Cottage Cheese Ice Cream {High Protein!} – WellPlated.com

This creamy, dreamy Cottage Cheese Ice Cream is protein-packed perfection! Add your favorite toppings and mix-ins to make this easy recipe your own. It’s perfect when you want a little treat!

Better-for-you ice cream that’s crave-worthy too.

I’m a firm believer in the everything-in-moderation policy, which means I am more than happy to dive into a pint of Ben & Jerry’s at the end of a long day.

But this cottage cheese ice cream is so good, I get (almost) as much satisfaction from it as the real deal.

(I mean, it doesn’t have the fudgy fish, caramel, and marshmallows, but you can add your own mix-ins if you’re feeling ambitious. Just sayin’.)

• You can make this cottage cheese ice cream without an ice cream maker, or you can churn it for a texture that’s closer to traditional ice cream. Options: you have them!
• Because it’s made with cottage cheese, protein powder, and nut butter, you get 18 grams of protein in each scoop, which means this is a healthy ice cream that satisfies too.
• It’s easy to change up the flavor with different extracts and mix-ins, along with your favorite toppings. Making this into a breakfast banana split is definitely on my agenda!

If you love my Protein Ice Cream, this cottage cheese ice cream is a must-make too!

Key Ingredients

You’ll find the full list of ingredients in the recipe card below, but here are some notes to keep in mind.

• Full-Fat Cottage Cheese. Using full-fat is important because it helps make the ice cream ultra creamy and rich. (And don’t worry, since you’re pureeing the mixture, there won’t be any curds in the ice cream!)
• Protein Powder. A scoop of vanilla protein powder is optional, but it will give the ice cream vanilla flavor and an extra protein boost.
• Sweetener. I use honey or maple syrup for sweetness.
• Nut Butter. If you don’t want to taste the nut butter, use cashew butter. If you do want to taste it, go for almond or peanut butter. The nut butter helps with the texture and richness of the ice cream.
• Chocolate Chips. Or any other mix-ins you like. 

My Favorite Mix-Ins

I have SO many ideas for you, but first: the best time to add mix-ins is after churning or right before freezing if you’re using the no-churn method. Gently fold them in and make sure hard or high water content mix-ins, like granola, nuts, and fresh fruit, are chopped so they don’t get rock hard when frozen!

• Fruit. I like jams and pie fillings (like this Homemade Apple Pie Filling and Cherry Pie Filling) better than fresh because the fruit is soft and jammy even when frozen. But finely chopped peaches and mangoes work well too.
• Nut Butters. Yes, there’s already nut butter in this cottage cheese ice cream, but if you want to add ribbons of it throughout, you can spoon room temperature nut butter into the ice cream and swirl it in.
• Fudge and Caramel. Use jarred hot fudge (but don’t heat it!) or caramel sauce and swirl them in.
• Other Fun Things. Try crumbled cookies (like these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies!), pieces of Black Bean Brownies, Homemade Granola, nuts, or chopped candy bars.