Struggling to find ways to use up all your extra cottage cheese? Look no further than these Cottage Cheese Overnight Oats! I swapped out the traditional greek yogurt for cottage cheese in this recipe to give you just as delicious results for a quick & easy breakfast meal. Using 5 simple ingredients, these oats take only 5 minutes to prep and can be topped with truly any add-ins love. They do have to soak in the fridge for at least 5 hours so make sure you make these ahead of time! Prepping these for the week makes my busy schedule so much easier.

I've recently been really into cottage cheese, so find myself buying more but having a lot leftover to eat. I thought about swapping them into my basic overnight oat recipes (I typically use plain greek yogurt), and they turned out amazing! My protein overnight oats are my tried and true recipe, so I knew swapping the cottage cheese would be so easy and it worked!
When my mornings are busy and I need something quick to take on the go to work with me, overnight oats are my go-to choice for ease! I make a few different flavors at the beginning of the week and have them ready to grab on my way out the door each morning. It truly couldn't be easier. Between these and my Blueberry Baked Oats, I am really set for the week on breakfast prep.
As a breakfast recipe developer, I love coming up with fun overnight oat recipes to try. Some of my recent favorites have been my Cookie Dough Overnight Oats and these Banana Chia Overnight Oats. Let me know if you give them a try!
why you'll love these overnight oats
- A great way to use up extra cottage cheese! Sometimes I have some leftover and I don't always know what to do with it, this is a great recipe that you can make multiple servings of and use up any extra in your fridge!
- You only need 5 simple base ingredients to make this recipe
- Perfect meal prep- I love making a few of these on a Sunday and having them ready to grab and go for busy weekday mornings.
- They are super customizable to your liking! Really anything is good on top of these oats, so get crazy with whatever toppings you love to eat. I have a huge list below of some of my favorites.
ingredients

- Oats: I recommend using old fashioned oats or rolled oats, these oats will have a better texture than quick oat (but you can use those in a pinch, you might just need to add more). I don't recommend using steel cut oats for overnight oats.
- Chia Seeds: the chia seeds are going to thicken up the oats overnight, plus they give you a big boost of fiber!
- Milk: I’ve tested this recipe with all types of milk, whatever you like to use will work here.
- Cottage cheese: The star of the show here, cottage cheese is replacing my typical use of greek yogurt in my other overnight oat recipes. If you love cottage cheese and prefer that over yogurt, this is the recipe for you!
- Maple syrup: I used maple syrup as my sweetener in this recipe to compliment the tangy and salty taste of the cottage cheese. You could sub this for another sweetener you love, or leave out if wanted.
What's the best cottage cheese to use?
While there isn't a one size fits all approach to eating cottage cheese, there are definitely brand/types that are better than others. My favorite cottage cheese is by the brand Good Culture (if you're into cottage cheese at all I'm sure you've seen or heard of this brand, it's like the king of cottage cheese). It has a dairy-rich flavor, a good bit of salt, and some tang in each bite. The small curd cottage cheese is perfect with this recipe and makes fantastic overnight oats.
You don't need to buy that specific brand though, just use a cottage cheese you enjoy and have access to!
How to Make


Step 1: In a jar or bowl, mix together the oats and chia seeds.
Step 2: Mix in the cottage cheese, milk, and maple syrup.
Step 3: Cover with a lid and place in the fridge for at least 5 hours.
Step 4: The next morning, take it out of the fridge and stir. Add fresh fruit and any other toppings, and enjoy!

What to add to overnight oats
There are so many options when it comes to adding toppings to your overnight oats. Since this recipe is pretty basic you can really go with whatever you love to add!
- Nut butters like peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, or spreads like nutella or biscoff! I would add a tablespoon or 2 to my oats.
- Fresh (or frozen) berries, as you can see in my photos, make a delicious topping for overnight oats. I love adding really any fruit I find in my fridge to give the oats a boost and more flavor. I love frozen blueberries from Wymans, they are always soooo sweet and perfect in these recipes.
- Nuts like chopped walnuts, pecans, sliced almonds, pistachios, or peanuts would be a great way to add a little texture to your breakfast.
- I don't add these enough but dried coconut flakes would be DELICIOUS on cottage cheese overnight oats.
- Some extra sweeteners you could add if you want them to be even sweeter would be honey, agave, or even brown sugar (like my brown sugar overnight oats).
Storing & enjoying oats
The great thing about overnight oats is that they stay good for awhile in the fridge if they are kept in an airtight container. I typically make a 2-4 flavors of overnight oats on Sunday evening and keep them in my fridge ready to eat throughout the work week. They will stay fresh for about 5 days.
Make sure to mix them up first before enjoying, and I always try to add any fresh fruit right before I eat them so the fruit doesn't get soggy or go bad. You can eat overnight oats cold or hot, to heat just put them to microwave until warm.

Want to try more overnight oat recipes?
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📖 Recipe


5-Ingredient Cottage Cheese Overnight Oats
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup small curd cottage cheese
- 1-2 teaspoon maple syrup
- toppings of your choice
Instructions
- In a jar or bowl, mix together the oats and chia seeds.½ cup old fashioned oats, ½ tablespoon chia seeds
- Stir in the milk, cottage cheese, and maple syrup until well combined.½ cup milk, ¼ cup small curd cottage cheese, 1-2 teaspoon maple syrup
- Cover with a lid and place in the fridge for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight for the best texture.
- In the morning, give it a good mix before eating. Top with fresh berries or anything else you enjoy on overnight oats.toppings of your choice
Notes
- Store in an airtight container or jar for up to 5 days in the fridge.
- Add any extra toppings to the oats immediately before consuming
Nutrition
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