This Cottage Cheese Egg Salad blends cottage cheese until smooth, then folds it together with hard-boiled eggs, fresh herbs, Dijon, and lemon for a creamy egg salad with 13g of protein per serving — no curdy texture in sight.
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Egg salad is already a fast, no-cook lunch, and swapping in cottage cheese for most of the mayo makes it even more worth keeping in regular rotation — it adds protein and creaminess without leaving the whole bowl feeling heavy. It’s the kind of recipe I make on a Sunday and eat off of for the first half of the week.
The one thing that keeps a lot of people from loving cottage cheese in savory dishes is the curd texture, so this version skips that entirely. Blending the cottage cheese in a food processor first turns it into something closer to a smooth, tangy dressing — you get all the protein and creaminess of cottage cheese without ever biting into a curd. It’s a small extra step that makes a noticeable difference.
If you’re building out a cottage-cheese-forward lunch rotation, this one pairs well with a couple of other recipes on the blog. My 2-Ingredient Cottage Cheese Flatbread makes a great base to pile this egg salad onto, and if you’ve got a sweet tooth after lunch, my Cottage Cheese Cookie Dough is a fun way to keep using up the tub.
Jump to:
- What Does Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Taste Like?
- Why You Will Love This Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Recipe
- Ingredients Needed
- Substitutions & Variations
- How to Make Cottage Cheese Egg Salad
- Recipe Success Tips
- Serving Suggestions
- How to Store Cottage Cheese Egg Salad
- Is Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Healthy?
- Pricing Info
- FAQs
- Other Cottage Cheese Recipes
- Recipe
What Does Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Taste Like?
Creamy and tangy, with a bright lift from the Dijon and fresh lemon juice. The chives and dill add a fresh, herby edge, and the green onion gives it a little bite. Once the cottage cheese is blended smooth, it tastes more like a savory, protein-packed egg salad with no cottage cheese flavor or texture.
Why You Will Love This Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Recipe
- 13g of protein per serving: a filling lunch that actually keeps you full.
- Ready in 10 minutes: no cooking required beyond boiling the eggs ahead of time.
- Just a touch of mayo: only 2 tablespoons total, not a whole cup, thanks to the blended cottage cheese base.
- No curdy texture: blending the cottage cheese smooth solves the biggest complaint people have with it.
- Meal-prep friendly: makes a batch you can portion out for lunches all week.
Ingredients Needed
- Cottage cheese: blended smooth, it becomes the creamy base of the whole recipe.
- Hard-boiled eggs: the classic egg salad base.
- Mayonnaise: just a small amount for richness.
- Green onion, fresh chives, and fresh dill: a fresh, herby mix with a mild oniony bite.
- Dijon mustard: tang and depth.
- Fresh lemon juice: brightens everything up.
Substitutions & Variations
- Cottage cheese fat content: any fat percentage works here — use what you like or already have on hand.
- Herb swap: Fresh parsley can stand in for the dill or chives if that’s what’s fresh in your kitchen.
- Mustard swap: whole grain mustard adds a little texture and works well in place of Dijon.
- Add-ins: diced celery, chopped pickles, or a pinch of smoked paprika all work well stirred in.
- Mayo-free version: leave out the mayonnaise entirely and use 2/3 cup cottage cheese instead.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Egg Salad
- Step 1: Add the cottage cheese to a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds, until it turns smooth and creamy, then scrape it into a mixing bowl.
- Step 2: Chop the hard-boiled eggs and add them to the bowl along with the mayonnaise, green onion, chives, dill, Dijon, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
- Step 3: Stir everything together gently until well combined, then serve right away or chill until you’re ready to eat.
Recipe Success Tips
- Don’t skip the blending step: it’s what turns this from a curdy egg salad into a creamy one.
- Roughly chop or shred the eggs: A rough chop gives better texture than mashing them, so you still get distinct bites of egg.
- Taste before adding extra salt: cottage cheese, mayo, and Dijon all bring some sodium, so season gradually.
- Use fresh herbs if you can: dried herbs work in a pinch, but fresh chives and dill make a noticeable difference here.
Serving Suggestions
This egg salad is delicious piled onto crackers, spread over whole grain toast, or scooped into lettuce cups for a lower-carb option.
It’s also fantastic piled onto my Cottage Cheese Flatbread for an all-cottage-cheese lunch. It also works well as a sandwich filling, or served alongside sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes for a lighter lunch plate.
How to Store Cottage Cheese Egg Salad
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
Since this recipe contains both eggs and dairy, keep it refrigerated any time it’s not actively being served, and avoid leaving it out at room temperature for more than about 2 hours.
Is Cottage Cheese Egg Salad Healthy?
Yes — this is a genuinely high-protein egg salad, and a healthy egg salad option overall, with 13g of protein per serving thanks to the combination of eggs and cottage cheese.
It’s also relatively low in carbohydrates, making it a filling option if you’re looking for a lunch that won’t leave you hungry an hour later.
One thing worth noting is the sodium — at 617mg per serving, it’s a meaningful chunk of a day’s intake, mostly from the cottage cheese, mustard, and salt. If you’re watching your sodium closely, a low-sodium cottage cheese and a lighter hand with the added salt can bring that number down.
Total nutritional content per serving is:
- Calories: 171 calories
- Carbohydrates: 3 grams
- Protein: 13 grams
- Total Fat: 11 grams
- Sodium: 617 mg
- Fiber: 0 grams
*This nutritional information is an estimate and calculated based on the ingredients used to create the recipe. The nutritional value of your ingredients may differ slightly. Furthermore, this food is not intended to prevent, diagnose, cure, or treat any disease.
Pricing Info
This is what I personally paid to make this recipe:
- ½ cup cottage cheese: $0.47
- 6 large eggs: $2.70
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise: $0.16
- 1 green onion: $0.07
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives: $0.31
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill: $0.15
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard: $0.03
- 1 ½ tsp fresh lemon juice: $0.03
- ½ tsp salt: $0.01
- ¼ tsp black pepper: $0.01
This recipe costs about $3.94 total, or $0.99 per serving. That’s a fraction of the price of a pre-made egg salad from the grocery store deli counter, which often runs $4-6 for a similar-sized portion, and you’ll know exactly what went into it.
FAQs
It depends on what you’re looking for. Greek yogurt has a distinct tangy flavor and blends in smoothly with no extra step, while cottage cheese has a milder flavor but needs to be blended first to avoid a curdy texture. Once blended, cottage cheese gives you a creamy result without the tang that Greek yogurt brings.
It boosts the protein content and adds creaminess without relying on a large amount of mayonnaise. Blended smooth, cottage cheese acts almost like a dressing, coating the chopped eggs instead of leaving distinct curds throughout.
A basic 3-ingredient version usually combines just eggs, mayonnaise, and salt or mustard. This recipe builds on that simple base by adding cottage cheese, fresh herbs, and lemon juice for more protein and flavor.
Each serving of this cottage cheese egg salad has 13g of protein, thanks to the combination of eggs and blended cottage cheese. That’s noticeably more than a traditional mayo-based egg salad, which typically has closer to 6-7g of protein per serving.
Other Cottage Cheese Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comments below! I would really appreciate your feedback!
Recipe
Cottage Cheese Egg Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup cottage cheese (I used 2%)
- 6 large hard-boiled eggs
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 green onion chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 ½ tsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Using a food processor, blend the cottage cheese until smooth, then transfer it a mixing bowl.
- Chop your hard-boiled eggs and add them to the mixing bowl, along with the remaining ingredients.
- Stir until well combined, then serve!
Video
Nutrition
If you end up making this and loving it, take a photo and tag me on Instagram! I’d love to see your versions of my recipes! And feel free to rate it down below in the comment section. I would really appreciate it!
xoxo Megan
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