This 3 ingredient Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust is easy to make, tastes like real thin crust pizza and contains 20 grams of protein per serving!
Reader’s Review
I am in love with this pizza dough! It’s simple, consistent, and really has the texture and mouthfeel of artisan pizza dough. Every time I make it, I marvel at how simple, delicious and healthy it is!
Kelly
Why You Should Make It
After having tremendous success with viral cottage cheese bagels, I decided to try the same dough to make cottage cheese pizza crust. I could not believe how amazing it turned out – chewy, crispy on the edges and tastes like a real wood-fired pizza!
I have made it 5 times already to test the recipe for our various diet needs. I am happy to report it works with all-purpose, self-rising, whole wheat and gluten-free flours.
Now when I say I’m going to make dinner, my family is asking if I’m going to make “that pizza crust with cottage cheese“.
I have previously made Greek yogurt pizza crust and that was fantastic but cottage cheese has even more protein than Greek yogurt. My cauliflower pizza crust is super popular here on IFR but it’s way more labor intensive.
Now, this high protein pizza crust comes together with just 3 ingredients, in 10 minutes, with no waiting for dough to rise. It’s so simple my kids can make it! And not to mention it has 20 grams of protein!
Ingredients for Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust
You will need only 3 simple ingredients plus your favorite toppings. If you have self-rising flour on hand, it’s just 2 ingredients.
- Cottage cheese: I used 2% fat cottage cheese but you can use any cottage cheese. The higher the fat content, the more rich and flavorful the pizza crust will be. If all you have is Greek yogurt, make my pizza dough with Greek yogurt.
- Flour: I tried it with all-purpose flour and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour. Both turned out amazing and you can get more tips for making gluten-free pizza crust below. If you would like to use whole wheat flour, try to use 3/4 cup.
- Baking powder: It helps pizza dough to rise. Skip if you are using self-rising flour.
- Toppings: This time I made margherita pizza with marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.
Bigger Crowd Tip
It makes 1 pizza crust with 8 slices, good enough for 2 people or 1 hungry person. For our family of 4, I double it. Feel free to triple the recipe to feed more people or to have leftovers.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust
Here is step by step overview how to make it. Full recipe card is located below.
- Make self-rising flour: In a large bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Stir with a fork or whisk until well mixed.
- Make pizza dough: Add undrained cottage cheese. Start mixing cottage cheese mixture with a spatula and then continue mixing with your hands until it barely sticks to your hands and a ball of dough forms. You can add a little bit more flour at a time, if you have to. Knead about 20-30 times.
- Let the dough rest: I like to leave the ball of dough in a bowl, cover with kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Roll pizza crust: Using a rolling pin, roll out pizza crust quite thin as long as it is fitting your pizza baking stone or baking sheet.
- Pre-bake the crust: Roll the crust around the rolling pin and unroll onto the pizza pan. Bake in preheated to 450 F oven for about 5 minutes.
- Add the toppings: Now spread some pizza sauce on top, add your favorite toppings and finish with shredded cheese. I used marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.
- Bake and slice: Bake cottage cheese pizza crust for another 15 or 18 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and puffy. Remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, slice and enjoy!
Tips for Best Results
- Don’t drain or blend cottage cheese: The extra liquid is necessary for proper dough consistency. There is also no need for it as cottage cheese completely melts into the crust.
- If the dough is too sticky or wet: Your dough should be not too dry but barely stick to your hands. If you find it too sticky, add small spoonfuls of flour and knead more.
- Don’t skip resting the dough: After making the pizza dough, I like to let it rest so it will rise and result in fluffy crust.
- All ovens vary: Keep an eye on your pizza crust and remove it from the oven when pizza looks ready.
Toppings Ideas
Top it with your favorite toppings like you would any pizza. Here are a few ideas I like:
- Margherita pizza: As pictured, it’s made with marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil leaves. Add basil after baking and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, if you wish.
- Cheese pizza: Slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, garlic powder and dried oregano.
- Spinach artichoke pizza: Fresh spinach, garlic, artichoke hearts, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese.
- Greek pizza: Tomatoes, bell pepper, spinach, red onion, olives, mozzarella cheese, feta cheese.
- Meat lovers pizza: Cooked and chopped bacon, crumbled sausage, diced ham, pepperoni and cheese.
- Mushroom pizza: Sauteed mixed mushrooms like baby bella, button, shiitake, and oyster; goat cheese, mozzarella cheese, chives.
- White pizza: Garlic, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan.
How to Store
Store: Store leftovers tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in air fryer or microwave.
Freeze: I like to freeze the dough wrapped in a few layers of plastic wrap in a resealable bag. Then just thaw on a counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight.
You can also freeze pre-baked pizza crust for 5 minutes and then thaw, add toppings and bake as per recipe.
Can I Make It Gluten Free?
Yes, you can make cottage cheese pizza crust with gluten free flour. I knew this question would come up, so I tested it. Pictured above is pizza crust made with Bob’s Red Mill gluten free baking flour. Its main ingredients are rice flour and tapioca starch.
I know there is also this all purpose gluten-free flour made with chickpea flour. I think it will work, I just don’t love its chickpea taste or texture. But feel free to give it a try.
Recipe Tip
My biggest tip for making gluten free pizza crust is to roll it out on a piece of parchment paper, then grab by the flaps and transfer on a baking sheet and bake. If you roll it out on a countertop, pizza crust will break because it contains no gluten as you try to move it.
More Pizza Recipes to Try
More Cottage Cheese Recipes
- Cottage cheese flatbread
- Cottage cheese bread
- Cottage cheese biscuits
- Zucchini cheddar cottage cheese scones
Be sure to check out all of our cottage cheese recipes!
Cottage Cheese Pizza Crust
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, more for dusting
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup marinara sauce
- 1 cup cheese
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add flour and baking powder; whisk well to combine.
- Add cottage cheese and stir with spatula to combine, then proceed to mix with your hands until a ball of dough forms. Knead it about 20 times. Dough should be not sticky but not dry. Cover with a towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
- Place dough on a floured surface and roll into a pizza shape with rolling pin as thin as possible, while still fitting on your baking surface. Roll crust onto a rolling pin, transfer onto a baking sheet or pizza stone and unroll.
- Bake pizza crust for 5 minutes, then top with marinara sauce, your favorite toppings and cheese, and bake for another 15-18 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Gluten free crust will require less baking time.
- Remove from the oven, cut into 8 slices and serve.
Notes
- Store: Store pizza leftovers tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge for up to 2 days. Reheat in air fryer or microwave.
- Freeze: Freeze the dough wrapped in a few layers of plastic wrap and placed in a resealable bag. Thaw on a counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight and then bake as per recipe. You can also freeze pre-baked pizza crust for 5 minutes and then thaw, add toppings and bake as per recipe.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I know this is a great idea but my dough was SO sticky….. I added almost 2 cups of flour and it was still so sticky I was scraping it off my fingers!…. What did I miss!?
I’m not sure but if you add a bit more flour in small portions it will get there. It won’t take much more. Probably your cottage cheese brand had more moisture in it. They all differ.
Greattttttt
I am in love with this pizza dough! It’s simple, consistent, and really has the texture and mouth feel of artisan pizza dough. Every time I make it, I marvel at how SIMPLE, DELICIOUS and HEALTHY it is! Cottage cheese really is a wonder food! So versatile!! Thank you for this fantastic recipe. It’s become a staple in our house.
Yay! I agree with you on all points. I am enjoying cooking with cottage cheese and Greek yogurt as well. Have fun!
What kind of gluten-free flour did you use? Was it all purpose or measure for measure?
I mention it in the post a lot, including the link so you can see which one it is.
Happily surprised with the taste and texture of this crust made with gluten-free flour. Very easy to make, which is a huge plus. I’m fairly new to the GF way of eating and had almost given up hope of a good pizza crust. Thank you! Pizza is a very important part of a happy life 🙂 It’s true!
Awesome! Pizza is an important part of life I agree haha! Glad to help!
I made a double batch of this with gluten free flour (and a bit of xantham gum) tonight and it was incredible. We put vegetarian toppings and some tasty cheddar and feta on top, it was absolutely delicious and very filling!! So great to have the extra protein in it 😊😊😊
Yay, awesome!!! I loved it with gluten free flour too. Enjoy!
I have celiac so have to use gluten free flour. I can say this is the best dough I have ever had in over a year of being gluten free. I also make it and cut it into smaller dough balls to make like little flat breads. Thank you so much it’s amazing
Yay, so happy to hear, Theresa!!!
So I have been testing different things with this dough and wanted to say I love love this dough so much. I now use this for so many different recipes. I made cinnamon rolls with it. I added sugar and cinnamon to the flour rolled it out and added cinnamon sugar and butter spreading on the dough adding extra baking powder and soda put in a round baking pan baked on 375 for 30 minutes they were so good my son was like no way these are gluten free. Thank you so much
Wow, I love this idea!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Made this for our pizza night. I doubled the recipe and I blended the cottage cheese with my immersion blender to get rid of the chunks. I added like a quarter teaspoon of salt but next time I will increase it. The crust was amazing! I liked the crunchiness of the edges and it rose pretty well. Best/easiest crust ever!
Awesome to hear! Yes you need to double or triple the crust for a hungry family. Next time try not to blend cottage cheese. It will melt into the flour, there are no chunks of it. Saves you a step.:)
Could whole wheat flour be used in this recipe?
I personally have not tried. But if I were I would use 3/4 cup whole wheat flour instead of 1 cup of all purpose flour.
Could I substitute almond flour for the all purpose?
Unfortunately not. But I have Almond Flour Pizza Crust recipe