Is cottage cheese as vile as it looks?

[FairyJuice]

I'm trying to cook healthier, cheaper meals and I've come across a few recipes calling for cottage cheese as it supposedly tastes lovely at a fraction of the fat of regular cheese. I've never had it because quite frankly it looks disgusting and is reminiscent of a rampant vaginal infection 🙈

Is it as bad as it looks? And if so, how can I get past how much it grosses me out?

For background, I once tried quark in good faith and haven't been able to look at it without feeling nauseous since.

Meant to say if it's NOT as bad as it looks, how can I get past its appearance

I like it with a bagel and ham. My 5 year old also loves it and she is a harsh critic. Don't get the low fat one though...

I quite like it mixed with avocado lemon and garlic.

Or with chives (fresh - don't buy the stuff with chives in) on a baked potato.

But I wouldn't rave about it.

I think I used to make quite a nice veggie lasagne using it instead of the white sauce layer many years ago.

It's nice, especially with pineapple, on a baked potato.

It's not much is a substitute for real cheese though.

I love it with pineapple and salt, not so much on its own.

I like it with lots of black pepper, or chopped chives or spring onions.

I love cottage cheese. On crackers or in a baked spud.

it's kind of a thick plain greek yoghurt consistency and taste, I'm a fan especially with pineapple chunks!

Good cottage cheese is excellent, poor cg is slush. Not sure if it's available nationally but the Longley Farm one is excellent.

I would be using it in lasagnas and things like that. Not sure I'd be able for it in it's raw form tbh.

One of the recipes I was looking at called for low fat cottage cheese. Is that worse than the regular stuff?

I'd much prefer low fat soft cheese I think.

I like it but it’s not really much like “normal” cheese to be honest. It’s good with salads. I also like it with sliced boiled eggs and lots of black pepper. You can’t put it in a sandwich for example because it makes the bread really soggy and sour. I can’t think of many recipes which call for cheese where cottage cheese could be a viable substitute except for to top a baked potato.

The Longley Farm one is the best I've tried - Asda and Morrisons do it - and the M&S one with prawns is nice too. I like it with rosemary crackers.

It's the texture I can't stand, it's sort of gritty. It's vile

Love it with pineapple and ham on a bagel. I do think it’s pretty rank on its own

Not different to quark, but normally quark and cottage cheese are always eaten with something , otherwise it’s just bland. Don’t use much , and if you don’t like the consistency try whipping it up.

We normally like it with fig jam or Quince chutney, with toasted bagels or toasted crusty farmhouse bread.

You can use it in some pancake recipes.

didn’t like it with smoked salmon though!

It's not really a substitute for cheese and I'm not sure I'd trust a recipe using it in a lasagne to be honest.

But as a PP says, Longley Farm full fat cottage cheese is actually nice, but I have it with butter and actual cheese on baked potatoes.

As for lasagne, I'd probably just make a plain white sauce with semi skimmed milk, cornflour and no fat and only put it on the top of the lasagne, not between each layer, and cover with grated lower fat strong cheddar. Low fat mince (or quorn or turkey mince) and lots of veg in the tomato sauce to go between the pasta. You can also substitute some of the pasta for grilled courgettes thinly sliced lengthways.

Least favourite food.For me the smell alone is enough to put me off. Reminds me of the smell of vomit .

Its lovely in a jacket potato with a bit of salt and pepper! With.pinapple its grim though and I say that as a pineapple in pizza kind of girl!

I thought quark had an unpleasant flavour note to it, can't quite explain it but cottage taste is more 'cheesy'. Full fat has a much nicer texture than fat free and is still a lot lighter than cheese. I quite like it but imagine it would be nicer on lasagne etc if you blended it first to get rid of the lumps!

I wouldn’t use it in Lasagne too watery!

I used it once to substitute Quark in a baked cheese cake recipe , but that’s just about it,
Can’t think of any recipe that would work with cottage cheese.

It works pretty well in a lasagne

The plain kind is rank! But the flavoured ones are nice especially the pineapple (think cheesecakey flavoured)

Agree with others, it would just turn to water in a lasagne but it is delicious on a baked potato. It's a bit like a watery, softer feta. Quite sharp and balances the sweetness of the potato.

This isn't as low calorie as cottage cheese , but is much lower calorie than a lot of cheese and would work in a lasagne.

www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/arla-protein-cheese-350g?istCompanyId=1e096408-041f-4238-994e-a7cf46bf9413&istFeedId=689af7a8-5842-4d88-be59-1ee5688a81b5&istItemId=ixlxtlrqm&istBid=t&PPC=*&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwZiSjaTJ5QIVmpntCh0wswI6EAQYAiABEgLU8vD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

It is very nutritious, unlike cheese.

Lidl cottage cheese is best imo, it's very firm and not watery at all. I like it on dark rye Ryvitas topped with cherry toms. As a toddler DS loved "green food" as he called it which was mashed avocados and cottage cheese