Cottage Cheese Egg Bake

Recipes » Breakfast » Cottage Cheese Egg Bake

by Brenda Score onNovember 8, 2023

This protein-packed Cottage Cheese Egg Bake recipe features a creamy, fluffy blend of eggs and cottage cheese that’s punched up with bright vegetables, chopped bacon, and even more cheese. Plus, it’s easy to make gluten-free. Serve this easy casserole for brunch, or save leftovers for a quick lunch!

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Easy Cottage Cheese Egg Bake

This Cottage Cheese Egg Bake recipe is loaded with colorful vegetables, three kinds of cheese, and bites of salty bacon. It’s a high-protein breakfast that’s easy to make gluten-free. Serve this hearty casserole for brunch, or turn it into breakfast-for-dinner alongside a fresh green salad. This egg bake with cottage cheese makes enough to feed a crowd, plus the leftovers are great for quick weekday breakfasts or lunches on the go!

Why You’ll Love This Egg Bake with Cottage Cheese

We love a good breakfast casserole or frittata – this super delicious overnight egg bake has been a longtime family favorite. And ever since I put the finishing touches on this protein-packed egg bake with cottage cheese recipe, it’s been on regular repeat around here. Here’s why you’ll love this egg cottage cheese bake:

Easy breakfast casserole that can be made the night before.
A simple ingredients list, with lots of eggs and cheese that make up the base.
A high-protein breakfast, with 27 grams of protein per serving. A delicious way to fuel your day!
It’s egg casserole without bread, great for those who are watching their carb intake or following a gluten-free diet.
Perfect for holiday brunch, from Thanksgiving to Christmas to Easter!

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What You’ll Need

Here’s a rundown of the ingredients in this egg bake with cottage cheese.

Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredient amounts.

Bacon – This not only adds delicious salty flavor, but also texture and protein.
Eggs – There are a dozen eggs packed into this dish!
Cottage cheese – This adds light, fluffy body to the egg bake, plus lots of protein. I recommend 4% milkfat small curd cottage cheese, for the richest, creamiest flavor and texture.
Colby Jack cheese – You can substitute cheddar cheese or another cheese if desired.
Parmesan cheese – For a rich, salty flavor.
Butter – This adds rich flavor to the overall dish.
Spinach – I use frozen spinach in this egg bake.
Red bell pepper – This adds an earthy, sweet flavor, plus it’s pretty! You could substitute a green or yellow pepper.
Onion – I use a yellow onion, but a red onion will also work.
All-purpose flour – To make this gluten-free, substitute the flour for your preferred all-purpose 1:1 gluten-free flour. I use Bob’s Red Mill 1 To 1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour.
Lawry’s Seasoned Salt & black pepper – For seasoning.

How to Make Cottage Cheese Egg Bake

Scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post for the full instructions.

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Prep. Preheat the oven to 350° F and lightly spray a 9″ x 13″ pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Cook the bacon. Cook the bacon using your preferred method, in the oven or on the stovetop, until chewy-crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Then chop bacon into bite-sized pieces.

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Make the filling. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, then add the bacon, cottage cheese, Colby Jack cheese, butter, spinach, red pepper, and onion. Mix together until well combined.
Add dry ingredients. Sprinkle the flour, Lawry’s seasoning, black pepper, and half of the Parmesan over the egg mixture, then stir to combine.

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Assemble. Transfer the egg mixture to the prepared pan and sprinkle it with Parmesan, bacon, and red pepper. Finish with a sprinkling of Colby Jack.

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Bake. Cover the pan and bake the casserole for 40 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until the center is firm.
Let sit. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving

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Tips & Variations

Here are a few tips and variations that will help you to make this egg cottage cheese bake:

Try different vegetables. You can add sauteed mushrooms, other kinds of peppers, broccoli, or fresh baby spinach, swiss chard, or kale to this egg bake.
Use another meat. Instead of or in addition to the bacon, try sausage or chopped ham. For lean options, try Italian turkey sausage or chicken sausage.
Other cheese. Feel free to substitute the Colby Jack with another cheese, such as sharp cheddar, pepper jack, Swiss, gouda, or fontina.
Make this gluten-free. To make this gluten-free, simply swap your preferred all-purpose 1:1 gluten free flour for the all-purpose flour.
Prep it in advance. I recommend baking this dish fresh in the morning you’ll serve it, but it’s easy to do all the prep work the day before. Just cook and chop the bacon, chop the veggies, and store them in airtight containers in the fridge. Then in the morning, put the egg bake together and bake it.
Or bake it in advance. You can bake this dish up to 24 hours in advance and store it, tightly covered, in the fridge, to save yourself time in the morning. Let it sit on the counter for 30 minutes before reheating it in the oven, covered, until hot all the way through.

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Serving Suggestions

Cottage cheese egg bake makes a welcome breakfast. Enjoy it as a one-dish meal or serve it with all the breakfast fixings. Here are some of my suggestions:

The star of brunch. Build a brunch spread around this cottage cheese egg bake. Serve it with brunch favorites like blueberry waffles, buttermilk pancakes, or crepes with fruit.
Add muffins. I like to serve a warm basket of muffins alongside a baked egg dish. Try my banana bread muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, or my grandma’s blueberry muffins.
Or a quick bread. Reader favorites include apple bread, peach bread, and sour cream banana bread.
With a side of potatoes. Serve cottage cheese egg bake with a side of garlic roasted new potatoes, a cheesy hashbrown casserole, or even mashed potatoes if you go the breakfast-for-dinner route.
With fresh rolls, such as copycat Rhodes rolls or popovers. Bonus points if you serve them with cinnamon honey butter!
Breakfast for dinner. We eat eggs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and this hearty casserole fits into our menus just the same. Add a fresh salad like my roasted beet salad, winter apple salad, or strawberry salad to round out your plate.
With coffee drinks. Our daughters are all about the ice coffee drinks at brunch. Try a pumpkin cream cold brew or iced brown sugar shaken oatmilk espresso. And for those 21+, hot buttered rum coffee is fun during the holidays!

Proper Storage

Here’s what to do with any leftover cottage cheese egg bake:

Fridge – Store cottage cheese egg bake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. If you are storing the whole pan, cover it tightly with a lid or foil.
Freezer – This egg bake freezes really well. Place individual pieces in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw in the fridge overnight.
Reheat – You can reheat individual servings of egg bake with cottage cheese on a microwave-safe plate in the microwave at 30-second intervals until hot. Or, place portions of the egg bake in an oven-safe dish and reheat it in the oven until heated through.

More Breakfast Ideas

Pumpkin Pancakes
Overnight Baked Apple Oatmeal
Apple Oat Pancakes
Classic Homemade Waffles

Yield: 16 servings

prep time: 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

1 pound bacon divided
12 large eggs
16 ounces shredded colby jack cheese divided
1 package 10 ounces frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained very well (squeeze with paper towels)
32 ounces small curd cottage cheese – I use 4% milkfat
¾ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled
1 cup small-diced red bell pepper divided
½ cup minced yellow onion
¾ cup all-purpose flour – or substitute Bob’s Red Mill 1 To 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour
1 teaspoon Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper plus more for sprinkling over the top
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
chopped green onion optional garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly spray a 9" x 13" pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Cook bacon using your preferred method, in the oven or on the stovetop, until chewy-crisp. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Then chop bacon into bite-sized pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs until well combined. Set aside ¼ cup of the chopped bacon, then add the rest to the whisked eggs. Set aside ½ cup of the colby jack, then add the rest to the whisked eggs. Add the spinach, cottage cheese, melted butter, half of the red pepper, and all of the yellow onion. Stir to combine.
Sprinkle the flour, Lawry's, black pepper, and half of the Parmesan over the egg mixture. Stir to combine.
Add the egg mixture to prepared 9" x 13" pan. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the top, followed by the remaining bacon and red pepper. Finish by sprinkling the remaining colby jack over the top, plus a generous sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.
Cover pan (with pan cover or foil) and bake for 40 minutes. Remove cover and bake 20-30 minutes more, or until center is firm. If the top starts to brown more than you like, place the lid back on the pan.
Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for 15-20 minutes before cutting and serving. The egg bake will have a soft texture, due to the cottage cheese. It will continue to firm up the longer it sits. If desired, sprinkle with chopped green onion before serving.

Notes

This recipe is an adaptation of one that our friend Jennifer Reinhard served when she and her husband Scott hosted a weekend at their family’s home on the Minnesota North Shore. Jennifer got the original recipe from her mom, who calls it the BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) egg dish because they served it at their leader brunches.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 1 Calories: 484kcal Carbohydrates: 17g Protein: 27g Fat: 34g Saturated Fat: 17g Polyunsaturated Fat: 15g Cholesterol: 228mg Sodium: 818mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 4g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Spoonacular. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.

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