Cottage Cheese Pizza
Cottage Cheese Pizza is a high-protein pizza recipe that uses simple ingredients. With Margherita pizza toppings of sauce, mozzarella cheese, and fresh basil, the Cottage Cheese crust makes a light and refreshing summertime meal!
If you love cottage cheese like we do, you may also want to try this Cottage Cheese Dip and Green Chili Egg Casserole.
This Cottage Cheese Pizza recipe is served Margherita style! Having traveled through Naples recently, we learned that the Margherita pizza originated there from Queen Margherita of Savoy, and is one of the least most expensive pizzas to make. Of course you can make it any style–with meats, various cheeses, sauces, and toppings!
Cottage Cheese Pizza – Margherita Style!
A cottage cheese crust is made with cottage cheese rather than a traditional bread crust with mostly flour (and yeast). We bake the crust flat and round, like a regular pizza crust, until golden brown. It’s baked until the liquid from the cottage cheese is absorbed, which results in a nice crispy crust! The pizza is typically topped with pizza sauce, cheeses, and toppings, and then baked again until the cheese is melted.
You can also add cottage cheese on top of the baked crust instead of mozzarella cheese. Adding cottage cheese on top of your pizza creates a creamier, extra cheesy pizza. It’s a little bit different in texture and flavor, but it’s good (and high in protein).
Ingredients needed to make the best pizza:
- Dry ingredients: Flour, onion powder, garlic powder, dried oregano.
- Wet ingredients: Pizza sauce (or marinara), eggs, cottage cheese (small curd).
- Cheese: Shredded mozzarella and fresh mozzarella cheese, plus finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
- Herbs & spice: Fresh basil leaves plus more for garnishing and dried red pepper flakes.
How do you make Cottage Cheese Pizza?
The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post!
- Make the crust: In a large bowl, add the cottage cheese, eggs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano. Stir with a wooden spoon to fully combine until nice and smooth.
- Transfer the pizza dough to a parchment lined sheet pan and smooth out the dough to form a large circle. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round. Make sure it’s not too thin.
- Bake until it is slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it sit before adding toppings.
- Add the toppings: Spread the pizza sauce on top, followed by the shredded cheeses, fresh Mozzarella cheese (pinch off small pieces or cubes), and lay down the fresh basil leaves.
- Return to the oven and bake a little more until the cheese if fully melted. The crust should be golden brown (not burnt edges). Add the red pepper flakes. Slice and serve!
Sandy’s tips and substitutions:
- High-Protein: Cottage cheese is a wonderful source of protein, which makes it a great alternative to add to a pizza crust (or even a topping).
- Make it Low-Carb: You can make this recipe low-carb by using gluten-free flour.
- Versatility: Make up the crust and cut into slices for “cottage cheese crust bread sticks”. Try it – it’s great. Add your favorite seasoning.
- Can I use cottage cheese instead of mozzarella on pizza? Yes, you can add cottage cheese on top of your pizza instead of shredded cheese. It’s optional to use cream cheese, but cottage cheese is lower in fat and calories, but still makes a creamy cheesy topping.
- Storage: Store any leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Leftovers: To reheat, either put back in the oven or use your air fryer to crisp it up. Using the microwave to reheat the pizza will result in a soggier, softer pizza
Serving
Serve this dish warm out of the oven with a house salad, and your favorite glass of wine. A light dessert is our 4-ingredient chocolate mousse or cheesecake lemon mousse. Doesn’t this sound like the perfect summer meal? Enjoy!
More pizza recipes you may want to try:
Get the Recipe:
Cottage Cheese Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 cup cottage cheese, small curd
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup pizza sauce, or marinara
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- 2-3 tablespoons finely grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 7 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, not packed in water cut into ½-inch cubes
- 5-6 large fresh basil leaves plus more for garnishing
- dried red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the cottage cheese, eggs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, and oregano.
- Stir with a wooden spoon to fully combine until nice and smooth.
- Transfer the pizza dough to the parchment paper on sheet pan and smooth out the dough to form a large circle. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round. Make sure it’s not too thin.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until it is slightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Next, spread the pizza sauce on top, followed by the shredded cheeses, fresh Mozzarella cheese (pinch off small pieces or cubes), and lay down the fresh basil leaves.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 6-9 minutes or until the cheese if fully melted. The crust should be golden brown (not burnt edges).
- Optional to add the red pepper flakes. Allow to cool for a minute or two, and then slice and serve!
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
