If you’ve spent enough time on any social media sites, you’ve seen that fitness influencers have discovered a dairy-based meal prep hack to bump your protein intake without missing out on cheesy goodness in your day-to-day life… this episode is brought to you by cottage cheese. (salute lol)

What is cottage cheese?

1. You’ve seen it before, the little soft white curds of cheese that are usually topped with a fresh vegetable or fruit… a lot of people think cottage cheese is gross, but it’s so good for you if you’re trying to rework your body composition. So let’s break it down, bish!
   • Technically it’s considered a “fresh cheese” so it doesn’t have an aging or ripening process like a block of cheddar would, for example.
   • I know for some people, cottage cheese can be very off putting, but we will hold your hand and help you make it more palatable and visually pleasing in a bit after you get the lowdown on why you should be eating it.
2. Cottage cheese is made from curds of pasteurized cow milk, and it’s so easy you can even make it at home.
   • You have to curdle milk to make cheese. Sorry not sorry, it’s a fact of life. You can start a batch of cottage cheese by adding lime juice or vinegar to warm milk.
   • When the acidity increases, curds of casein protein separate from the whey, which is the liquid part of the milk that we know very well as a tasty dehydrated powder that we drink in shake form.
   • Once the curd is solid, it’s cut into smaller pieces and cooked to remove more moisture. Then you wash it and drain it to remove all of that liquid.
   • And you now know how to make your own cottage cheese on the fly, do with this info what you will. Good luck, Meathead!
3. Cottage cheese is very versatile: it comes in different fat contents depending on what you need.
   • Non-fat cottage cheese is just what you think, it has little to no fat content… less than .5% milkfat, think skim milk.
   • Low-fat has some fat content, usually around 1-2% milkfat, just like 1-2% milk.
   • Full-fat cottage cheese usually clocks in at 4% milkfat, similar to whole milk.
4. Curd sizes can vary based on how you deal with food textures; it runs the gamut from small, medium, and large to creamed and whipped varieties.

Why is it so good for you?

1. If you can get past the texture, cottage cheese is a fuckin’ nutrition powerhouse.
   • One half-cup serving of low-fat cottage cheese provides you with 14g of protein, 3g of carbs, and 1g of fat for 81 calories. EIGHTY ONE CALORIES. This is why we adore cottage cheese.
     • Now, if you’re lactose intolerant, you can get in on the creamy cheesy party, you just need to find a good lactose-free variant. Those do exist.
2. Protein accounts for over 70% of the calories in cottage cheese… like, dude. That’s better than eating lean ground beef! Seriously. In about 100 calories of lean beef you get like 13-15 grams of protein. IN COTTAGE CHEESE WE TRUST.
   • A note: If you plan on working hella cottage cheese into your daily nutrition, make sure you keep an eye on the sodium content, because it can get out of hand kinda quick. Thankfully they make low-sodium versions of cottage cheese.
3. If you’re cutting, you should 1000% be including cottage cheese in your daily nutrition because of the high protein and low calorie content… the casein in cottage cheese has been shown to help you feel fuller longer, and we all know how fantastical that is when you’re in a calorie deficit.
   • It also offers calcium, which if you are the carrier of a uterus, is good for us because we are prone to bone loss as we age. Dietary calcium has been associated with metabolic processes that reduce fat accumulation and accelerate fat loss. TLDR – eat ur fuckin’ cottage cheese!
   • If you enjoy having muscle mass, grab a spoon bitch, because casein accounts for 80% of the protein content in cottage cheese… that means eating it before bed can increase your metabolism and muscle synthesis without affecting the breakdown of fats.
     • It also leads to a sustained release of amino acids into the blood stream and muscles during the night, which we love to hear because that all reduces muscle breakdown.
     • It can also help with insulin resistance, which can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

That’s great, but how the fuck do I cook with it?

1. You can leave it in curd form, or you can hit it with a blender or food processor. The choice is yours, and yours alone.
   • Put it in your scrambled eggs. We know it’ll give the eggs a protein boost, but it also adds a creamy texture to your eggs, kinda like if you put sour cream in them… which is fucking delicous, btw. Thanks for teaching me that one, Bobby Flay.
   • Cheese sauce, duh! You can make any fucking cheese sauce under the sun. Cottage cheese makes a ripping Alfredo sauce, 10/10, no notes.
   • Get dippy with it. If you don’t like to make “recipes” you can free-ball a cottage cheese dip pretty easily, pick some herbs and a couple spices, shit you can even put ranch powder in there for a super protein boosted veggie dip.
   • You can even use it to make bread or bagels. I know, I scrunched my nose at first too, until I saw the finished bagels, and they were beautiful.

With a little practice and some creativity, you can turn cottage cheese into the most beautiful cheesy delight you can imagine. The world is your oyster. But don’t put cottage cheese on oysters. That’s fuckin’ gross.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cottage-cheese-is-super-healthy

https://www.foodandwine.com/cottage-cheese-recipes-tik-tok-8703529#:~:text=If%20you%20really%20want%20to,be%20the%20way%20to%20go.