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No-Bake Cottage Cheese Cheesecake

No-bake cottage cheese cheesecake cups with a graham crust and berries. Creamy, tangy, 20 grams of protein and about 250 calories each.

  • 20g protein
  • 251 calories
  • 15 minutes
  • 4 servings

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By The Protein First Kitchen Team. Published

Creamy cheesecake dessert in a glass jar topped with berry compote
Photo by @murmeltier on Unsplash

This no-bake cottage cheese cheesecake gets its protein from the same place a lot of our desserts do: cottage cheese, blended until it is silky. Two cups of it carry almost 50 grams of protein, and once it is whipped smooth with vanilla and a little lemon it reads as cheesecake, not as diet food.

Why this works

Traditional cheesecake is built on cream cheese, which is mostly fat. Cottage cheese has a similar tang with roughly four times the protein per calorie. A scoop of vanilla protein powder both sweetens and thickens the filling, so there is no gelatin and no baking. The fridge does the setting.

Getting the texture right

Use a blender or food processor, not a whisk. Run it for a full minute or more and scrape the sides. You are looking for something that looks like Greek yogurt with no visible curds. Full-fat (4%) cottage cheese gives a slightly richer result for about 30 extra calories per cup; nonfat works too but tastes leaner.

Easy swaps

  • Crust: crushed vanilla wafers or a sprinkle of granola instead of graham crackers.
  • Flavor: swap the lemon zest for 1 tbsp cocoa powder and use chocolate protein for a chocolate cheesecake version.
  • Sweetener: honey works in place of maple syrup. A zero-calorie sweetener brings each cup to about 225 calories.

You might also like

For a classic sliceable version, bake our protein cheesecake with Greek yogurt. If you want something frozen, a pint of Ninja Creami protein ice cream has 37 grams of protein.

No-Bake Cottage Cheese Cheesecake

Prep 15 min. Cook 0 min. Makes 4 servings of 1 cup (about 3/4 cup filling).

Servings

Ingredients

Crust

Filling

Topping

Instructions

  1. Stir the crushed graham crackers with the melted butter until the crumbs look like wet sand. Divide between 4 small jars or glasses and press down firmly with the back of a spoon.
  2. Add the cottage cheese to a blender or food processor and blend for 60 to 90 seconds, scraping down the sides once, until completely smooth with no curds left.
  3. Add the protein powder, maple syrup, vanilla and lemon zest. Blend 15 seconds more, just until combined.
  4. Spoon the filling over the crusts. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until thick and spoonable.
  5. Top with berries right before serving.

Notes

  • Blending long enough is the whole trick. Any curds you leave in will make the texture grainy.
  • Whey-casein blend protein powders thicken more than pure whey. If you use one, add 1 to 2 tbsp milk so the filling is still pourable.
  • Keeps covered in the fridge for 3 days. Add the berries on the day you eat it.

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    Questions people ask

    Does the cottage cheese taste like cottage cheese?

    Not once it is blended smooth and chilled. The lemon zest and vanilla push it toward classic cheesecake, and the texture is close to a no-bake cheesecake filling.

    Can I make it without protein powder?

    Yes. Replace the protein powder with 1/2 cup (120 g) plain Greek yogurt and add 1 more tablespoon of maple syrup. Each cup drops to about 16 grams of protein.

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