Surprise yourself with a Healthy Cheesecake made with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt. It's much higher in protein than a classic cheesecake, but you'll never be able to taste the difference. Serve it with black currant jam for a beautiful sweet tang.
Sometimes people ask why I like to take something that's perfectly delicious (like a classic cheesecake) and change it (in this case, to a healthy cheesecake with cottage cheese). Often, I just like to see what I can get away with. Did I say this Beet Muffin was actually red velvet? Oops!
Surprise! A Healthy Cheesecake made with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt
I made this swap to cottage cheese though because I'm trying to find a way to add more cottage cheese into my diet. Cottage cheese is high in protein, vitamins and calcium, all of which are a good thing to include in a breakfast.
It's much higher in protein than a classic cheesecake, but you'll never be able to taste the difference
Prior to the 1980s, cottage cheese overshadowed yogurt sales and was tooted as a health food. But halfway through the 1980s, yogurt took off and left cottage cheese sales in the dust.
While yogurt consumption has increased 7 fold, cottage cheese consumption has halved (read more about the trend from NPR).
I remember eating cottage cheese as a kid every time I went to a self-serve salad bar. I'd always have it with melon and pineapple, and it was really tasty.
At some point, I started eating a lot more yogurt instead of cottage cheese. I seemed to have forgotten about cottage cheese, until I became pregnant and I started scouring the Internet about what health foods I should eat.
Cottage cheese appeared on almost every list of 'best foods for pregnant women' because it's high in protein!
After multiple tubs of cottage cheese with fruit and toast, I started craving something new and knew I needed to make a healthy cheesecake with cottage cheese.
When I shared this cheesecake, no one even noticed that instead of cream cheese in it, I made it with cottage cheese and greek yogurt.
It's much higher in protein than a classic cheesecake, and to me, that's a thumbs up because our baby is getting nutrients while I'm getting a slice of heavenly cheesecake.
Make this Healthy Cheesecake even healthier by using a spelt crust and topping it with fresh fruit and granola
If you want to make this even healthier, you can use the spelt crust from this Breakfast Greek Yogurt Cheesecake, and top it with granola and fresh fruit instead of jam. Good morning to cheesecake!
This healthy cottage cheese cheesecake is topped with black currant jam in the photos. But if you would like a healthier topping, try using this Easy Blueberry Jam with Chia Seeds (the jam is made with no refined sugar).
Healthy Cheesecake with Cottage Cheese
Print Recipe Save RecipeIngredients
For the crust
- 1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (140 grams) (also works with digestive crumbs)
- ¼ cup caster sugar (50 grams)
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (85 grams) melted
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the cheesecake filling
- 2 ⅓ cups cottage cheese (500 grams)
- 1 cup Greek yogurt (200 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon maple syrup (75 grams)
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- ½ bourbon vanilla bean
For the blackcurrant jam
- ¾ cup blackcurrants (150 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 3 tablespoons water (50 milliliters)
Instructions
- Line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper on the bottom. Oil the sides of the pan if it is not non-stick.
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 176°C.
To make the crust
- In a large bowl, mix everything together.
- Gently press the crust into the lined pan. I find it easiest to use a small piece of parchment paper to cover my fingers, and press down on the crust. Set aside.
To make the cheesecake filling
- In a food processor or blender on low speed, blend the cottage cheese and Greek yogurt together until it is smooth.
- In a small bowl, beat the eggs together. Beat the eggs, maple syrup and flour into the cottage cheese mixture. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod and mix into the cheesecake.
- Pour everything into the pan. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour, until the cheesecake is set.
To make the blackcurrant jam
- In a medium saucepan, mix everything together. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Allow to cool before topping on the cheesecake.
To serve
- The cheesecake is best chilled, or at room temperature.
Helen says
This was delicious! I used fat free yogurt and fat free cottage cheese, plus an oatmeal crust I found on the internet. I also added lemon rind and used brown sugar instead of the maple syrup. I cooked up a raspberry and cherry compote for the topping because that was what I had in the house. Thanks for a great recipe!
Jeanne Friend says
This was delicious! I made a number of changes - being quarantined, I have the mindset to use what I have in the house whenever I can. So, I had 2 containers of black cherry Greek yogurt, they went into the filling, along with 2 Tbsp. of honey, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/2 c. chopped bing cherries, and of course the eggs, flour and cottage cheese as prescribed.
In the crust I substituted 1/4 c. flax & seeds for that portion of crumbs.
My topping was a cooked down 1/2 c. chopped bing cherries and 1/2 cup blueberries.
When my non-dessert loving partner commented how good it was, I knew it was a winner.
Maryam says
This looks amazing! Can I substitute honey for the maple syrup?
Maryam
Tina Jui says
Hi - I think that should be fine. Enjoy the recipe!
Chel-Sea says
Woohoo!! Made this yesterday for Memorial Day bbq. I have to say it makes a huge difference after sitting in the fridge!!! I didn't have a springtime pan so I used those disposable pie tins. I wanted to make 2 cakes so doubled the recipe. Since springtime pan fits more of the filling, I filled the leftover filling into a 3rd pan but ran out of Graham crust oops haha.
The one without the pie crust tasted strange immediately out of the oven, and noticed it had some moisture, I think it needed more time in the oven.
The other 2 cakes came out decent, but was also a little "juicy"? Leaving it in the fridge helped dry it out a little more. The crust came out perfect. I had to blend the cottage cheese and yogurt in batches with the maple syrup since I only had a tiny magic bullet and not a full sized blender. Not sure if it would have made a difference in how I blended it or type of cottage cheese used? We had a range of nonfat to 2% milk fat. Didn't get vanilla pods so I just used vanilla extract instead.
I will say once refrigerated overnight, the texture significantly improved from a flan-spongy like consistency to more creamy texture!!
I think next time I need to leave it in oven for a min or 2 after turning it off and let it sit with the residual heat.
Overall everyone at bbq loved it!! Consistency is pretty close to cheesecake after sitting in fridge overnight!
Tina Jui says
Thank you for the detailed feedback and tricks!
Adrienne says
This recipe is a winner! I made a blackberry jam to make use of what I had on hand and it was a great topping for my "cheesecake". Thanks for this recipe, I am so excited to make it again!
DonnaG says
Excellent recipe; super easy and nice flavour. We didn’t make the topping; used raspberries instead. But a definite redo!!
Great indulgence without the guilt! Thanks so much!
Preeti Bhatia says
Very well explained.
Rita says
Couldn't buy eggs last time I went to the supermarket... Does anyone know if this can still be made without eggs? :(
Donna G says
Excellent low fat high protein treat!! We didn’t add any sugar to the base. Adapted the topping for raspberries and only did 2 tBsp each of sugar and corn starch. The flavour of the berries popped with the gentle foil of the cake.
A definite redo!!
Malika says
Everybody loved it. I used strawberries instead and it turned out great!
Thank you for the recipe!
Sabeena says
Subsequent to my comment yesterday about this not tasting as creamy as the traditional version, I have to add that I tried it again after refrigerating it overnight, and now I can't tell the difference! I'd give the recipe so stars it that were an option!!
Adrienne says
I had the same experience with the creamy texture. Day 2 was definitely much better.