Add Umami Into Your Protein-Packed Cottage Cheese Spread In One Easy Move

Cottage cheese is the new duct tape. We're putting it onto and into everything in the name of protein: pasta sauces, 2-ingredient pancakes, smoothies, even blueberry cheesecake — you name it. So, of course, we're making spreads with it now. The only thing missing? A burst of rich, savory umami flavor to make it taste less like an underwhelming health hack and more like something you'd be proud to bring to a party.

If you're not familiar with the secrets of umami, it's a flavor sensation known as the fifth taste, following sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. Umami is somewhere between salty and sweet, but with a rich quality that often elicits the "I can't stop eating this" response. Cottage cheese does have a mild taste of umami on its own, but to deepen the flavor and really make it pop regardless what how you're using it, all you need is a teaspoon of white miso paste mixed into a few spoonfuls of cottage cheese (about a ¼ cup). If you really want this effortless mixture to dance across your taste buds, blitz these two ingredients in the blender and give them a whirl until they're a smooth, spreadable texture.

You can enjoy this savory spread the same ways as you would any other  — on crackers, sandwiches, bagels, or even used as a dip for veggies. You'll still reap all the benefits of cottage cheese's protein content, but with the flavor dial turned all the way up.

While simply combing cottage cheese with white miso paste is crave-worthy in and of itself, if you really want to get fancy, this combo is also the perfect blank canvas to build out other flavorful high-protein spreads. For a roasted red pepper dip, drop in a few slices of fresh or jarred roasted red peppers when blending the cottage cheese and miso, along with dashes of paprika and a sprinkle of cayenne for a little kick of heat. For a bright and herby spread, blend a few chopped fresh parsley leaves and chive stems with the cottage cheese and white miso paste, along with a dash of onion powder, garlic powder, dried dill, and a tiny squeeze of fresh lemon juice. 

Or perhaps you want your cottage cheese to emulate a high-protein version of cream cheese. To do so, add one teaspoon of low-sodium soy sauce and a ½ teaspoon of a light acid, like rice vinegar or lemon juice, to the miso and cottage cheese. From there, you can then customize mix-ins to create more flavor variations. For a high-protein scallion "cream cheese" spread, add one chopped scallion and a few dashes of garlic powder, onion powder, and fresh dill, as well as a pinch of black pepper.