Cottage Cheese Egg Bake That Makes 8 Breakfasts at Once

A cottage cheese egg bake is the breakfast I make when I know the week is going to be messy. You blend a dozen eggs with cottage cheese, pour it over sautéed spinach and peppers, and bake one pan. Forty minutes later you have 8 squares that reheat in a minute, each with about 19 g of protein and 234 calories.

The cottage cheese is the reason this beats a plain egg casserole. Blended smooth, it disappears into the eggs and turns the texture soft and custardy, a little like a crustless quiche. Nobody eating it will spot the curds.

Below: the recipe, the one step that keeps it from going watery, four flavor swaps and how long it keeps in the fridge and freezer.

Ingredients for a cottage cheese egg bake

Makes one 9×13-inch pan, 8 squares. Prep 15 minutes, bake 40 minutes, rest 10 minutes.

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, diced (about 100 g)
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced (about 150 g)
• 5 oz baby spinach (142 g)
• 12 large eggs
• 2 cups 2% cottage cheese (452 g)
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar (113 g), divided
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)

Use full-fat or 2% cottage cheese. Fat-free versions tend to be wetter and give a rubbery bake. Small curd blends fastest, but any curd size works once it hits the blender.

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How to make it

1. Heat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
2. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion and bell pepper for 5 to 6 minutes, until soft. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts, about 2 minutes.
3. Tip the vegetables into a strainer and press out the liquid with the back of a spoon. Spread them evenly in the baking dish.
4. Blend the eggs, cottage cheese, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika for about 30 seconds, until smooth. For a curdier texture, whisk by hand instead.
5. Stir 3/4 cup of the cheddar into the egg mixture and pour it over the vegetables. Scatter the remaining 1/4 cup of cheddar on top.
6. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the center no longer jiggles, the edges are golden and an instant-read thermometer in the middle reads 160°F.
7. Let the egg bake rest for 10 minutes, then cut it into 8 squares.

The 160°F target is FoodSafety.gov’s safe minimum internal temperature for egg dishes such as frittata and quiche. A thermometer is more reliable than the knife test here, because melted cheese can make a knife come out looking wet even when the eggs are done.

Calories and protein per square

Cut into 8 squares, each serving comes to about 234 calories, 19 g protein, 14 g fat, 7 g carbs and 1 g fiber. Two squares make a 38 g protein breakfast for people with bigger appetites.

I calculated these from USDA FoodData Central values per 100 g for every ingredient in the list above, using the gram weights shown. The cottage cheese does a lot of the work: 2% cottage cheese has 10.4 g protein and 81 calories per 100 g, so the two cups add about 47 g of protein to the pan for under 370 calories. If you want more cheese ideas that pull their weight on protein, see our high protein cheese ranking.

Why is my egg bake watery? 4 fixes

A puddle under the squares is the most common complaint with any egg casserole, and cottage cheese gets blamed for it. Usually the vegetables are the real cause. Here is what keeps the pan dry:

• Cook and drain the vegetables first. Raw spinach, peppers, mushrooms and zucchini release water in the oven. Five minutes in a skillet plus a firm press in a strainer removes most of it.
• Blend the cottage cheese. Whole curds can weep liquid as they heat. Blended, the cottage cheese binds with the eggs and sets evenly.
• Skip fat-free dairy. 2% or full-fat cottage cheese gives a creamier set than fat-free.
• Don’t overbake. Eggs that go way past done squeeze out water as the proteins tighten. Pull the pan once the center hits 160°F and let carryover heat finish the job while it rests.

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Cottage cheese egg casserole variations

Keep the eggs, cottage cheese and seasoning the same and swap the fillings. Calories and protein will shift with each change, so the numbers above apply only to the spinach and pepper version.

Turkey sausage and pepper

Brown 8 oz of turkey breakfast sausage with the onion and pepper, drain any fat, and skip the spinach or keep it. This is the most filling version and the one that tastes most like a diner breakfast.

Mediterranean

Swap the cheddar for crumbled feta, add a handful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and some sliced olives, and season with dried oregano instead of paprika.

Southwest

Use pepper jack, add a drained can of diced green chiles and a teaspoon of cumin, and serve each square with salsa and a spoon of plain Greek yogurt.

Broccoli cheddar

Replace the spinach with 2 cups of small broccoli florets, steamed for 3 minutes and patted dry. Kids who won’t touch spinach tend to eat this one.

Egg bake meal prep: storage and reheating

This is a meal prep recipe first. Cool the pan for no more than an hour or so, cut it into squares and pack them into containers. FoodSafety.gov lists casseroles with eggs at 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator and 2 to 3 months in the freezer after baking. So a Sunday bake covers Monday through Wednesday or Thursday, and anything beyond that should go into the freezer on day one.

• To freeze: wrap each cooled square in parchment, then put them in a freezer bag with the air pressed out. Label it with the date.
• To reheat from the fridge: microwave one square for 45 to 60 seconds, covered with a damp paper towel so the edges don’t toughen.
• To reheat from frozen: thaw overnight in the fridge, or microwave at half power for about 2 minutes, then at full power until hot in the center.

FoodSafety.gov’s guideline for reheating leftovers of any type is 165°F. If you want a grab-and-go format instead of squares, the same mixture works in a muffin tin; our egg muffins recipe has the timing. For a whole freezer stash beyond breakfast, the freezer meal prep plan shows how to fit this pan into one afternoon.

Can you assemble it the night before?

Yes. Cook and drain the vegetables, spread them in the dish, blend the egg mixture and pour it over, then cover the pan and refrigerate it overnight. In the morning, bake it straight from the fridge and expect it to need 5 to 10 extra minutes. Go by the thermometer, not the clock. This works well for holiday mornings and brunch, when you’d rather not run a blender at 7 a.m. with guests in the house.

Want more ways to use cottage cheese at breakfast? The 5-minute scrambled eggs with cottage cheese are the stovetop version of this idea, and our high protein breakfast meal prep guide shows how to rotate this pan with other make-ahead breakfasts so you don’t get bored by Wednesday.

Sources

• FoodSafety.gov, Cold Food Storage Chart (casseroles with eggs)
• FoodSafety.gov, Safe Minimum Internal Temperature Chart (egg dishes, leftovers)
• USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy values via getfoodfacts.com: egg, whole, raw (FDC 171287), cottage cheese, 2% (FDC 172182), cheddar (FDC 173414), spinach, raw (FDC 168462), red bell pepper (FDC 170108), onion, raw (FDC 170000), olive oil (FDC 171413)