Easy Cottage Cheese Fritters with Salsa: 21g Protein!
These mouthwatering cottage cheese fritters make the perfect healthy lunch or dinner.
Served with zingy pomegranate salsa and a superfood lentil and chard (or whatever delicious veggies you like) mix, I am sure you are going to fall head over heels for this unique recipe!

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I am a big fan of cottage cheese. Seriously, it’s so healthy and such a good protein source for vegetarians. I would honestly whack it in most dishes if I could ( and I do!).
What’s all the hype about, you ask? Well, let’s for starters, cottage cheese is high in calcium, phosphorus, selenium B vitamins, and vitamin A.
As a fermented food, it also has plenty of gut friendly bacteria.
Finally, it is high in protein and low in fat. Whew! What more could you ask for?
It’s in part thanks to the cottage cheese in this recipe that these fritters are so delightfully healthy.
It helps get the protein up to 21g per serving, all while lending a delicious tart creaminess to the fritters themselves.
That 21g protein is a fantastic amount – in fact, it’s increasingly clear that low-protein, processed foods are NOT the way to go. Check out this article from Forbes on low-protein and obesity.
Combine that with all the fresh goodness of the pomegranate salsa and the healthy green chard and lentils – you’ve got quite the meal of champions on your hands!
Ingredients
There are 3 elements to this recipe: the fritters, the salsa and the chard (or broccoli) and lentil side. What are the main ingredients for each element?

Fritters
Potatoes
Grated potatoes are the main base of the fritter. I recommend pressing them through a sieve and then salting them, in order to dry them out, so your fritters will turn golden brown and crispy when you fry them!
Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs add bulk and also help to absorb some of the moisture in the fritters. You can use shop bought or homemade.
As ever, homemade is always best, especially if you use whole wheat bread to make them. It’s a great way to use up stale bread!
Cottage Cheese
A healthy dollop of cottage cheese makes these fritters creamy and high protein!
Paprika + Caraway Seeds
I use paprika and caraway seeds to give a smoky flavor to the fritters, but you are free to experiment. A dash of garlic powder, or maybe a sprinkling of chili flakes could also go down well!
I also love using the pre-made spice mixes, there are some really great flavours! Same goes for herb mixes, like Herbs de Provence.
Pomegranate Salsa
Pomegranate Kernels
I recommend buying the kernels/seeds frozen – far easier (and far less messy!).
Mint Leaves
A sprig of mint leaves adds a delicious freshness to the salsa. Make sure to chop them finely so they release as much flavor into the salsa as possible.
Chili Pepper
A chopped chili gives this salsa a kick! You can use whatever type of chili you prefer, depending on how spicy you like it! Feel free to scale down and scale up on the heat, according to preference.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Vinegar gives a salsa that unmistakeable sharpness that cuts through the creamy cottage cheese fritters. If you don’t have apple cider to hand you can also use rice vinegar.
Tasty Veggies
Chard
Chard is a kind of leafy green. You can use whichever variety you can access, and if you can’t access any, you are welcome to swap it out for another substantial green, like kale! Or chopped broccoli florets. Whatever your fave is really!
Lentils
Brown or green lentils work best for this recipe, as they hold their shape and their nutty flavor complements the earthy chard. Avoid red lentils!
Vegetable Broth
Cooking the chard in vegetable broth adds a rich, salty flavor. As you are not using any other seasoning, this is a vital component!
How many calories are in cottage cheese fritters?
A meal of cottage cheese fritters with pomegranate salsa and chard contains 428 calories per serving, and it contains 21g protein per serving.
At 21g protein per serving this is the perfect high protein meal, to fuel up after a workout (try these vegetarian post workout meals for more like this!)!
Health benefits
The amount of protein in this meal is a massive health benefit! Protein is such an important macro, it is fundamental for maintaining muscle mass and energy levels.
One serving contains 21g protein, which is roughly half the daily protein requirements for the average woman!
What’s more, a lot of the individual ingredients have numerous health benefits.
For example, leafy green vegetables, like chard, are some of the most nutrient dense foods out there. Chard contains extremely high levels of vitamin K, as well as very solid levels of vitamin C, vitamin A and magnesium.
Pomegranates are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C, and may offer benefits such as improving heart health and preventing cancer!
Cottage cheese is full of gut friendly bacteria and low fat, high quality vegetarian protein (lots of our low fat vegetarian recipes use cottage cheese). Lentils are also a source of plant-based protein, as well as fiber.
How to make cottage cheese fritters with pomegranate salsa and chard
Time needed: 35 minutes.
Let me take you through the process of preparing this meal! It’s super quick and easy – ready in just 35 minutes!
- How to make fritters
Grate:Grate the potatoes and onions, place in a mesh sieve, sprinkle with salt and leave them. This helps to dry out the potatoes.
- Mix:
Mix the breadcrumbs, eggs, seasoning and cottage cheese in a large bowl.
- Drain:
Go back to the potatoes and press as much liquid out of both as you can manage.
- Combine:
Add potatoes to egg mix.
- Fry:
Add vegetable oil or olive oil to a large frying pan. Fry fritters over a medium heat until they turn golden. It should be about 1.5 – 2 tablespoons of the batter per fritter. I recommend squashing the fritters down so they are thin and waiting a full 8 minutes to flip (this helps them stay together!).
- How to make lentils and chard
Chop:Remove the leaves from the chard and chop up the leaves and stalk. The leaves can be chopped roughly, but the stalk should be finely sliced.
- Cook:
Pop the chard in a large pot with vegetable broth and lentils. Simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- How to make pomegranate salsa
Chop:Chop the chili and mint, and add to a medium bowl with all the honey, vinegar, olive oil, pomegranate and a good pinch of salt.
- Mix:
Stir it all together and serve with the warm fritters.
FAQs
You can make these ahead and store either the batter or the cooked fritters in the fridge for a couple of days. The fritters will lose the crispiness in the fridge, but they will still taste nice! You can also store frozen fritters in the freezer (what a tongue twister!) for up to a month.
Keep fritters in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days then reheat in the oven or microwave. Alternatively, store the batter in the fridge and fry them up fresh.
You need to use a binding agent, like egg. Alternatives to eggs include 1 tbsp flax seeds or chia seeds mixed with 2.5 tbsp water. You also need to make sure you mixture isn’t too wet.
Salsa or other sharp sauces go really well with the mild flavors of cottage cheese fritters. You should also serve them with a side of fresh veg, like chard, spinach or salad.
Plain batter for traditional fritter recipes are made of flour, milk and eggs, fried in oil on the bottom of a frying pan over a medium-high heat. However, there are many variations on fritters, and the term is usually used to refer to fried patties of any mixture of ingredients that have been breaded or battered (ie. grated potatoes, cheese, carrots, onion, meat, fish)
Your batter is probably too wet, or you haven’t used an adequate raising agent. If your fritters contain vegetables, like potatoes, make sure to strain and salt them first so they aren’t watery. Another problem might be that they are sticking to the pan and falling apart when you try to flip them, so make sure you use sufficient oil and don’t flip them too soon.
They are probably too damp. A wet mixture leeches water as it cooks and prevents your fritters from crisping up.

Variations and alternatives
If you want to make this gluten-free, you could swap out the breadcrumbs for crumbs made from gluten free bread. This should work the same as normal bread.
There are lots of different ways you could serve cottage cheese fritters. Why not try them with sour cream, and chopped chives or sliced spring onions sprinkled on top? They also go really well when dipped in sweet chilli sauce!
If you don’t want to fry, you could bake these fritters in the oven instead! It will take a lot longer than frying though – around 30 minutes should do the trick!
Unfortunately these are not easily made vegan, without changing them beyond recognition, as cottage cheese is the main component.
However if you want an easily vegan-izable patty/fritter recipes, check out our lentil patties, or these Indian parathas instead!

More recipes
If you are loving cottage cheese, why not try one of my other delicious cottage cheese recipes?
I have a super quick cottage cheese salad, a brunch-ready avocado and cottage cheese toast recipe, and for those of you with a sweet tooth, I’ve got a cottage cheese cheesecake, a cottage cheese smoothie and even cottage cheese pancakes!!
If this pomegranate salsa has you dying to try more salsa recipes, our simple red salsa is what you need!

Ingredients
Fritters
- 6 oz potato
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- ½ onion (grated)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 1 tsp caraway seeds, ground
- 5.5 oz cottage cheese
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Pomegranate Salsa
- 1 chili (chopped)
- 1 sprig mint, fresh (chopped)
- 1 tsp honey
- 2 tsp apple vinegar
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- Salt and pepper to taste
Lentil Chard Side
- ½ cup lentils, cooked
- 2.5 oz chard (you can also use small-chopped florets of broccoli)
- ¼ cup vegetable broth
Instructions
Potato Cottage Cheese Fritters
- Grate the potato and onion and place on a fine mesh sieve. Sprinkle over the salt and rest on top of a bowl for 10-20 minutes.6 oz potato, Salt to taste, ½ onion
- Into a bowl add breadcrumbs, egg, paprika, caraway seeds, cottage cheese and mix.2 tbsp breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1 tsp paprika powder, 5.5 oz cottage cheese, 1 tsp caraway seeds, ground
- Go back to the grated potato on the sieve and squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can using your hand.
- Add the potato into the bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Add vegetable oil to a large non-stick pan and fry fritters over medium-low heat until both sides have a deep golden brown colour (about 1 ½ – 2 tbsp of batter per fritter). I recommend squishing the fritters down so that they are thin (½ cm). I also wait a full 8 minutes before flipping. This helps the potato cook and the fritters stay together much better.1 tbsp vegetable oil
Lentil Chard Side
- Remove the leaves from the stalk of the chard. Roughly chop the green leaves and finely dice the stalk into small pieces. Add to a pot on low heat together with the vegetable broth.2.5 oz chard, ¼ cup vegetable broth
- Add the lentils. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes.½ cup lentils, cooked
Pomegranate Salsa
- Meanwhile make the salsa. Chop chilli and mint leaves and add to a medium sized bowl with honey, vinegar, olive oil, pomegranate kernels and salt. Mix until incorporated.1 chili, 1 sprig mint, fresh, 1 tsp honey, 2 tsp apple vinegar, 1 tsp olive oil, ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- Serve fritters with pomegranate salsa and the lentil chard side. Season with black pepper per taste.Salt and pepper to taste
NOTES
- Heavenly cheese inspiration Best Cottage Cheese Snacks
- For corn lovers Easy Sweetcorn Fritters
- Tasty and filling Avocado Toast with Cottage Cheese
- Rich Fresh and Tasty Cheese Salad
- Amazing Cottage Cheese Cheesecake
Nutrition
I hope you have enjoyed these delicious cottage cheese fritters (you should also try these cottage cheese snacks if you like this!)! If you have any feedback or questions, just drop me a line in the comments below!
Unlike most of the great recipes here, this one didn’t work for me. I cooked half the batter on medium heat the first night and they were burnt black before 8 minutes were up. The second night I reduced heat to 2 and they still burned black. I used whole wheat panko and 1% cottage cheese.
Hi Judy, arrr I’m sorry to hear that! I wonder what went wrong? My first thought is that the 1% cheese just had too low of a fat content, and caused it to burn. You could try an oil spray, or just a little oil rubbed around the pan to see if that helps, I think it just might! And keeping the heat lower to begin with is a good idea too 🙂
Sounded very good until I saw the sodium content, 2008 per serving! Much too high. Will have to see where I can cut back.
Hi Kattykat, two ways to do that would be: cook your own lentils (as the tinned ones are often high in sodium) and to find a low-sodium broth. Those would bring the levels down a fair bit. I hope that helps!