Savory Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl
Need a change of pace for your morning meal? Try this Savory Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl for a protein packed jump start to your day.
![Gray bowl filled with cottage cheese, soft egg, smoked salmon and green onions.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-4-660x989.jpg)
Lately, I’ve been put through the ringer coming up with new ideas for soft foods for a very grumpy teething toddler.
It turns out that applesauce, savory yogurt, and waffles and ice cream can only be used for so many meals.
For some reason, it took me a long time to realize that cottage cheese would be perfect for her (and luckily, she loved it!).
Of course, I ended up buying two HUGE containers of it, and now I need to start eating it too, or it’s going to expire.
I plan to make lasagna made with cottage cheese with some of it, and the rest of it will be eaten for breakfast.
I had some smoked salmon left over from a small smoked salmon platter I made for brunch last weekend and paired it with a few things I had in my fridge to create this Savory Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl.
![Baking pan with small dishes of everything bagel seasoning, cottage cheese, sliced green onions, brown eggs, chopped cucumber and smoked salmon.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-660x989.jpg)
Is it good to eat cottage cheese for breakfast?
Cottage cheese is a GREAT breakfast food, because it is so high in protein.
The nutrition label of a popular national brand of cottage cheese shows that a 1 cup serving contains a whopping 26 grams of protein!
This protein boost gives your metabolism a jump start for the day, and keeps you feeling full throughout the morning. It will also decrease levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin.
In short, cottage cheese for breakfast is a fantastic choice, and I’m not sure why it’s not more popular! I even use it to make a sweetened, whipped dip for my Easter fruit salad.
![Gray bowl on top of dark gray napkin. Bowl is filled with a savory cottage cheese breakfast, including a soft egg and smoked salmon.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-5-660x989.jpg)
What goes with cottage cheese for breakfast?
I think that in general, Americans tend to think of cottage cheese as something to eat plain, or paired with something sweet, like fruit or fruit preserves.
I’ve never done this. I grew up eating cottage cheese as basically a vehicle for salt and a LOT of black pepper.
Because the cottage cheese itself has just a neutral, creamy flavor, it will pair with just about any savory topping or mix-in you can dream up!
The ingredients for this cottage cheese breakfast bowl are simple:
- cottage cheese
- smoked salmon or lox
- cucumber
- green onion
- egg
- everything bagel seasoning with caraway
Psst – don’t sleep on making extra bagel seasoning and using it for a round of bloody marys with everything bagel bloody mary rim salt. Don’t forget an epic garnish for a bloody mary, too.
![Baking pan with two bowls full of curd cheese topped with soft eggs, smoked salmon, green onions and cucumber, along with spoons and a small dish of everything bagel seasoning.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-2-660x989.jpg)
How to make this savory brunch bowl:
Start with a pretty cereal bowl, and load it up with a full cup of cottage cheese for a filling breakfast, or a half cup for a lighter appetite.
Top with thinly sliced smoked salmon (or even leftover grilled sockeye salmon from a salmon sandwich or salmon with pasta). Other meat options are chopped bacon in the oven or sliced, cooked breakfast sausage (like in my leftover cornbread breakfast casserole). Or, keep it vegetarian by skipping the meat altogether.
For freshness, I like finely diced cucumber (smoked salmon and cucumber are a match made in heaven – see also smoked salmon cucumber cups) and sliced green onions (finely chopped red onion is also yummy).
And for an EXTRA extra protein boost, I add a soft cooked egg. Then I finish everything off with that bagel seasoning sprinkle.
Sometimes I’ll also add roasted pumpkin or squash seeds, especially if I’ve recently made sweet dumpling squash soup and roasted the seeds.
![Savory cottage cheese bowl topped with lox, onions, cucumbers and soft egg, alongside mug of coffee and small bowl of seasoning mix.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-6-660x989.jpg)
Tips for making this cottage cheese breakfast into a meal prep recipe:
This is just about the easiest meal prepped breakfast ever.
Buy a container of cottage cheese and a package of smoked salmon (ideally a BIG package, so you can make a smoked salmon pizza, too), and keep them in the fridge.
Chop up the cucumbers and onions, and keep those in separate containers in the fridge.
Make sure your everything bagel seasoning is mixed up if you’re making homemade, or you’ve bought some from the store. That stays at room temperature.
Now, while I like a soft cooked egg if I’m eating this right away, I don’t really enjoy a COLD soft cooked egg.
Something about cold runny yolk just isn’t for me. If you like it, go for it. But when I’m meal prepping, I go with either a hard boiled or medium boiled egg.
I make all of my eggs at the beginning of the week and keep them in the fridge, in their shells.
When I’m ready to eat, I assemble the bowl, take the shell off the egg and cut it, and eat!
This recipe is also great to prep and set out as part of a brunch buffet, maybe with some shrimp deviled eggs as well!
![Closeup on savory cottage cheese breakfast bowl topped with soft egg, lox, cucumber and green onion.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-3-660x989.jpg)
![Gray bowl filled with cottage cheese, soft egg, smoked salmon and green onions.](jpg/savory-cottage-cheese-breakfast-bowl-4-720x720.jpg)
Savory Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl
Need a change of pace for your morning meal? Try this Savory Cottage Cheese Breakfast Bowl for a protein packed jump start to your day.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 egg (soft- or medium-cooked, or hard boiled), halved
- 1 ounce thinly sliced smoked salmon
- 1/4 cup diced English cucumber
- 1 tablespoon thinly sliced green onion
- 1 teaspoon Everything Bagel Seasoning with Caraway
Instructions
Place cottage cheese in cereal or soup bowl. Top with egg, salmon, cucumber and onion. Sprinkle with seasoning and serve immediately.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 1 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 337Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 230mgSodium: 1831mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 36g
I tried this for breakfast this morning (forgot about any seasoning because I remembered the basic ingredients) and it was very good.  I normally don’t like veggies for breakfast but cucumbers work.  Next time I would probably use a dukkah-type spice because that’s what I have (and from what I’ve read of the ingredients I would not care for everything bagel seasoning).  I have found a really good, tasty brand of cottage cheese, so I’m happy to have more ways to use it.  Will definitely make this again.
Love the dukkah idea, Susan! Either that or za’atar would both be great here. What’s your go-to brand of cottage cheese?
My go-to brand is Good Culture, which I find at Sprouts. Â The one I like best is the full fat with extra cream, which keeps really well for a long time. Â I love the idea of using za’atar as the spice, especially since I just bought some from Lebanon. Â I’ll probably try that first, because the more I think .about it, the better it sounds.
Oh yes, we use Good Culture too! It’s great!
This was so easy to make and so flavourful- the combination of the ingredients and the bagel season made for a very tasty breakfast bowl that I actually look forward to eating, unlike boring oatmeal and banana, lol.. Â I trust your recipes and will try making some other dishes in the near future! Â Wish I could post a photo of my finished dish!
I am so glad to hear you liked this, Bruce! I agree, I get tired of oatmeal and bananas too. haha.
If I soft boil the eggs ahead of time like you mentioned, how long do they last in the fridge (in shell)?
Hi Bruce! The FDA says that hard boiled eggs (in the shell or peeled) should be eaten within 1 week of cooking. That’s why I normally do hard boiled eggs for these bowls when I’m meal prepping. Soft boiled eggs, I would probably only keep in the fridge about 2-3 days.
This looks absolutely delicious! I have been making savory cottage cheese but never thought to add lox. Lox is not on my shopping list! I am going to do this with Greek yogurt and cottage cheese!
Thanks, Nicole. Enjoy your lox and cottage cheese! I hope you love it 🙂
I’ve been doing a somewhat savory cottage cheese bowl for breakfast, with pecans, coconut and blueberries.  There is cinnamon & vanilla in it, too, so it’s somewhere between sweet and savory.  For lunch I do one with pepitas and peas sautéed in butter, served with a green salad.  I like your idea, but neither my husband nor I can deal with smoked salmon at any time of day!  By the way, another possibility for your toddler, which makes a pretty good breakfast is ricotta cheese with whatever you like on top.  Just in case said toddler likes variety.
Actually, yes – I had leftover ricotta last month, and stir some applesauce into it, and said toddler enjoyed it. Haha.
Hi Susan! May I ask for some details: is the coconut toasted? How do you add the vanilla? Sounds so good!