Cottage cheese is known for its mild and smooth taste. Since the cheese is unaged, it isn’t as striking compared to something like blue cheese. The savory and creamy texture of the cheese makes it a perfect partner for baked pasta and bread.
With that said, not everyone’s palate is compatible with cottage cheese. It can be allergies or a particular dislike of dairy, or maybe you are just out of cottage cheese and in need of a quick substitute. If you need a cottage cheese substitute for your baking recipes, we got you.
Whether you are allergic or does not have any cottage cheese left to use, here are some substitutes you can use:
- Buttermilk Cheese
- Goat Cheese
- Ricotta Cheese
- Pot Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese
- Cream Havarti
- Swiss Cheese
- Fromage Blac
- Red Leicester
Read on if you are still unable to find any suitable substitutes for the list above and need a full comprehensive list of alternatives.
17 Best Substitute For Cottage Cheese
The cheese is often used as a topping for tarts and egg omelettes. Various pasta dishes such as baked mac and cheese and lasagna use it for a much milder tasting sauce. It’s also mixed in cookies for a creamier and richer taste.
If you want to find a replacement with a similar taste and texture, we recommend using buttermilk cheese.
Of course, you can also consider any of the alternatives below with a slight adjustment to your recipe.
Goat Cheese
Goat cheese comes from goat milk rather than the standard cheese from cows. It’s one of the oldest types of cheeses in the world. This type of cheese can range from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
As a cottage cheese replacement, it’s best to stick to the milder variations of goat cheese. The crumbly nature of goat cheese can make it a good substitute for dishes such as pizza, tarts, or bread filling. Its flavorful taste also makes it perfect for meat and fish.
Goat cheese has a lot of benefits, such as it is easier to digest than cow’s cheese. It also has a lot of calcium that helps oxidize fats.
Buttermilk Cheese
As mentioned above, buttermilk cheese is the fermented liquid from the process of making butter. As the heavy milk is shaken, the butter will form and clump together, resulting in buttermilk.
This type of cheese is known for its mild sour taste and thick texture. It’s a perfect alternative for cottage cheese, especially with pancakes or baked mac and cheese. The taste is not overpowering, but it still adds a tangy flavor.
Ricotta Cheese
The American ricotta is made with cow’s whey, while the traditional Italian ricotta comes from goat, sheep, or water buffalo whey. Whey is the leftover milk from other cheese-making processes. The dilution makes the taste much milder compared to others.
As an alternative to Cottage cheese, it’s best with pasta and bread. It’s also used in various traditional Italian dishes such as cannoli and lasagna.
Pot Cheese
Pot cheese is one of the cheeses in this list that comes close to the mild cottage cheese taste. It’s an unaged cheese in between cottage cheese and farmer cheese.
It tends to be a bit creamier and crumbly compared to cottage cheese. With that said, its light and mild taste are very reminiscent of cottage cheese. As it’s an all-around dairy, you can add it to any dish.
Parmesan Cheese
Parmesan, also known as Parmigiano Reggiano, is one of the most well-known types of cheese. It came from unpasteurized cow’s milk and aged for at least twelve months.
Although it’s a bit stronger in taste, parmesan cheese can be a substitute for cottage cheese.
It has a sweet and nutty taste with a hint of fruitiness. The texture is crumbly and thick. It’s a great companion with pasta, bread, and pizzas. Parmesan cheese is often used to top lasagna and baked mac and cheese.
When using parmesan, you can adjust it to your liking. As it’s a bit richer in taste, lowering the amount to mix with cream is recommended.
Cream Havarti
Cream Havarti is a soft cheese originating from the Scandinavian country Denmark. It’s available in the United States and gaining popularity due to its mildness and buttery taste.
It’s much paler than other cheeses, with small holes throughout the skin. It’s best with bread recipes. It’s often mixed with different flavors like herbs and garlic for a richer taste.
Emmental Cheese
Emmental cheese is a Swiss or Alpine Cheese. The cheese is well-known for its medium-hard texture and walnut-sized holes throughout the block. The taste is characterized by its nutty and sweet flavor with a hint of fruitiness and acidity.
As a substitute for cottage cheese, it can be served with a smaller quantity or mixed with cream to even out the nutty taste. You can also find Emmental cheese on the milder side than the full-blown eight year-old variety.
It’s best as an ingredient for lasagnas and other casseroles due to its acidity. You can also add it to various baked desserts.
Fromage Blanc
Fromage blanc is a fresh cheese made from cow’s milk originating from France. It’s characterized by its spreadable, creamy texture and pure white color, hence the name. The taste is smooth and mild, with a hint of citrus flavor.
The cheese can be eaten by itself most of the time, similar to yogurt. As a substitute for cottage cheese, it’s perfect for baking tarts, bread, and pizza topping. You can easily use Fromage blanc as an alternative for cottage cheese in baked pancakes.
Red Leicester
Red Leicester is an English cheese made with cow’s milk. It’s aged for six to twelve months resulting in a thick, crumbly texture. It’s often sold in blocks and yellow-orange, comparable to those of parmesan cheese.
Although it’s an aged cheese, it’s mild in taste and moist. The red Leicester is known for the mild taste of burnt caramel and nutty flavor, perfect for baking sweet desserts.
The cheese is best for baking pizza and bread as a substitute due to its crumbly texture.
Doux de Montagne
Doux de Montagne is a cheese originating from Monts du Velay, France. The cheese is made with cow’s milk and coated with brown wax. The appearance of Doux de Montagne is very similar to that of cottage cheese.
It’s a good substitute as the taste is often compared to cottage cheese. Doux de Montagne is soft, mild, and creamy. It has a buttery and fruity flavor.
As a substitute for cottage cheese, it can be used for any baking recipe as it is very similar in taste and texture.
Feta Cheese
Feta cheese originated from Greece, although it’s widely available worldwide. It’s made by brining a mixture of sheep and goat milk, resulting in a crumbly and white cheese.
Feta cheese has little to no lining or skin, and is very soft and crumbly to the touch.
It’s often used for Italian baking dishes such as lasagna and pizza. It tastes a lot saltier compared to cottage cheese. If you use feta as a substitute, it’s best to mix it with cream or cut the salt in the recipe to balance out the dish.
Cream Cheese
Cream cheese is mild in taste and has a hint of sourness, although it’s not overpowering. The texture is soft and creamy. The shape of cream cheese is quite flexible as it can be smooth enough to be easily spreadable but solid enough to be cut into cubes.
As a cottage cheese substitute, cream cheese is one of the most accessible and flexible. You can use cream cheese for a slew of dishes as it can be for cakes or a bread filling. The taste and texture are also quite similar to cottage cheese.
Sour Cream
Sour cream is made by fermenting and introducing lactic acid bacteria to the cream, a process also known as souring. As the name suggests, the flavor has a hint of sourness. It’s soft, creamy, and easily spreadable.
Other than the sourness, the taste is tangy with a hint of tartness. It’s also vibrant and thick, a perfect accompaniment for many dishes. As a substitute for cottage cheese, it can be used to accompany bread or pizza topping.
Sour cream is one of the best alternatives to cottage cheese as it’s accessible to many supermarkets and stores. You can even make one at home.
Bel Paese
Bel Paese is a soft cheese from Italy. It’s a semi-aged cheese fermented for six to eight weeks. It’s often a substitute for Taleggio cheese, which can be overpowering.
The texture is soft, smooth, and silky. It’s often sold in blocks and slices. The taste is mild and milky, an excellent substitute for cottage cheese.
Bel Paese can be used to replace cottage cheese as they are pretty similar in taste and texture. The milky taste makes it a suitable replacement for various baking recipes such as baked mac and cheese, and lasagna.
Mascarpone Cheese
Mascarpone is a soft and cream-set mild cheese originating from Italy. Its smooth and creamy texture characterizes it. It’s often compared to cream cheese due to its similar appearance and texture.
The taste of mascarpone cheese is often compared to ricotta and crème Fraiche. It’s mild, milky, with a hint of nutty flavor. As a substitute for cottage cheese, it’s best as a topping for pizza and bread filling.
Almond Milk Cheese
If you want a vegan and lactose-free substitute for cottage cheese, there is nothing better than almond milk cheese. The cheese came from the whey of almond milk, and does not involve any animal products.
As a plant-based cheese, the texture is not that different from the regular one from cows. Almond milk cheese is creamy, moist, and semi-hard. The taste is sweet-tangy, with a hint of nuttiness.
It’s a much healthier option compared to other types of cheese. Almond milk cheese is high in Vitamin E and low in cholesterol. The enjoyment of having cheese for vegans or lactose-intolerant individuals is also a plus.
Almond milk cheese is a very flexible alternative to cottage cheese. It can be a baking alternative for pizza, bread, and lasagna.
Greek Yogurt
Greek yogurt is a cultured product filled with many good bacteria. Greek yogurt has been strained to remove the whey compared to regular yogurt. This process makes the yogurt more consistent and creamier.
Although the whey has been removed, Greek yogurt still has the distinct sourness of regular yogurt.
They are mainly used as topping or filling for baked dishes such as omelet bake or baked jalapeno poppers as an alternative to cottage cheese due to their creamy and thick nature.