Easy Cottage Cheese Cheesecake

You just need 5 basic ingredients and a blender for this easy protein-packed cottage cheese cheesecake!

This healthy cottage cheese cheesecake is not only incredibly easy to make, it might fool some into thinking it’s normal cheesecake! It’s light but creamy and smooth with just a hint of vanilla and lemon juice. The best part? All it takes is throwing a few ingredients into a blender!

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Quick to make: Made entirely in a blender or food processor, this cheesecake is a breeze to make. It only takes 5-10 minutes to assemble and around 30 minutes to bake. Even without a water bath, this bakes up perfectly smooth and creamy.
• Packed with protein: Thanks to simple ingredients like cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, you get all the smooth creaminess of a classic cheesecake with extra protein. No cream cheese or sour cream needed–a great option for a healthier dessert!
• Versatile: While this base yields a simple, lightly lemony cheesecake, you can customize this any way you like. Try swirling in a strawberry jam, Nutella, or peanut butter!

Ingredient notes

• Cottage cheese: This is the key ingredient that provides structure and flavor to the cheesecake. I’ve tried using both nonfat and low-fat cottage cheese (2%) for this recipe, but you can use any fat content. More fat will yield a slightly richer flavor.
• Greek yogurt: I’ve tried this with both nonfat and 2% Greek yogurt successfully. Again, you can use yogurt of any fat content without significantly changing the texture.
• Sugar: I’ve only used granulated sugar in this recipe for a neutral flavor base. I successfully made my pumpkin cheesecake version with maple syrup, but I wouldn’t recommend this unless you want a maple flavor in your cheesecake. I haven’t tried substituted another dry sweetener like Monkfruit or Stevia (but several commenters have tried with success!).
• Flour or cornstarch: The tiny bit of flour is key for binding the filling and helping to keep it creamy. You can use cornstarch if you’d like to make this gluten-free.
• Lemon zest: I like the zing that comes from the lemon flavor, but you can omit it if you’d rather have a plain cheesecake.
• Graham crackers: If you’re not using ready-made graham cracker crumbs, you can crush whole graham crackers. You’ll need between 10-11 full graham cracker sheets to yield 3/4 cup of crumbs. You can also swap in Biscoff cookies, Oreos, or pretty much any packaged cookie you prefer.

Recipe notes

Although this healthy cheesecake recipe is simple, it took a few iterations to develop.

• The first iteration used cottage cheese, yogurt, honey, eggs and vanilla. A lot of liquid seeped out of the pan when it chilled overnight and it deflated into a soggy pile of curds.
• In the next version, I tried to reduce the amount of liquid by swapping the honey for sugar, reduced the amount of egg and added a little flour to help set the cheesecake and soak up any excess liquid.

This made all the difference! This cheesecake is completely creamy and not at all soggy.

This cheesecake can be made entirely in a blender. Simply add all the ingredients to a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Pour onto your prepared graham cracker crust (or make it crustless and pour it into a greased pan) and bake until it’s set!

Equipment note: Although it’s easiest to bake cheesecake in a springform pan for easier removal, you can also bake this in a regular cake pan. Make sure to line the cake pan with a sheet of parchment creased to fit the pan (like a basque cheesecake) for easy removal.

For other baking pan options, a double batch of this cheesecake can also be baked in an 8×8, 9×9 or 8″ or 9″ round pan (thickness will obviously vary slightly depending on what size pan you use). To adjust the baking time, I would start checking on the cheesecake at 30 minutes, but plan to add 10-15 minutes more of bake time OR until you reach all the visual indicators–the cheesecake is puffed with set edges and a slightly jiggly (not sloshy) middle.

Serving and storage

Although you can enjoy this cheesecake right away, I find the texture is much better after chilling the cheesecake overnight, or at least a few hours. When fresh, the texture has a slightly bouncier, airier texture, but once it sits, it settles into a creamier consistency closer to traditional cheesecake.

I love serving this cottage cheese cake with a simple berry compote or fresh berries!

Cheesecake can be made up to 3 days ahead of serving and stored in the fridge. Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. I wouldn’t recommend freezing the baked cheesecake.

If you liked this cheesecake, you may also like:

• This cozy cottage cheese pumpkin cheesecake
• The search to find the best cheesecake recipe in the best cheesecake bake off
• For a chocolate-y treat with no refined sugar, these vegan mini chocolate muffins are another classic recipe that uses date paste as a wholesome sweetener
• A decadent flourless chocolate cake with an aquafaba meringue
• This lemon meringue pie has a tofu-based filling with an aquafaba meringue