Today I am sharing a recipe I grew up with, a staple in my grandparents’ home, especially in the summer – Cottage Cheese Salad. Light, refreshing and healthy too! Cottage cheese loaded with veggies and seasoned to taste. Perfect for a hot summer day and a great way to use all those garden vegetables. This wonderful salad takes just minutes to make and is so versatile, simple to adapt to your taste.
Read rave reviews from people who tried this recipe on Pinterest!
Pictured above is the classic version I grew up with. Cottage cheese with fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onion with salt and pepper to taste.
As an adult, I’ve changed this salad up a bit. I like to add all sorts of veggies, whatever I have on hand – radishes, carrots, bell peppers, olives and more.
This is great with your favorite seasonings too. Often I’ll add Italian or Greek seasonings. There are no rules. Add what you like and adjust the amounts.
For this salad pictured below, in addition to tomatoes, cucumber and onion, I added orange and red bell peppers.
I love adding a splash of balsamic vinaigrette. If you’re in the mood for something with a kick, try adding a few dashes of Tabasco or hot sauce.
Grandma’s Cottage Cheese Salad
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Adapt amounts below to your preference
Ingredients
- 16 ounces cottage cheese (1%, 2% or 4%)
- 1/2 to 1 cup tomatoes – cut in bit size pieces, seeded if you like (use your favorite tomatoes – plum, cherry, romamo, fresh from the garden)
- 1/4 cup onion (less or more) -vidalia, any sweet onion, red onion, green onion (use your favorite)
- 1/2 large cucumber (or more), peeled, cut in bite size pieces, seeded if you like. English cucumbers are great with this salad
- salt & pepper to taste
Directions
In a medium size bowl, add cottage cheese and veggies – mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Serve chilled. Enjoy!
OPTIONAL
- your favorite seasonings (Greek, Italian are great)
- Tabasco, hot sauce
- fresh lemon juice
- any veggies you like – radishes, carrots, peppers and more
- sliced olives
- pepperoncini
- add a splash of vinaigrette or your favorite Italian or Greek dressing
- Serve with a side of your favorite crackers. I love wheat thins and using the salad as a dip. So good!
TIP
Sharing my grandma’s salad at Weekend Potluck.
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Cheers!
My mother made this also. We ate it a lot in the summer when the tomatoes and cucumbers were fresh out of the garden. Can just make a meal from this with a hot piece of buttered cornbread
My parents used to own a steakhouse and every table got a complimentary relish tray upon arrival. The relish tray contained carrot/celery sticks, crackers, and cottage cheese salad. The cottage cheese salad was similar, but instead of balsamic, they used blue cheese dressing. OMG I miss it! I’m making this!!
Oh my this sounds delicious! As a teenager I would get cottage cheese at a salad bar and add tomatoes, shredded cheese, bacon bits & italian dressing (everyone thought I was gross) but it was SOOO yummy! Not so healthy though! I can’t wait to give this a try, it’s almost all of my favorite things in one bowl. My husband loves cottage cheese with fruit & I don’t like that combo at all. And he doesn’t like tomato, cucumber, or onions (strange man!). So now we can each have our own salad and I don’t have to worry about him eating mine.
I love the red french dressing on cottage. I’m going to try your salad with my dressing.
Sounds good I put cottage cheese on top of my vegetable garden salad.
When I first started working as a hairstylist my boss’s mother would make this salad for our lunch. I loved it but never seem to be able to get the same results that she did. I’m going to try this because it sounds like it just might be one.
For a light lunch i have cottage cheese, tomatoes, avocados and occasionally black olive because i love the flavor. Other days the new pouch and flavored tunas (lemon pepper tuna is my fav) with cottage cheese and cucumber or avocado.
We make it and add sunflower seeds, shredded cheese and flax seed sticks.
We add a package of tuna to the cottage cheese, along with chopped onions, sweet pickles, a little mayonaise, salt & pepper. We cut a tomato into sections without cutting all the way through and open it like a flower and cover it with the cottage cheese mixture. We have it quite often during the summer months when our tomatoes ripen in the garden…try it, it's different and delicious for a hot summer night.
Love Red beets and Fresh dill with cottage cheese.
MY MOTHER ALWAYS PUT A LITTLE SUGAR AND NUTMEG IN IT AND IT WAS TASTE THAT WAY ALSO!
ALEENE!
JUNE 13 2017
Thank you for bringing back memories! My grandma made this every week during the summer as a light lunch with some dark brown German bread. I haven't made it in 20+ years. But because I'm thinking of her during this holiday and it will be close to 80 degrees today, I'm making it for lunch. I love it with chives, cucumber, radishes salt and pepper
This looks really good. When I was a kid, a friend of mine's gma made a cottage cheese salad, that had flavored jello, and I think cream cheese, not really sure what was all in it. So, if anyone knows what I'm talking about and has the rest of it, would u please post it. Thanks
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Cottage cheese whipped cream a fruit mellow size depending on size of cottage cheese and whipped cream and any canned fruit- my kids fav is a red jellies with mandarin oranges… always drain fruit well…
I mix in ranch dressing with the cottage cheese. That adds creamyness, takes care of the spices, and the salt (at least for my taste). Like the author said; there's no rules in making this! 🙂
I add some cream cheese blended with Miracle Whip. It only takes a small aamount. So good.
This is an interesting salad dressing ideas. very cool and gorgeous
vegetable salad decoration ideas
Cottage cheese is high in protein so I was searching on pinterest for some recipes and came across your. I have served cottage cheese with tomatoes or watermelon before but I loved the idea of onions, radishes, cucumbers, peppers etc etc. I will be eating this all summer long! Thanks for sharing!
I just ran across your site and was surprised to see your recipe for Grandma's Cottage Cheese Salad. I am on a low carb diet and I made a salad up that's almost identical to this. The only difference is I add white Albacore tuna packed in water and jalapeños to it. It is truly delicious and low in carbs and high in protein. I usually add a little Good Seasons Italian dressing to mine. So glad I found your blog.
YUMMM! Those grandma recipes are the bestest ever huh? I love enjoying those veggies with my cottage cheese…this is a great idea. So glad you shared. I make a cottage cheese salad that is just added chopped hard boiled eggs and some garlic. Delish!
This recipe really sounds delicious! Pinned. Thanks!
So healthy and delicious!