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These creamy cottage cheese mashed potatoes are buttery, garlicky and have a lighter and higher protein secret ingredient: cottage cheese! They’re great for weeknight dinners but perfect for your next holiday spread too.
Why You’ll Love These Creamy Mashed Potatoes
The perfect creamy texture, garlicky, buttery, and higher protein too! Here’s why I love them and you will too:
- Lightened up classic. Trust me, these are just as delicious as traditional mashed potatoes, just lightened up a little!
- Protein boosted. Cottage cheese adds tons of creaminess but also adds a big boost of protein. A serving has 8 grams of protein!
- Super simple ingredients. You only need a handful of ingredients. It couldn’t be easier!
- Perfect for holidays. They’re the perfect side dish for your next Thanksgiving or Christmas spread. I like to garnish them with finely chopped parsley or chives to be extra fancy.
Once you give this mashed potatoes recipe a try you absolutely must try my Ricotta Mashed Potatoes, Lipton Onion Soup Potatoes and Air Fryer Potato Wedges too.
Ingredients
For full recipe instructions and complete list of ingredients, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
- Yukon gold potatoes: I think the best potatoes are Yukon gold potatoes or russet potatoes. I love making this recipe with red potatoes too.
- Blended or whipped cottage cheese: Believe it or not, it’s a great swap for ingredients like sour cream and cream. I recommend whole milk cottage cheese for the creamiest potatoes. Lower fat cottage cheese will result in less creaminess because it tends to have more water. Good Culture is my favorite!
- Garlic cloves: I just love garlicky mashed potatoes, and boiling the garlic right in with the potatoes is super simple.
- Salted butter: A must for the best mashed potatoes. If you use unsalted butter make sure you add extra salt.
- Milk: Just a splash of milk (more if you like thinner potatoes). Whole milk or 2% milk will yield the creamiest potatoes, but you can use any type of milk that you like, or heavy cream.
- Salt & black pepper: To round out the flavors for the perfect mashed.
How To Make Cottage Cheese Mashed Potatoes
- Boil potatoes and garlic. Add potatoes and garlic to a large pot filled with cold water above the potatoes by about 1 inch. Bring water to a boil on high. Reduce to medium and boil for 15-20 minutes until very fork tender. Drain and return to pot.
- Mash. Mash potatoes as smooth as possible (or leave chunky if desired, just make sure to mash the garlic enough). If you like very smooth mashed potatoes you can also use an immersion blender.
- Add cottage cheese, butter and milk. Add butter and allow to melt. Then, add blended cottage cheese, salt, pepper, and milk. Note: I recommend adding milk last so you can adjust to your preference.
- Mix. Mix ingredients until fully combined and creamy. Adjust salt, pepper and milk as needed. Top with extra butter and finely chopped fresh chives if desired. Enjoy!
Variation Ideas
- Roasted garlic. Roast a whole head of garlic at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes until soft and golden, then squeeze out the cloves into your mashed potatoes when you add the cottage cheese.
- Herb parmesan. Stir in 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese and two tablespoons of chopped chives or parsley.
- Swap in Greek yogurt. Not a huge cottage cheese lover? Swap in plain full fat Greek yogurt instead.
- For super smooth potatoes. If you like whipped mashed potatoes that are silky smooth, use a hand mixer or even make them in a food processor.
How to store
Store your leftover mashed potatoes in an airtight container for up to 5 days and then reheat when you need them. You can even use leftovers for my Shepherd’s Pie with Ground Turkey and Veggies.
Recipe Tips
Tips For Success
- Blend blend blend. Blended cottage cheese goes from curdy to silky smooth. For smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, make sure to blend your cottage cheese. I recommend using an immersion blender right in the cottage cheese container but a food processor also works.
- Full fat cottage cheese. Full fat has the best creaminess and will yield the best texture, but if you can’t find it, 2% will work too. I don’t recommend using fat-free cottage cheese.
- Add milk slowly. Everyone likes different mashed potato textures, so if you like thick mashed, skip the milk! If you like thinner mashed potatoes, start with 2 tablespoons and add until you love them.
- Season to taste. Always always give your mashed potatoes a test and add more salt and pepper as needed, especially when using an ingredient like cottage cheese. It can vary in salt content!
More Sides To Serve With
Kitchen Tools
More Healthy Holiday Recipes
If you’ve made and loved these Cottage Cheese Mashed Potatoes or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and comments below!
Cottage Cheese Mashed Potatoes
Buttery, garlicky, and absolutely delicious mashed potatoes made with a high protein swap.
Ingredients
- 4 lbs potatoes (Yukon golds or russet potatoes), cubed, (about 10ish cups of cubed potatoes)
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp butter, sliced
- 1 cup cottage cheese, blended, full fat or 2% recommended
- 2 tbsp milk, if needed to consistency preference
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4-1/2 tsp black pepper
- optional: butter and finely chopped chives for topping
Instructions
- Add potatoes and garlic to a large pot filled with cold water above the potatoes by about 1 inch.
- Bring water to a boil on high. Reduce to medium and boil potatoes and garlic for 15-20 minutes until very fork tender and easy to mash. Drain potatoes and garlic and return to pot.
- Mash as smooth as possible (or leave chunky if desired, just make sure to mash the garlic enough). If you like very smooth mashed potatoes you can also use an immersion blender.
- Add butter and allow to melt. Then, add blended cottage cheese, salt, pepper, and milk. Mix well to combine. Note: I recommend adding milk last so that you can leave your mashed potatoes thick or thin them out a bit with milk.
Notes
If you prefer a thicker mashed potato, skip the milk!
If you prefer thinner mashed potatoes, start with 2 tbsp of milk and add until you reach the consistency that you prefer.
When choosing cottage cheese, full fat will give you the creamiest and richest texture.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.75cup | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 434mg | Potassium: 996mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 221IU | Vitamin C: 45mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should only be used as an estimate.
Did you try this recipe?Leave a comment + star rating below!
Do the nutrition facts apply to 1 serving size? If so, what is that serving size? This sounds delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Yes nutrition facts are based on one serving :). It will depend on the size of your potatoes, but a serving should end up being about 3/4-1 cup of potatoes. The nutrition facts are based on 8 equal servings.
Can these be made as a make ahead dish?
Definitely!