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Food


Is Cottage Cheese Ice Cream as Cool as It’s Made Out to Be?


There has been a ton of hype around cottage cheese ice cream across the web so we had to try it. We needed to know if cottage cheese ice cream is as good as it seems.

Organic Valley Product Development Manager Devin Thorson was curious too. He immediately began experimenting and came up with four easy cottage cheese ice cream recipes. Creating this organic ice cream only takes about 2 minutes per variety (plus freeze and clean-up time).

Those of us who got to watch the process were impressed by the taste and texture. But we wanted to know more. We borrowed spoons from the cafe, placed the ice cream in small cups and walked around the office sharing “ice cream” samples without telling co-workers what it was. We asked the unsuspecting taste testers, “what do you think this is made of?” and “how does it taste?” Find out our learnings from taste testers later in the article. We want to jump into the really tasty stuff first.

The samples included:

“Oh my, this is amazing. Yum,” was one of the first responses we heard. “Is this Icelandic yogurt?” and “Good, but I don’t think I’d make it at home” were other responses. “It’s good but I like cottage cheese too much as it is to use it for ice cream.” “Can I have more?” Check out the video at the end of the article to see the taste test in action.

This is a small sampling of people, but you can be the judge. Try making these super simple cottage cheese ice creams — or use the basic information and make whatever combinations of cottage cheese ice cream you desire.

Cottage Cheese Ice Cream Recipes

Bountiful Berry Cottage Cheese Ice Cream with a spoon.

Bountiful Berry Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

16-ounce Organic Valley Cottage Cheese 4% milkfat or 2% milkfat — though lower fat tends to have a slightly grainy texture.
¼ cup real maple syrup (honey or agave syrup make great substitutes)
1 ½ to 2 cups whole fresh frozen berries. We do not recommend fresh. The flavor will be good, but the appearance outcome is not as becoming as frozen berries.

Combine ingredients and blend for 45 seconds. Scrape sides and blend another 15 seconds if needed. You do not want any cottage cheese curds remaining.

Place ice cream back in cottage cheese container and cover. Freeze 3 to 4 hours.

Calories per 1/2 cup: 110

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cottage Cheese Ice Cream and a spoon.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

16-ounce Organic Valley Cottage Cheese 4% milkfat or 2% milkfat — though lower fat tends to have a slightly grainy texture.
¼ cup real maple syrup (honey or agave syrup make great substitutes)
3 tablespoons jelly
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Combine ingredients and blend for 45 seconds. Scrape sides and blend another 15 seconds if needed. You do not want any cottage cheese curds remaining.

Place ice cream back in cottage cheese container and cover. Freeze 3 to 4 hours.

Calories per 1/2 cup: 180

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cottage Cheese Ice Cream on a table with a spoon.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

16-ounce Organic Valley Cottage Cheese 4% milkfat or 2% milkfat — though lower fat tends to have a slightly grainy texture.
¼ cup real maple syrup (honey or agave syrup make great substitutes)
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons chocolate chips

Combine ingredients and blend for 45 seconds. Scrape sides and blend another 15 seconds if needed. You do not want any cottage cheese curds remaining.

Place ice cream back in cottage cheese container and cover. Freeze 3 to 4 hours.

Calories per 1/2 cup: 210

Vanilla cottage cheese ice cream and a spoon on a table.

Plain/Vanilla Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

16-ounce Organic Valley Cottage Cheese 4% milkfat or 2% milkfat — though lower fat tends to have a slightly grainy texture.
¼ cup real maple syrup (honey or agave syrup make great substitutes)
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine ingredients and blend for 45 seconds. Scrape sides and blend another 15 seconds if needed. You do not want any cottage cheese curds remaining.

Place ice cream back in cottage cheese container and cover. Freeze 3 to 4 hours.

Calories per 1/2 cup: 140

Organic Valley’s Devin Thorson puts cottage cheese, berries and maple syrup in a blender.

Devin Thorson, Organic Valley, makes cottage cheese ice cream.

Advice for Really Good Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

Do not use table sugar in cottage cheese ice cream recipes as it keeps its grainy texture. The ice cream is best in small batches. Make and freeze the ice cream for 3 to 4 hours — not much longer. Freezing too long creates hard ice cream that may take a few hours to thaw.

We also enjoyed the cottage cheese combination before it was frozen. It has a pleasant yogurt-like texture that can be eaten as-is. (We thought the plain variety tasted like cheesecake.)

Check out the reactions from our taste testers in this video:

Key Cottage Cheese Ice Cream Takeaways

We can’t predict when the cottage cheese ice cream trend will subside but we do know that yes, people really do like ice cream made from real cottage cheese!

What we learned from the taste testers.

  • They were surprised when they found out the main ingredient in the ice cream was cottage cheese.
  • They liked it even after they found out it was ice cream made from cottage cheese.
  • Many thought yogurt was the main ingredient.
  • Most feedback was positive — with exceptions.

Cottage cheese ice cream is really yummy for some and others like to fill their bellies with cottage cheese that is prepped in different ways. We checked out a trend and we were pleasantly surprised.

And you can feel good about eating Organic Valley cottage cheese as it contains absolutely no antibiotics, synthetic hormones, toxic pesticides or GMO anything.

An antique typewriter fanatic and chicken mom who treasures time outdoors admiring all that nature has to offer, Jennifer McBride is Rootstock’s editor. McBride spent 15-plus years as a journalist and newspaper editor before finding her niche with the nation’s leading organic dairy cooperative. Contact her at Rootstock@organicvalley.com.

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