Cottage Cheese Pancakes are to-die-for! They have wonderfully crispy edges and a melty center that will have you HOOKED.
Cottage Cheese Pancakes are one of the best quick breakfasts to keep in your toolbelt. You might not have the best impression of cottage cheese, but trust me, this recipe is going to change your mind about these yummy curds forever!
Cooking with cottage cheese is a habit in our home. It ups the protein content and makes for perfect dessert fillings. If you enjoy this recipe, try your hand at making our amazing cottage cheese buns.
Tips for Making Cottage Cheese Pancakes
- Keep reapplying oil. Use canola oil, light olive oil or even coconut oil to fry up your pancakes. Just make sure to keep reapplying between pancakes to prevent sticking.
- Not all curds are created equal. You can use non-fat, low-fat or full-fat cottage cheese. Just make sure to purchase a cottage cheese with small curds. This style makes for the most consistent pancake batter and is the easiest to mix.
- Flour, flour, flour. Whole wheat, all-purpose or oatmeal flour will work great.
- Use a non-Stick Pan. Even though you are going to be sure to reapply cooking oil in between adding pancake batter, it is best to also use a non-stick pan.
- Cook on medium heat. Resist cranking up the heat to cook your pancakes faster! Medium-heat ensures they won’t burn and come out a perfect brown color.
- Keep it consistent. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to measure out the same sized pancakes. About ⅓ cup of batter per pancake will do.
- Keep it chunky or blend it up. It’s super tasty to hand mix your batter and get pockets of melty, cottage cheese. However, if you want the cheesy taste without the chunks, feel free to blend up the batter for a smoother texture.
How to Serve Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Serve Cottage Cheese Pancakes the way you would regular. A nice drizzle of maple syrup or warmed honey is welcome. You can also top your pancakes with fresh or stewed fruits. Just make sure you have a cup of warm coffee to wash your pancakes down with!
Make Cottage Cheese Pancake Dough in Advance
The best thing about these pancakes is the crispy edges! Make them right before serving for the best texture and results. However, if you want to prepare the batter early, go right on ahead! Refrigerate the dough in a bowl and keep the bowl covered to prevent the top from drying up.
Storing Cottage Cheese Pancakes
If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, here is how to store and reheat them:
- Refrigerating: Refrigerate leftovers for up to three days stored in an airtight container. Reheat them in the microwave or with a bit of oil in a skillet.
- Freezing: Layer pancakes in between layers of wax paper in an airtight container. They can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat them in a skillet with a bit of oil until crispy on the outside and melty on the inside.
Other Breakfast Recipes
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Here are some Momsdish favorites:
- Egg Bites – These low-carb breakfast bites can be customized with any filling you like and are perfect for a quick weekday breakfast.
- Donut Recipe – Because homemade is always better!
- Breakfast Quiche – Quiche is sure to impress at your next brunch gathering.
- Crazy Easy Sourdough Pancakes – Classic pancakes with a sourdough kick
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup canola oil
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the following order – cheese, eggs, vanilla extract, sugar, baking powder and flour. Mix in each time you add an ingredient.
- Preheat a skillet with canola oil on a medium heat. Fry the cottage cheese pancakes on each side until golden brown.
- Serve with maple syrup or jam, while they are still hot and the cheese inside is melted.
These are amazing! Love the taste and texture and the power packed nutrition in every bite. Used oat flour, coconut oil, and 1/4 cup ricotta as I only had 1 1/4 cottage cheese. They are my new favorite pancake.
Jojo, thats a great combo. I need to try your version. When our boys were babies, this was my go to daily. It would be fun to switch it up!
I actually made these a bit more savory, omitting the vanilla and sugar and adding ba bit of salt, garlic powder, and chopped green onions. My family loved them with bacon and some fresh tomatoes from the garden as a super easy summer dinner. Thank you for the inspiration!
Wow, I love the savory variation you came up with, Emile! Thanks for sharing 🙂
About how many small pancakes does this recipe make?
Hi Emma- if you use a 1/4 cup for cooking the pancakes it will yield about 12 pancakes! Enjoy! 🙂
What name cottage cheese you use ?
Thank
Hi Maya- I've used various brands. Any will do- use your favorite! 🙂
This might be a bit of a strange question but why does the recipe have 1 and 1/2 cups of cottage cheese and 4 eggs but only 10 grams of protein? Wouldn't it be higher than that?
Hey Dan- that would be 10 grams per serving actually! Enjoy! 🙂
These are incredible. Even picky eaters were swarming the platter. These are a must try!
Thanks for the feedback, Lauren! These pancakes are loved by all!
Can you use melted coconut oil or olive oil instead ? I have a bit of an intolerance to canola
Hi Tanweer- yes, that would work! Enjoy!
Wow, easy, delicious my husband says. Add walnuts next time.
So glad to hear that, Linda! Thanks for the feedback!
Can you almond flour or cocoanut flour?
Hi Melissa- Personally, I haven’t tried any flour alternatives for this recipe. However, based on other peoples feedback I’ve learned that the following types of flour have been used: kamut flour, GF flour, oat flour, and one person even mixed: 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup flax meal and 1/4 cup potato starch. If you try just almond flour, please let us know how they turned out! Enjoy!
I have gestational diabetes and CRAVE pancakes constantly. I used almond flour and only half required sugar — family hit and doesn’t raise my blood sugar. 😊
Anna, so happy to hear you were able to enjoy these pancakes too. Yay!
I used half APF and WW. Awsome
I forgot the oil! Still cooked nicely and were delicious - had even used WW flour and added 2 Tbsp. Chia seeds and 1 Tbsp toasted wheat germ.
Oh that sounds so yum!! Thank you for sharing all your tips. I am definitely trying the chia seed addition next time. It will be a hit here 🙂
Can this recipe work for waffles?
Hey Margot, it's not ideal for waffles but it can work. I would oil the waffle maker between each batch because melted cheese can get stuck in it. Enjoy it!
Amazing! Will never go back to regular pancakes. So moist with the cottage cheese and I love the extra protein. Doubled the recipe (except left the sugar at 2Tbsp) and plan to freeze the rest. Also replaced 2Tbsp flour with 2Tbsp almond flour. Thanks for a great recipe! I look forward to trying more.
Did they freeze well?
Yay, so happy you liked it CK. That sounds awesome. 🙂
Hi. Thanks for your recipes and ideas.
I am surprised you use canola oil since it is toxic rubbish. Your other oil suggestions are good.
Hi Claire - Thanks for the feedback and appreciate your support. We typically pick up high quality oils, no matter which kind we are using. If you don't like canola, feel free to use any oil you like best.
So good!
Yay! So happy you liked them Chase. They are the perfect balance of sweet and salty IMO. 🙂
Very nice breakfast treat, but would like to know the serving size in the carb count???
You say 18gm per serving, is that one small pancake??? They are lovely reheated in the toaster oven under bake setting 5 - 7 min.
Hi Paulie! I'm glad you're enjoying these pancakes. Other commenters have mentioned the following regarding carbs/nutrition: "I used a 1/4 cup scoop and it made 12 pancakes. Each pancake was 125 calories and 10 carbs". I hope this helps!
Made them today, they were easy, fast and delicious. My 10 year old son wants them again tomorrow. For me, medium heat was a bit too high as they began to burn. Instead of oil could I fry them in butter or would they burn?
Hi Lesliegh- I would recommend turning the heat down a bit then, to medium-low. I think butter alone would burn them faster than cooking in oil, but you can try using a mix of both butter and oil and see how they come out. I'm so happy to hear your son loved them so much, it's always a good feeling when our kids love a new recipe!
Wow!!!!! These pancakes are amazing!! I used Gluten Free 1:1 flour and ran out of cottage cheese so used about 1/2 of ricotta. YUM!! This recipe is a keeper for sure!
Hi Mary- thanks so much for the feedback, glad you loved our cottage cheese pancakes!
How thick is the batter supposed to be? I used double creamed cottage cheese and it was very thick and I had to shake it off the spatula. Just don’t want to ruin it haha
Hey Melissa- because of the curds of cheese the batter is thicker than traditional pancakes. Did you take a look at the pictures in the post? They may be helpful in how the batter looks when it's mixed. Hope this helps!
I've made many different recipes of Cottage Cheese Pancakes but this one is by far the best! My pancakes turned out fluffy, cheesy, and delicious. This will be my go-to recipe for now on.
After ready Natalya's story, I want to say that I am sending her and her family my prayers and hopes for safety & peace from the atrocities of the current war in Ukraine.
Thank you for the feedback on the pancakes, Roberta! I'm happy you enjoyed them so much. Also, thank you for your kind words of support!
Would almond flour work well?
Hey Sterling! Personally, I haven't tried any flour alternatives for this recipe. However, this recipe is very popular and based on other peoples feedback in the comments I've learned that the following types of flour have been used: kamut flour, GF flour, oat flour, and one person even mixed: 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup flax meal and 1/4 cup potato starch. That being said, I don't know how it alters the taste since I haven't tried it, but it seems like everyone who used a different type of flour was still satisfied with the results. If you give it a try with almond flour, please do share your feedback and it may help the next reader out. Enjoy!
I made them as is with monk fruit sweetener and a few tbs more. Ok, for ME that IS as is. Kudos! They are amazing! I wanted a more whole food alternative to sugar free mix. Thank you!!! I’m referring this to my WW buddies who rely on me for vetted recipes! You are the best.
Hey Michelle- thanks so much for the feedback, glad you loved the recipe! It's a hit with so many and I hope all your friends enjoy it as well. 😄
For people asking for calories/quantity i used a 1/4 cup scoop and it made 12 pancakes. Each pancake was 125 calories and 10 carbs. I did cut down on the amount of oil in the pan. Make sure to cook on lower heat because they are easy to burn! My husband and i liked them, a few were a little soggy in the middle. They made amazing sausage mcgriddles! My kids did not like them.
Hi Erica- Thank you so much for sharing this info. We get so many nutritional questions on this recipe and I'm glad you were able to provide these helpful details. This will be SO useful to many! 😄
Great recipe! We ate them this morning (with tweaks) and they were delicious!!
Did you mean 1 T of baking powder or 1 tsp? According to my research, 1 tsp should be enough. Actually, because you have cottage cheese (acidic ingredient) in this recipe, according to my research, an even smaller amount of baking soda would also be sufficient. According to the article below, "it takes about ¼ teaspoon of baking soda or about 1 teaspoon baking powder to lift a cup of flour in a recipe. A ½ teaspoon of baking soda will neutralize 1 cup of an acidic ingredient." Therefore, you would want 1/4 tsp baking soda to leaven the 1 cup of flour in this recipe, or perhaps 3/8 tsp if you want to fully neutralize the 1 1/2 cup sour cream in this recipe. I made them this morning and used 1/2 tsp of baking soda (no baking powder) and they turned out exceedingly moist, fluffy, and tender. I also started them in the blender to break up the curds of the cottage cheese and whip some extra air into the eggs before adding the dry ingredients. Very cool recipe! I will definitely be making them again!
Hi Leah, thank you for sharing all the feedback. I am confident that it will be useful for so many readers. We love the little melted pieces of cheese in the pancakes so we don't break them down, but your version also sounds amazing. Thanks for all the tips.
Deeeeeeeelicious. I made these exactly as the recipe is written, also added lemon zest. I did freeze a few between pieces of parchment paper. After thawing overnight in the refrigerator I reheat on a low griddle pan or toaster or microwave (not crispy but fluffy, yum). As always, I enjoy warm maple syrup with my pancakes. Thank you Natalya for sharing your recipe. These are now my go to pancakes!!!
Michelle, I love all the reheating tips! So useful. Thank you for sharing. We literally ate them every day when our boys were toddlers, their favorite meal. Now we switched it up with crepes. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
These pancakes are so good! I just made them for the first time yesterday and I'm already making a second batch for my family. My sister and I froze the leftovers and put them in the toaster and they were as fresh and crispy as the first day I made them! They are definitely a new breakfast favorite!
Hi Jocelyn- I love that they freeze and reheat so well! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the recipe. Thanks for the feedback!
What size should each pancake be to stay with the calorie count? And is it 214 calories just for one or is there more in a serving? Would love to try this!
Hi Kristing! To be honest it’s a bit difficult for us to calculate the *exact* serving size & nutrition facts. The full recipe makes ~16 pancakes, which would mean 2-3 pancakes is the serving size. I hope this helps!
That does help, thank you! I'm making them today and can't wait to try them!
I made the cottage cheese pancakes this morning. The best tasting pancakes I ever had. DELICIOUS. I had them plain . I had them with cranberry jam.. Great recipe
Hi Robin- thank you for the feedback, I'm thrilled that you loved this recipe!
Can you use ricotta cheese instead?
Hi Kathy- Ricotta is probably the closest substitute to cottage cheese! Ricotta is slightly creamier but I think it should work. Enjoy!
These are the BEST pancakes I have ever had!!! I only had a large curd cottage cheese so I put that in a blender with the eggs and the vanilla and sugar and pulsed a few times then added the dry ingredients to a separate bowl , then wet blended ingredients ..did not over mix and they turned out absolutely perfect!!
Yummy- I'm glad you had such fabulous results, Dre!
Great.
Thank you, Christine! 😄