Cottage Cheese Salad
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This Cottage Cheese Salad is the best quick and easy low-carb side to your BBQ or simply a high-protein lunch that is also low-carb.
Plus, this vegetarian salad is perfect for meat-free Mondays.
You can add more proteins and vegetables to your plate without compromising on taste.
Cottage cheese is the best high-protein ingredient to add a tangy flavor to salad dressings or to fill omelettes like in my cottage cheese omelette recipe.
Let’s see how you can make this easy cottage cheese salad recipe for your next family gathering.
What’s Cottage Cheese?
Cottage cheese is fresh cheese also known as curdled cheese.
It doesn’t have a strong cheese flavor, it’s fresh and liquid as yogurt but with lumps of curdled milk.
It’s a high-protein dairy product that you can use in sweet or savory recipes.
Is Cottage Cheese Good For You?
Yes, cottage cheese is a healthy ingredient made naturally with skimmed milk.
It has no added sugar or salt, and it’s high-protein, low-fat, and perfect for replacing high-fat or high-carb ingredients like Bechamel in lasagna.
Is Cottage Cheese Keto?
Cottage cheese is a keto-friendly cheese which means you can have cottage cheese in small amounts like in a salad dressing or to top up an omelette and boost the protein.
It contains 11 grams of net carbs per cup, but you will not eat one cup at once on a keto diet. One typical serving contains 1.9 grams of net carbs.
It’s, therefore, definitely in the low-carb range and perfect for people with diabetes looking for more proteins.
How To Make Cottage Cheese Salad
All you need to make this delicious and refreshing salad with cottage cheese are:
Ingredients
- English Cucumber – Or any other fresh cucumber like Lebanese or Telegraph cucumber.
- Tomatoes – Any sort of tomato works, but I like Roma the best. Cherry tomatoes are also great.
- Hard-Boiled Eggs – Follow my recipe to make perfect hard-boiled eggs.
- Red Onions – While you can use regular onions, red onions bring the best taste to salads.
- Celery Stalks – Fresh celery stalks are very healthy vegetables. Discard the leaves if there are any.
- Dill Pickles
- Cottage Cheese – Feel free to use low-fat cottage cheese to decrease calories, it won’t change the amount of protein in the recipe.
- Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice
- Mayonnaise, sour cream, or Greek yogurt if preferred for more protein and less saturated fat.
- Yellow Mustard – The classic American mustard.
- Fresh Parsley – classic Italian parsley or curly parsley.
- Garlic Powder
- Paprika
- Salt
Boiling The Eggs
First, boil your eggs you can use my tutorial on how to boil eggs in an air fryer to make this step faster.
Preparing The Fresh Veggies
First, peel the cucumber and cut them into 0.4-inch cubes (1 cm). Do the same for the remaining vegetables: celery and tomatoes.
Next, cut the hard-boiled eggs into quarters.
Finally, finely chopped dill pickles and red onion.
Place all the cut ingredients above in a large bowl. Set aside while preparing the dressing.
Cottage Cheese Dressing
In a bowl, stir cottage cheese, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, yellow mustard, parsley, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Pour the cottage cheese sauce over the previous bowl and stir to combine.
Season to taste with more salt and pepper if desired.
Storage Instructions
You can store this salad in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The best way to keep it is without dressing.
Only pour the dressing when ready to eat the salad.
Add-Ons
Feel free to accommodate the salad by adding some of the below ingredients for more flavors:
- Green Onions
- Bell Peppers
- Olives
Serving Cottage Cheese Salad
This cottage cheese salad is amazing on its own as a quick lunch but it can also be served as a side dish.
I often serve it with:
Allery Swaps
Below I listed some options to make this recipe even if you have some food allergies.
- Low-Fat – Use low-fat cottage cheese and swap the mayonnaise for plain yogurt.
- Dairy-Free – There are tasty dairy-free cottage cheese options at the grocery store.
- Egg-Free – Use egg-free mayonnaise and skip the boiled eggs. You can replace boiled eggs with 1/2 cup of cooled, steamed cauliflower florets or 1/2 cup of olives or diced Emmental cheese.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Have To Peel The Cucumber?
No, you can absolutely keep the cucumber skin for extra fiber.
But, I find the cucumber skin hard to digest and thick. So I recommend peeling cucumbers for the best texture.
Can I Use Low-Fat Or Dairy-Free Cottage Cheese?
Absolutely, any cottage cheese variety works in this recipe.
Can I Make Vegan Cottage Cheese Salad?
Yes, skip the egg in the recipe, replace it with olives or bell pepper, and use vegan cottage cheese and vegan mayonnaise in the dressing.
More Healthy Salad Recipes
If you like healthy salads, you’ll love these other salad recipes:
Did you try this salad with cottage cheese? Share a comment or review below.
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Cottage Cheese Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups English Cucumber peeled, cubed – about 2 large cucumber
- 2 large Tomatoes cubed – (about 1 cup cubes)
- 2 Hard-Boiled Eggs cooled, peeled, and chopped
- ¼ cup Red Onion finely chopped
- ½ cup Celery Stalks chopped, about 3 stalks
- ⅓ cup Dill Pickle finely cubed
Cottage cheese salad dressing
- 1 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup Cottage Cheese
- ¼ cup Mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon Yellow Mustard
- ¼ cup Fresh Parsley or cilantro, finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Cut the cucumber, tomatoes, and boiled eggs into 1-inch cubes. Set aside in a large bowl.
- Finely chop the red onion, celery, and gherkins. Add to the same bowl.
- In another bowl, combine all the salad dressing ingredients: apple cider vinegar, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, salt, paprika, and garlic powder.
- To assemble the salad, place the salad dressing onto the bowl with the vegetables and top with fresh chopped parsley.
- Stir to combine evenly.
- Refrigerate the salad one hour before serving to enjoy its best flavors.
Storage
- Store up to 3 days in the fridge in a sealed airtight container.
Tools
Getting Started What Is Keto? Macro Calculator Sweetener Converter Intermittent Fasting Keto Fruits Keto Vegetables Keto Flours Fighting Keto Flu Healthy SweetenersWant My Kitchen Equipment?
Nutrition
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Disclaimer
The recipes, instructions, and articles on this website should not be taken or used as medical advice. You must consult with your doctor before starting on a keto or low-carb diet. The nutritional data provided on Sweetashoney is to be used as indicative only.
The nutrition data is calculated using WP Recipe Maker. Net Carbs is calculated by removing the fiber and some sweeteners from the total Carbohydrates. As an example, a recipe with 10 grams of Carbs per 100 grams that contains 3 grams of erythritol and 5 grams of fiber will have a net carbs content of 2 grams. Some sweeteners are excluded because they are not metabolized.
You should always calculate the nutritional data yourself instead of relying on Sweetashoney's data. Sweetashoney and its recipes and articles are not intended to cure, prevent, diagnose, or treat any disease. Sweetashoney cannot be liable for adverse reactions or any other outcome resulting from the use of recipes or advice found on the Website.
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A great quick recipe! Filling but still nice and light.
Love this recipe!! Such a healthy and yummy substitute for potato salad. This will be a regular for us even after the diet is over! Thank you!!
Nice and easy, it’s very refreshing