If you love the saucy, cheesy comfort of pizza but want something spoonable, high-protein, and easy to make, these cottage cheese pizza bowls are about to become your new favorite.
You'll be enjoy those melty, saucy, cheesy flavors in minutes, and these can be meal-prepped too. Use up that extra cottage cheese to make a nice cottage cheese ranch dip to go with your favorite chips.
Weeknight meals, for me, need to be quick, healthy and delicious, and that's why, my tortilla egg bake and garlic lemon butter shrimp are on repeat in my household. I grabbed a huge tub of cottage cheese on my recent grocery run and I really wanted to put it to use, and that's when I thought of this recipe.
These pizza bowls are a wicked modern, low-carb riff on classic Italian-American pizza flavors. They've got everything you crave, minus the carbs.
Quick Look
- 🔪Prep time: 10 minutes.
- ⏲️Cook time: 15 minutes.
- 👪 Servings: 4.
- 📋Main ingredients: Cottage cheese, pizza sauce, chicken pepperoni, shredded cheese, veggies, seasonings.
- ♨️Cooking method: Sauté pepperoni and veggies separately 🡢 layer cottage cheese in ramekin 🡢 add pizza sauce 🡢 top with pepperoni and veggies 🡢 add cheese, basil and seasonings 🡢 bake and serve.
- ⭐Difficulty: Medium.
- 🥣Serving ideas: Enjoy these cottage cheese pizza bowls with a simple veggie side of Air Fryer garlic asparagus.
Jump to:
What's So Great About the Recipe?
- It packs in the big, bold pizza flavor with a creamy, protein-packed base- perfect if you prefer low-carb meals.
- Everything comes together super quick. You'll just need a few minutes of prep time.
- It's customizable! You can experiment with the sauce and toppings (like I did!). I love chopping up my oven dried tomatoes and using them as a topping!
Recipe Ingredients
Cheese: I used a mix of cottage cheese (for the base) and shredded mozzarella for the topping. Make sure the cottage cheese you're using isn't too runny.
Pizza sauce: A well-seasoned, thick pizza sauce works best. I love making it myself using my homemade fire roasted tomatoes as the base.
Chicken pepperoni: For the protein. You can skip this if you want to make a vegetarian version.
Veggies: Just some garlic (I love using my air fried roasted garlic), chopped onion and bell peppers. You can also use mushrooms or spinach if you want to.
Seasonings: Some garlic, red pepper flakes and pizza seasoning. I end up using my homemade garlic bread seasoning too sometimes.
Oil: Any regular cooking oil works well.
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don't have chicken pepperoni, try turkey pepperoni or even some homemade spicy Italian sausage for a bit of a different flavor or texture.
- Change up the flavors by swapping the pizza sauce for some cashew basil pesto. I love using my basil gremolata sometimes for a nice herby deliciousness.
- Instead of shredded Mozzarella, try provolone or a Mozzarella-Parmesan mix for more sharpness and a deeper cheesy finish.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Pizza Bowls
Step 1: Heat oil in a pan and lightly sauté chicken pepperoni. Remove and set aside.
Step 2: In the same pan with a bit more oil, sauté the onion and garlic until light golden brown.
Step 3: Add in the chopped bell pepper and cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat and let it cool.
Step 4: In small ramekins, add a layer of cottage cheese and season with red pepper flakes and pizza seasoning. Spoon over the pizza sauce.
Step 5: Top with a layer of chicken pepperoni and sauteed veggies.
Step 6: Finish up with a little more cottage cheese, shredded cheese, chopped basil and seasonings. Bake for 15 minutes and serve.
💭Top Tip
Drain your cottage cheese if it looks watery, and use a thicker pizza sauce to get that perfect pizza-dip consistency.
Tips & Tricks to Nail the Recipe
- Chop the onion and bell pepper fairly small so they soften quickly. You can also add jalapeno flakes or dehydrated bell peppers into the sauce if you don't have fresh veggies at hand.
- You can also add olives, capers or jalapenos to bring a nice briny, salty flavor to the cottage cheese pizza bowls.
- Let the sautéed veggies cool a few minutes before layering so they don’t make the cottage cheese split or turn watery.
- Swap the classic tomato sauce with roasted garlic sauce or spicy tomato jam for a different flavor.
- Place ramekins on a baking sheet for easy transfer and to catch any bubbly cheese drips.
How to Serve Cottage Cheese Pizza Bowls
Serve the ramekins hot and bubbly right from the oven, finished with chopped basil and an extra pinch of red pepper flakes or mixed herb seasoning for aroma. If you want to pair them with something, go for a classic garlic toast or some spicy jalapeno poppers.
I like to team them up with a nice veggie side like Air Fryer zucchini and squash or my roasted potatoes and broccoli.
Troubleshooting and FAQs
Yes, you can! Simply assemble the ramekins (including sauce, toppings, and cheese), cover with foil, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. You can then bake them when you're ready, adding 2–5 extra minutes if they’re going in cold.
You can, but the texture won’t be as bubbly. Also, make sure you finish under a broiler for 1–2 minutes to get that melty, lightly browned top.
Cottage cheese and veggies can release moisture which can make the pizza bowls watery. Make sure you use thick cottage cheese and pizza sauce and don't add too much of the sauce into the ramekins.
More Easy Mains
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If you tried this cottage cheese pizza bowls recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Cottage Cheese Pizza Bowls
Ingredients
- 2 cups cottage cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 bell pepper
- 1 onion
- 1-2 garlic
- 1 cup pizza sauce
- 1 cup chicken pepperoni
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon pizza seasoning
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1 tablespoon oil
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan and lightly sauté chicken pepperoni. Remove and set aside.
- In the same pan with a bit more oil, sauté the onion and garlic until light golden brown.
- Add in the chopped bell pepper and cook for another minute or two. Remove from heat and let it cool.
- In small ramekins, add a layer of cottage cheese and season with red pepper flakes and pizza seasoning. Spoon over the pizza sauce.
- Top with a layer of chicken pepperoni and sauteed veggies.
- Finish up with a little more cottage cheese, shredded cheese, chopped basil and seasonings. Bake for 15 minutes and serve.
Notes
- Chop the onion and bell pepper fairly small so they soften quickly. You can also add jalapeno flakes or dehydrated bell peppers into the sauce if you don't have fresh veggies at hand.
- You can also add olives, capers or jalapenos to bring a nice briny, salty flavor to the cottage cheese pizza bowls.
- Let the sautéed veggies cool a few minutes before layering so they don’t make the cottage cheese split or turn watery.
- Swap the classic tomato sauce with roasted garlic sauce or spicy tomato jam for a different flavor.
- Place ramekins on a baking sheet for easy transfer and to catch any bubbly cheese drips.