What is cottage cheese?
Cottage cheese is a mild, fresh cheese with a creamy, slightly tangy flavour and soft texture. The consistency is unique with two textures at play; a firmer, bouncier cheese which sits in a loose cream similar to yogurt. Cottage cheese is high in protein. It can be eaten on its own or used in a variety of dishes, often adding tenderness to bakes like our Mediterranean cottage cheese frittata loaf.
How is cottage cheese made?
Cottage cheese is made using cows’ milk. It’s a fresh cheese, like ricotta, which means it isn’t aged and is made up of cheese curds mixed with cream.
To make the cheese curds, milk is heated, then an acid is added, usually alongside some rennet, to curdle the milk. The milk then separates into curds and whey, and the curds form a solid block, which is the basis of the cottage cheese.
To make cottage cheese, the curds are then sliced before being heated again and washed to remove any remaining whey. Next, they’re mixed with salt and cream, which produces the final, rich and creamy texture.
What does cottage cheese taste like?
You might be wondering what cottage cheese tastes like. Since it’s a fresh cheese, rather than aged, the flavour is mild and creamy with a slight tanginess. The fat content of your cottage cheese will also impact the flavour, so a full-fat cottage cheese will taste creamier, whereas low-fat cottage cheese might taste a little less rich. The creaminess of cottage cheese pairs well with sharp and fresh flavours like the feta and sweetcorn in our cauliflower pizzettes with sweetcorn and feta.
Is cottage cheese good for you?
Full-fat cottage cheese is high in protein, which supports the maintenance of muscle mass. It also contains a variety of nutrients, although this will vary between brands of cottage cheese and depends on things like the type of milk used and how much salt is added.
How much protein is in cottage cheese?
Cottage cheese is high in protein because of the milk proteins, which are retained during the production process. The exact amount of protein will vary between different types of cottage cheese, but here we’ve looked at the amount of protein in Tesco own-brand cottage cheese.
In 100g of Tesco Natural Cottage Cheese, there is 9.5g of protein, while in 100g Tesco Fat-Free Cottage Cheese there is 10.2g of protein.
How many calories in cottage cheese?
The exact number of calories varies between types of cottage cheese. Again, we’ve looked at the amount of protein in Tesco own-brand cottage cheese.
In 100g of Tesco Natural Cottage Cheese there is 105kcal, while in 100g Tesco Fat-Free Cottage Cheese there is 58kcal.
What are the advantages of cottage cheese?
There are several advantages to eating cottage cheese when comparing it to other dairy products. Compared to other cheeses like Cheddar, it’s lower in fat – 100g of Tesco Natural Cottage Cheese is 83 per cent lower in fat (5.6g) than Tesco Mature Cheddar, which has 34.9g fat.
The mild flavour of cottage cheese means it’s wonderfully versatile and easy to incorporate into your diet. It can be added to pancakes for breakfast, to eggs to make a frittata for lunch and it can even be used in desserts like our cottage cheese chocolate mousse.
What to eat with cottage cheese?
The mild, creamy flavour of cottage cheese makes it super versatile so it can be eaten with lots of things. Think of it as similar to cream cheese, ricotta or mozzarella.
Cottage cheese makes a great creamy base for herbs and spices, like in our whipped cottage cheese ranch dip, where it’s paired with garlic, dill, parsley and lemon. We like to eat this dip with some crunchy veg like sliced carrot, cucumber or peppers.
The creaminess of cottage cheese also works beautifully with fresh tomatoes. In our tomato crostini topped with cottage cheese we’ve used grilled slices of bread as the base, and marinated the tomatoes in olive oil, garlic and thyme for a refreshing summer bite.
What to cook with cottage cheese?
Ready to start cooking with cottage cheese? Get inspired by our cottage cheese recipes, like hot honey beef bowls, the ideal high-protein dinner with sweet potato, beef mince and cottage cheese. Or try your hand at a creamy broad bean and salmon pasta for a protein-packed weeknight feast.
Are you a cheese lover? We’ve got more cheese recipes too, like whipped blue cheese dip with candied walnuts for an indulgent snack. Having friends round for brunch? Why not surprise them with a smoked salmon and cream cheese board.
*source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composition-of-foods-integrated-dataset-cofid