3 Ingredient Cottage Cheese Pancakes (High Protein & Gluten Free)
- Updated on Feb 15, 2024
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Here is my prediction: this Cottage Cheese Pancake will soon be one of the most popular breakfasts of humankind.
I know it’s a bold statement, but there are six strong indicators pointing to it. Let me elaborate:
First, it’s super simple to make. The basic recipe just calls for three ingredients: Cottage cheese, eggs and oats and from start to finish you need a maximum of 12 minutes.
Second, eggs are celebrating a huge comeback.
After being looked at suspiciously for decades, a new study has shown that there is no link between eggs and cardiovascular disease.
In other words eggs are super nutritious and not bad for you.
Third, these cottage cheese pancakes are gluten-free, which is very important these days, haha (note: make sure your oats are labeled gluten-free, because they’re sometimes processed in the same factory as gluten-containing grains!)
Fourth, this pancake – because of it’s ingredients – is a 100% natural, no extra powder added, protein powerhouse.
Next to gluten-free, high protein products are the rage nowadays and these tasty pancakes definitely tick that box. How about 26g of protein for breakfast? You’re welcome.
Fifth, all three ingredients help with weight loss because of their satiating effect, making these pancakes an excellent breakfast, even for people on a diet.
Sixth, they taste bloody good. Period.
Eggs are surging through on a comeback, and gluten-free and high protein are taking over the world.
To top it all off, convenient, great tasting weight-loss recipes are an evergreen and always will be.
See the puzzle falling into place? I do. Since the cottage cheese pancakes are riding high on all these trends, they’re a sure bet to become the world’s most popular breakfast from 2016 on (and I bet these cottage cheese bites will be up there too!).
I even ditched my long time favourite the Banana Egg Pancakes for this one!
In case you’re still harbouring any doubts, let’s move to the health section.
Ingredients
Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese belongs to the healthiest cheese groups out there, being low in carbs, low in fats and loaded with proteins ( no wonder we love cottage cheese recipes).
On top of that, cottage cheese is also high in micronutrients like calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin B2 and lots of other nutrients. Dang!
Oatmeal
Oats are one of the healthiest grains mother nature came up with. They’re high in fiber, proteins and a whole host of other nutrients.
As a further example, oats have been linked to lowering the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Oats can also keep you feeling full for longer which can help to stop you reaching for an unhealthy mid morning snack.
Eggs
Eggs raise HDL, the “good” cholesterol. HDL stands for High Density Lipoprotein. Higher levels of HDL can lower risk of heart disease, stroke and various health problems. Check out our other high protein egg recipes for more eggy inspo!
Not too bad for a breakfast pancake, right?
So tell us:
- Do you think these pancakes have the potential to be more successful than breakfast cereal?
- What is your favourite breakfast dish?
- In general, what was the last dish you’ve been extremely excited about?
- Could you imagine having a smoothie with raw eggs for breakfast?
Edit: Since we released this recipe, they have become my absolute, no doubt favourite breakfast of all time. I seriously love them – Howie was right all along. Dave.
Health benefits
These cottage cheese pancakes are high in protein, low in carbs, gluten free (if that sounds good, you need to check out our vegetarian low carb breakfasts!). we could go on! The reason this dish is so healthy is because of the amazing qualities of it’s individual ingredients.
FAQ’s
We’ve covered some of the most common questions about this recipe, but if you can’t find an answer to yours let us know in the comments section.
Can you freeze cottage cheese pancakes?
Yes, simply let them cool and freeze either flat, or with grease-proof paper between each pancake to stop them sticking together.
Can you make the mixture ahead and store it in the fridge?
You can definitely blend the mixture up and keep it prepped in the fridge for up to 2 days.
How many carbs do they have?
32g per serving – a lot less than their traditional flour based counterpart.
What about protein?
These cottage cheese pancakes are super high in protein – 26g per serving in fact!
Are these cottage cheese pancakes gluten free?
Yes, just make sure to choose oats labelled as gluten free.
Do I need to cook the oats before using them?
Nope, just pop them in the blender and you’re good to go.
Will this mix work for waffles too?
Whilst we haven’t tried it ourselves, our awesome readers have reported back that this recipe does indeed work for waffles!
Cooking tips
If you want to become a cottage cheese pancake flipping master, then try out these tips to achieve a fluffy golden pancake every time.
- Use a non-stick pan! This probably makes the biggest difference when making these cottage cheese pancakes.
- Make sure you have enough oil or butter on the cooking area of the pan, it helps the pancakes to cook a lot smoother all over and they shouldn’t break apart.
- Fry with a lid on when cooking the first side (around 9 minutes) and then flip and cook without a lid for a further 1-2 minutes to brown the other side. Check out the video in the recipe section for full details on this.
- Try cooking multiple small pancakes to begin with, as they’re much easier to flip and control compared to one giant one.
What our readers are saying
Absolutely stellar! Thank you!! I made these as a special treat for Mother’s Day b’fast, and was amazed at how light and fluffy they were!
ineduc8r ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
You are God-sent. What’s more both of you are so humble replying to every query. Thank you. Tried it today as lunch and was amazing and so filling. I didn’t quite get the pancake right but the suggestions of others has been helpful. Great work guys!
Abbie ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
OMG! Thank you soooooo much for the cottage-cheese-pancake recipe. I haven’t had pancakes in years (since being diagnosed as a Type II diabetic). Made this in the food processor, used coconut oil in the skillet. Gotta say they actually turned out better than any of my pre-diabetic attempts at pancakes!
Sheryl ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ingredients
- 1 tsp coconut oil (or butter)
- ⅓ cup low fat cottage cheese
- ½ cup rolled oats (no pre-cooking necessary)
- 2 eggs
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Get a bowl or, even better, use a blender.
- Throw in all the ingredients and whisk/mix until smooth.⅓ cup low fat cottage cheese, ½ cup rolled oats, 2 eggs, Salt to taste
- Add the oil (or butter) to a pan and fry the batter on low to medium heat.1 tsp coconut oil
- Flip with a spatula once bubbles start to appear. Cook until both sides are golden brown.
- Simple as!
NOTES
Make-ahead? Yes, just keep toppings separate. Freezable? Yes! Again, either the batter or the pancakes. Here are some ideas on how to pimp these pancakes up! (All optional of course) Batter ideas: 1 tbsp of coconut powder
* A small handful of hazelnuts, almonds or walnuts
* 1 tbsp of peanut butter
* 1 tbsp of protein powder
* 1 tbsp of raisins
* 1 tsp of cinnamon
* 1 tsp of vanilla extract
* A few thin slices of apple or pear Topping ideas:
* Honey
* Maple syrup
* Cherries, strawberries
* Yogurt
* Sugar and lemon juice EQUIPMENT & PRODUCT TIPS:
You’ll need a non-stick pan for successful pancake action, but that’s it. See what you think about this pan. I recently started using coconut oil instead of butter for frying. It works great, especially for pancakes! If you want, give this one a shot. IF YOU LIKED THIS RECIPE: Then you definitely have to check out our Banana Egg Pancakes! Probably even easier to prepare and absolutely delicious. Or if you’d rather like to go into no milk, no egg direction, check out our roundup of these 24 awesome vegan pancakes!
Nutrition
If you liked this, you should definitely try our cottage cheese fritter recipe too!
Comments
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251 comments
I used a regular skillet, not nonstick, and it worked perfectly! Just got to slightly grease it up! About to have it with banana and maple syrup!
Yep, grease is where it’s at 😀
Hope the pancake turned out well!
Picky 4y/o twin nephews just DEVOURED a whole plate of silver dollar pancakes! I’ve taken command of sister’s kitchen to steer them away from the miserable S.A.D. that was making them all sick. t
This recipe deserves ten stars!!!
I made the first dozen tiny, thinking that larger would be impossible to flip…then I experimented and made a few as big as the skillet, and they were GORGEOUS! Gives me the idea to make the batter a little thinner and make all-purpose tortilla-style wraps.
THANK YOU!!!!
BTW, I quadrupled the recipe for a family of six, and everyone stuffed themselves to the gills. These fill you up without that heavy, bloated feeling you get from flour pancakes…and for one of my nephews (who doesn’t eat meat or eggs) they were more protein than he normally eats in two days. 🙂
hahaha, on that note: Your comments inspired me to purchase a kitchen grill that allows me to make 4-6 pancakes at once. Can’t wait till it arrives 😀
Haa, so cool you like the pancakes, Jeanette!
Yess, when i started looking into the world of pancakes I was super surprised that one can make them healthy as well, even without flour and all 😀
The tortilla idas is veeeery cool! Will have to try that out too 😀
Great recipe! Thank you!
Any time James! Really glad you enjoyed 🙂
These look delicious! I was just wondering, how many grams is a half a cup of cottage cheese and how many grams is a half a cup of oats? I would assume it’s not the same amount, since half a cup of cheese would weigh more than a half a cup of oats 🙂 I am all new to this cooking thing and I wanna do it right 😉
Hi Nouka, I’m happy to help out 🙂
Half a cup of cottage cheese is roughly 100g and half a cup of oats are about 45g
I hope it helps
Otherwise you can just use a simple as coffee mug (250ml). It works just like a cup 😉
Thank you for your quik reply! Defenitly will make this very soon 🙂
Sure thing! Good luck ;D
You are God-sent. What’s more both of you are so humble replying to every query. Thank you. Tried it today as lunch and was amazing and so filling. I didn’t quite get the pancake right but the suggestions of others has been helpful. Great work guys!
Hi Abbie, you’re very welcome 😀
Glad you liked these pancakes! And thanks for your supportive comment, I really appreciate it! (and I’m sure Dave as well)
Have a great Sunday! 🙂
Thank you Abbie! That’s really, really nice to hear. Hope the pancake comes out perfect next time too!
Thank you! This is the most delicious and satisfying recipe! I used a little bit of organic unsalted butter to coat the non stick pan and it made the pancakes perfectly golden. I added cinnamon, vanilla and a small handful of raisins and I put it all in the bullet and bam! Pancake batter in 10 seconds
Will definitely be making these again!
I kept trying to click on 5 stars but the site would not allow me to click past 4. It might be a glitch. But this recipe is definitely 5 star deserving!!
Thank you Deana, that’s fantastic to hear! Really, really pleased you enjoyed them so much. In my humble opinion…they’re just awesome. The additions you made sounds great too 😀
Not quite sure what the 4 star bug is about, will check it out! Thanks again 🙂
I’m interested in recommending these to my patients who have diabetes. Can you please tell me how many total pancakes this recipe makes and what size they are? the nutrition facts are great, but you don’t list a serving size. So, I have no idea how many pancakes you’re talking about. Is it the entire recipe or just a couple of pancakes? Thank you!
Hi Sue! I’m really glad to hear that. Sorry for not being clear on those two things: The batter makes 1 huge pancake or 2 mid sized pancakes. The nutrition facts equal the whole batter, so 3 eggs, half a cup of rolled oats and half a cup of cottage cheese. Thanks a lot for pointing this out, I also updated the recipe. Best regards!
Thanks Howie! I’m looking forward to making these and I’ll experiment with the pancake size. If I get 4 normal sized pancakes (4″ each) out of one batch, then I will just divide your nutrition facts by 4 to figure out how much is one pancake. This recipe sounds awesome!
You’re very welcome! On that note we use the “recipe analyzer” from caloriecount.com to create our nutrition cards. We found it’s the best around because of it’s easy use and huge data base of foods. I’m sure you can make 4 rather small pancakes with the batch. Funny enough, this is Dave’s favorite breakfast recipe, I’ll let him know about your post. I’m sure he’s got some more tricks up his sleeve on this one 🙂
Hi Sue! Howie’s totally right, I love this recipe 🙂
I’d say you’ll probably get three 4″ pancakes from this, but if they’re quite skinny then they’ll certainly stretch to four (of course you could divide the nutritional info by three anyway). Would love to hear how it goes – my biggest advice is just to make sure your pan is really non-stick! Enjoy 🙂