolate Peanut Butter for a creamy and decadent treat.
This great snack has 29 grams of protein in the base alone from the cottage cheese and yogurt. I love using cottage cheese to substitute heavier ingredients, like cream cheese or sour cream. I use it as a substitute for ricotta in my beefy cottage cheese lasagna and buffalo ranch chicken lasagna or add it to dips like cast iron queso. No one can tell the difference!
This sweet snack has a creamy texture with irresistible toppings and is totally customizable. The perfect dessert to make next time you want a balance of delicious and high protein.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- The base has 29g of protein and 3 simple ingredients.
- Simple recipe, ready in less than 5 minutes.
- The perfect high-protein treat.
Ingredients and Substitutions:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for these cottage cheese dessert bowls. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients list and instructions.
- Low-Fat Cottage Cheese: I prefer low-fat small curd cottage cheese but use full-fat cottage cheese for an even richer bowl. My favorite brand is Good Culture, but any is fine. If you’re worried about the texture in these bowls you can always blend your cottage cheese to make it smooth.
- Greek Yogurt: I use Oikos Triple Zero high-protein yogurt but any brand is fine. Play with different flavors to make your own bowls. For these, you’ll need vanilla, banana creme and berry flavored yogurts.
- Sugar-Free Pudding Cup: I suggest using sugar-free pudding cups (snack packs!) for volume and texture with only 60 calories but pudding mix works too, your bowls just won’t be as large. For these, you’ll need vanilla and chocolate.
- Toppings and Mix-ins: the possibilities are endless. Use fresh fruit in season, maple syrup or honey, peanut butter and chocolate chips and get creative with crunchy add in’s like Nilla wafers, graham crackers, granola or even Oreo cookies.
Variations
- Add protein powder for even more protein!
- Add peanut butter powder or cocoa powder.
- Use different yogurt flavors to create your own bowl. Cherry yogurt for cherry pie, peach yogurt for peach cobbler, etc.
- Add a dash of vanilla extract or peppermint extract to play with flavors.
Dietary Modifications
- For gluten-free, ensure yogurt and toppings are free of gluten.
- To make dairy-free you need to use cottage cheese, yogurt and pudding that is dairy-free.
How to make cottage cheese dessert bowls (a visual step-by-step guide):
Step 1: mix your base
Add the cottage cheese, yogurt and pudding to a bowl (image 1).
Mix until fully combined (image 2).
Step 2: add toppings
Add your mix-ins and toppings (image 3).
Expert Tip!
Prep your base and store it in the fridge to enjoy when the craving hits. Top with any of your favorite toppings and let us know in the comments what you come up with!
Recipe FAQ’s
Yes! Add your favorite mixed into the yogurt then add the cottage cheese. If needed you can add a splash of water or almond milk to the Greek yogurt and powder if it gets too thick. Use one you love the flavor of that mixes well and doesn’t get chalky.
You bet! Whip up your base and store in an airtight container in the fridge and add toppings when you’re ready to enjoy.
Sure! It will change the texture and will smooth it out which is great if you’re worried about the chunks. Use an immersion blender, food processor or high-speed blender to blend the cottage cheese, yogurt and pudding mixture before adding your toppings. Try it without though, you’ll be surprised!
Yes and no. If you don’t blend it, it’ll have a cottage cheese texture but the yogurt and pudding add a ton of flavor and really mute the cottage cheese flavor.
Sure, but note it will change the volume and taste of the entire bowl.
Cottage cheese is the star of the show. It adds protein and a creamy interesting twist to the texture of these bowls. Feel free to omit the cottage cheese for a completely different, but equally as yummy, dessert.
There are tons of flavored yogurt out there to give you inspiration! For extra protein, you can use Oikos Pro, which has 20 g of protein per cup and a couple of different flavors. Use your yogurt flavor to help you choose your toppings accordingly.
Check out some of our other delicious recipes!
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Cottage Cheese Dessert Bowl
📱 MyFitnessPal & MacrosFirst App Users
You can find this recipe and many others on MyFitnessPal and MacrosFirst by searching: Ohsnapmacros – Cottage Cheese Dessert Bowl
Ingredients
Very Berry
- 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (Good Culture for best flavor)
- 1 single cup Oikos Triple Zero Mixed Berry Yogurt 5.3 oz. individual cup
- 1 sugar free vanilla pudding cup
- sliced fresh strawberries
- granola
Banana Pudding
- 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (Good Culture for best flavor)
- 1 single cup Oikos Triple Zero Banana Yogurt 5.3 oz. individual cup
- 1 sugar free vanilla pudding cup
- crushed vanilla wafers
- sliced bananas
Key Lime Pie
- 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (Good Culture for best flavor)
- 1 single cup Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Yogurt 5.3 oz. individual cup
- 1 sugar free vanilla pudding cup
- lime juice, to taste
- shredded sweetened coconut
- crushed vanilla wafers or graham crackers
- lime, for serving
Strawberry Cheesecake
- 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (Good Culture for best flavor)
- 1 single cup Oikos Triple Zero Mixed Berry Yogurt 5.3 oz. individual cup
- 1 sugar free vanilla pudding cup
- sliced strawberries
- crushed graham crackers
Chocolate Peanut Butter
- 1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese (Good Culture for best flavor)
- 1 single cup Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Yogurt 5.3 oz. individual cup
- 1 sugar free chocolate pudding cup
- 1-2 Tbsp. peanut butter slightly melted
- additional peanut butter drizzle
- crushed graham crackers or granola
- chocolate chips
Instructions
- Choose your bowl.
- Add base ingredients of cottage cheese, yogurt and pudding. If desired, use a blender to combine.
- Add remaining topping ingredients and enjoy.
Notes
- Use any flavor of yogurt and desired toppings.
- Nutrition facts per bowl: the base is listed in the nutrition facts so you can add the toppings based on what works for you. Example: add 1/2 a graham cracker or 1 full if you have the room in your day.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter bowl with 1 Tbsp. PB: 332 calories 33P/25C/14F
I was skeptical, but this was great (I made the PB version using PB2). I also blended this, but next time I will try without blending. Note – I used no salt added cream cheese so that I can control how much sodium these have (hypertension).
So yummy and kept me full for hours! I’m weird about texture and the texture didn’t bother me one bit. I did the chocolate PB and can’t wait to play with all the flavors.
This is awesome. Easy, delicious & filling.
So happy you loved it!!