I’m a huge fan of cottage cheese – I love making cottage cheese bowls, adding it to smoothies, mixing it with scrambled eggs, and topping it on toast, to name a few. But these cottage cheese pancakes are always a favorite!
Even if you don’t like cottage cheese, you will love these! They are light and perfectly fluffy like a regular pancake, but more filling thanks to cottage cheese! Plus, they are easy to make with the batter being made in the blender. And hello, they are pancakes. Who doesn’t like pancakes?!
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The best thing yet, they are an easy way to add protein to your diet! We all know getting enough protein can be tough. But when you are eating foods like pancakes, it seems effortless. These cottage cheese protein pancakes also have a good ratio of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber for balanced blood sugar and to avoid those spikes and crashes that a sweet breakfast can cause.
I love making these for an easy breakfast for adults or kids, or for a post-workout meal. The recipe makes two servings, but adjust the serving size for your needs and goals. And of course, top them with all your favorite toppings!
Why you’ll love this flourless cottage cheese pancake recipe
- light and fluffy texture!
- easy to make – throw everything into the blender to make the batter!
- whole food ingredients – made with simple ingredients you probably already have at home.
- 25 grams of protein per serving – the cottage cheese and eggs add a natural source of protein without any protein powder.
- recipe the whole family will love!
Are pancakes healthy?
Traditional pancakes can be high in carbs and sugar, spiking your blood sugar and leaving you hungry shortly after. But cottage cheese pancakes can be a great addition to anyone’s diet.
Cottage cheese is known for being a high-protein food while still being relatively low in calories. It is also rich in vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, calcium, phosphorus, and selenium. By adding it to pancakes, we are naturally adding a great source of protein. These pancakes are also gluten-free and have 0 grams of sugar for a healthy and balanced way to start your morning.
Healthy cottage cheese pancakes ingredients
- cottage cheese – I like using full-fat cottage cheese as I find it yields fluffier pancakes with more flavor.
- eggs
- rolled oats – these are going to act as the “flour” of the recipe.
- cinnamon
- baking powder
- vanilla extract
- salt
- butter, oil, or cooking spray for cooking
How to make cottage cheese pancakes
For the complete directions, ingredient amounts, serving size, and accurate nutrition breakdown, scroll down to the recipe card below.
Make the batter.
Add all ingredients to a high speed blender in the order listed.
Blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.
Make sure not to over-blend. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
Cook.
Heat up a large nonstick pan or griddle over low to medium heat. Once hot, add cooking fat and let it warm up. Add about 1/4 cup of batter to your pan and form into equal-sized pancakes. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they fluff up, and the batter is set.
Flip.
Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
Toppings
What are pancakes without some solid toppings?! Feel free to get creative, but here are some of my favorite toppings:
- maple syrup or honey
- greek yogurt
- nut butter
- fresh fruit – strawberries, blueberries, or sliced bananas.
- jam
- butter
- cinnamon
What to serve with pancakes
- eggs
- bacon or breakfast sausage
- fresh fruit
- greek yogurt or cottage cheese
If your pancakes are not fluffy, it’s because you blended them for too long. I find that 30 seconds is the maximum time for the dry ingredients to just be incorporated. If over-mixed, the batter can break down too much and cause your pancakes not to be as fluffy.
Use certified gluten-free oats to make sure they are gluten-free.
Yes, you can refrigerate the batter for up to one day. I find the batter becomes super thick, and you will need to form the pancakes somewhat when cooking them, but they will still come out the same. Store batter in an airtight container and make sure to stir the batter before using.
Storage and reheating
Substitutions and additions
- cottage cheese – I like using full-fat (whole milk cottage cheese) as I find it yields fluffier pancakes, but you can try fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese, but the results may vary, as they are not as thick. It doesn’t matter if you use large or small curd cottage cheese.
- eggs – I haven’t tried an egg substitute, so I’m not sure if they will work.
- rolled oats – quick cooking oats will work instead of rolled. I have not tried this, but you should be able to use oat flour, a gluten-free flour mix, or whole wheat flour instead of rolled oats. Just add them to the blender, but you will probably not need to blend as long.
Here are some additions you can add to your pancakes as well:
- chocolate chips
- sliced bananas, berries, or chopped fruit
- spices – nutmeg, cloves, or pumpkin pie spice.
- cacao powder – for extra chocolate.
- sweetener – if you want a sweeter pancake, add 1-2 tablespoons of sweetener to the batter.
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Cottage Cheese Pancakes
equipment
ingredients
- 1 cup cottage cheese (220 grams – I recommend full-fat)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup rolled oats (100 grams)
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- for serving – butter, maple syrup, fresh berries, cinnamon…
instructions
- Blend ingredients to make the batter. Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender in the order listed and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds. Make sure not to over-blend. Let it sit for 5 minutes. It should be pretty thick.
- Cook. Heat up a large nonstick skillet or griddle over low to medium heat. Once hot, add cooking fat and let it warm up. Add about 1/4 cup of batter to your pan and form into equal-sized pancakes. You may need to cook in batches depending on the size of your pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they fluff up, and the batter is set (there won't be a lot of bubbles like traditional pancakes). Flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
- Enjoy! Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
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notes
- Depending on your blender, you might not be able to half the recipe as there won’t be enough for everything to mix together. I found this is true with my Vitamix.
- If your blender is not very strong, I suggest blending the oats first to get a flour-like consistency and then adding the rest of the ingredients so they aren’t chunky.
- Nutrition information does not include any cooking fat.
nutrition
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These were good! Just a little difficult to blend. It could have been my problem. I put the ingredients in the order of the list. However afterwards I remembered that my Ninja blender a cup that you have to insert upside down. So basically the oats were closer to the blades instead of the cottage cheese and egg. I think next time, since I already use ready made oat flour, that I’ll just blend the cottage cheese and then mix up the ingredients in a separate regular bowl and then add in the blended cottage cheese. Also since it was so thick it was a little difficult getting 8 pancakes using 1/4 cup. I used a dry measure cup for that. But the test was great!!!
Oh yes, that is totally why. I should make a note of that as it is helpful to have the liquid where the blades are. Glad you enjoyed them and thanks for trying them, Nicole!
Delicious. I made them savoury by leaving out the vanilla and cinnamon and served them with guacamole
Oh that is such a good idea! Glad you enjoyed them, Jenny!
Mine wouldn’t cook in the middle, any tips for what to try next time?
Hmm, I’m not sure what went wrong but I would make sure your pan is hot enough. If not, it causes the outside to cook before the inside. I would turn down the heat a little bit and make sure the pan is evenly heated with enough oil/butter next time. Also, over mixing the batter can cause them not to cook evenly. Hope that helps!
Super yummy and protein filled! Been trying to eat more protein and these are quick and easy. I had to add a splash of water while blending to help loosen things up. They got nice and brown and crispy which is how I like my pancakes. I just topped mine with some maple syrup.
Glad to hear you enjoy them so much, Serena! Thanks for the tip too!
Obsessed with these! The only way I will eat pancakes now. Topped with maple syrup they taste like French toast. Yummmmm!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for trying them, Jessica!
Little bit dry and heavy.
Sorry they didn’t turn out for you Don.
Easy to make and loved how much protein they packed in them!!
Happy to hear that! Thanks, Natalie!
Don’t usually leave comments, but these were really good! I’ve done them twice now, and tripled the ingredients each time to make enough to freeze for the week. I used low fat cottage cheese, replaced a third of the oats with self raising flour, and added 100g sugar (mostly just to offset the tartness of additions).
The first time round I added the zest of four lemons, and the juice of one, with some lemon and vanilla extract for good measure.
The second time I added 2 coarsely grated granny smiths, and microwaved and mashed a couple of bramleys into a puree, then mixed it all in with a few teaspoons of cinnamon and mixed spice.
I’m a Brit, so I’ve probably never had ‘proper’ American pancakes, but these were tender, moist, froze well, fitted into a toaster, and didn’t have any detectable cottage cheese aftertaste – a fantastic base recipe to expand on!
Yum, those additions sound so good and I need to try them! So glad you liked them so much and made them your own as well. Thanks, Alex!
I love your recipe.
And was
determined to use my nutribullet so had to adapt a bit. Added oats to the container first then the other ingredients. Had to add a splash of milk to loosen the mixture. Added blueberries to one batch.
So delicious.
Thank you.
Love that it worked well in there! Good idea to blend the oats first too. Thanks for trying them Nancy and glad you enjoyed!