The revelation that you can make super light, pillowy gnocchi – that have 35g of protein per serving – in less than 30 minutes without the faff of cooking potatoes is a game-changer. All you need is cottage cheese, flour, parmesan and salt. Mix them into a fluffy dough, slice into little gnocchi, boil, toss with your sauce and you’re done.
This is gnocchi easy enough to make from scratch on any day of the week, and that is saying something! This recipe takes its inspiration from ricotta gnocchi (where potatoes are replaced by ricotta) and I figured there was no reason it wouldn’t work with whipped cottage cheese. And it absolutely works.
Every time I go home to New Zealand, one of the biggest treats is being able to cook for my family. Because I live – quite literally – on the other side of the world, that truly makes me so happy and I want to treat them to the best things I can make. And every time I do, invariably, there’s a recipe that takes the top spot on their favorites list. This time around, it was 100% this super easy, high-protein cottage cheese gnocchi.
My mum even thinks this is better than regular gnocchi (and I agree!) because they’re super light and bouncy, whereas sometimes regular gnocchi can be quite hard and dense. That is NOT the case here.
While you can toss the cooked gnocchi with any sauce you like (sun-dried tomato pesto, basil pesto or garlic butter sauce would be excellent), I’m serving them up with a very herby green goddess sauce, which I think pairs wonderfully with them, and I recommend trying out.
Cottage cheese is fast becoming one of my favorite ingredients – try these high-protein, no-blend cottage cheese bagels, whipped spicy cottage cheese dip or lighter Buffalo chicken dip next.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Cottage cheese. Use any plain cottage cheese here – low fat works well too.
- Flour. I like to use regular plain flour, but you could use pasta flour (00 flour) if you like.
- Parmesan cheese. This just adds a little more flavor to the gnocchi itself. Don’t use pre-shredded parmesan as it’s too chunky and won’t mix properly with the dough.
- The sauce. If you want to make the green sauce to go with the gnocchi, you’ll need spinach, basil, garlic, lemon juice, white miso paste, fish sauce (trust me) and olive oil.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Gnocchi
Start by blitzing your cottage cheese until super smooth and creamy – a little like the texture of ricotta. Add to a bowl with the rest of the gnocchi ingredients.
Mix into a rough, sticky dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Cut the dough into quarters, and working with one piece at a time, roll into a long rope. Slice into small pieces (roughly 1/2″) and place on a prepared lined tray. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
PRO TIP: Try not to mix or knead the dough TOO much – this will help to keep the gnocchi nice and light when cooked.
Boil the gnocchi (they’ll only take a few minutes to cook). Pan-fry and serve with your sauce of choice. Here I’m going with a lovely, bright green goddess sauce, but you can really use whatever you like!
Watch how to make them
Got a question?
The sky is truly the limit here. Keep things super easy and toss with fresh homemade basil pesto, wild garlic pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto. Or drizzle with chili oil and pair with miso grilled chicken, toss with marinara sauce or a creamy mushroom sauce (similar to this miso mushroom Alfredo).
Yes! I find the best way to do this is to freeze the gnocchi. Pop the gnocchi on a lined tray into your freezer, then once frozen, pop into ziplock bags to store. You can cook them directly from frozen. You can also store the gnocchi in the fridge for up to 24 hours in advance of cooking them, but I recommend the freezer option for the best results.
Like this recipe? Try these other gnocchi ideas next
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
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High Protein Cottage Cheese Gnocchi (4 Ingredients)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The revelation that you can make super light, pillowy gnocchi – that have 35g of protein per serving – in less than 30 minutes without the faff of cooking potatoes is truly a game-changer. All you need is cottage cheese, flour, parmesan and salt. Mix them into a fluffy dough, slice into little gnocchi, boil, toss with your sauce and you’re done.
Here I’m pairing them with a lovely green goddess sauce, but you can go for whatever you’d like.
Ingredients
For the cottage cheese gnocchi –
- 1 cup (9oz/250g) cottage cheese
- 1 cup (150g) plain flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
For the green goddess sauce –
- A big handful of basil leaves
- 20g parmesan cheese (roughly 1/4 cup grated)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoons white miso paste
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon pickled jalapeno slices (optional)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 200g spinach leaves
Instructions
- Whip the cottage cheese. Add the cottage cheese to the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blitz until super smooth and creamy, a little like the consistency of ricotta.
- Mix the gnocchi dough. Add the whipped cottage cheese to a mixing bowl, along with 1 cup of plain flour, the grated parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix into a rough, sticky dough. Knead the dough a couple of times in the bowl, to bring it together.
- Roll out the dough. Sprinkly a little flour onto a clean surface (either your bench or a wooden board), then turn the dough out onto it. Form it into a rough rectangle, then slice it into quarters. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it into a long, thin log, roughly 12″ (30cm) long and about 1″ (2.5cm) wide. Keep dusting your surface and your dough with flour if it’s a bit sticky – it should be a little sticky, but not so much it’s difficult to work with.
- Form the gnocchi. Line an oven tray with parchment paper. Slice your dough log into small pieces, roughly 1/2″ (1.5cm) wide. Sprinkle with a little more flour, then place on the prepared tray. Continue with the rest of the dough.
- Start the sauce. Add the basil leaves, parmesan cheese, garlic cloves, 2 teaspoons of white miso paste, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of pickled jalapeno slices (if you’re using them) to a small blender.
- Blanch the spinach and finish the sauce. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add a big pinch of salt. Add the spinach leaves, pressing them down with a wooden spoon or spatula to submerge them. Cook for a couple of minutes (until they’re bright green), then use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer them to a big bowl of cold (ideally ice-cold) water. This will ‘shock’ the spinach and help to preserve the bright green color. Transfer the cooled spinach into the blender with the other ingredients and blitz until super smooth and bright green. Taste, then season with a little more salt if needed.
- Boil the gnocchi. Bring the pot you blanched the spinach in back to a boil, and set another (ideally non-stick), high-sided frying pan or skillet on the stovetop as well. Carefully transfer the gnocchi into the water. I find the easiest way to do this is to carefully shake them off the parchment paper into the water. Use a slotted spoon or a spatula to break them up in the water and give them a little stir so that they don’t stick together.
- Pan-fry the gnocchi. Leave the gnocchi in the pot for a couple of minutes, until they float to the top. At this point, drizzle a little olive oil into your frying pan or skillet and turn the heat to medium. Use a slotted spoon to directly transfer the gnocchi into the frying pan. Toss the gnocchi through the olive oil for a couple of minutes, crisping up the edges a little as you do. PRO TIP: If you don’t want to pan-fry the gnocchi, you can add it directly into the sauce you’re using in a pan. I like pan-frying them as I find it gives them a little texture and helps ensure they stay together.
- Mix the gnocchi with the sauce. Pour your green goddess sauce into the pan with the gnocchi, along with a ladleful of the gnocchi cooking water. Toss the sauce through the gnocchi for a couple of minutes so they’re all coated and the sauce thickens up nicely. Divide the gnocchi between bowls, making sure to spoon over any extra sauce in the pan. Sprinkle with extra parmesan (or parmesan crisps if you like!) then serve.
Notes
MORE SAUCE IDEAS: The sky is truly the limit here. Keep things super easy and toss with homemade basil pesto, wild garlic pesto or sun-dried tomato pesto. Or drizzle with chili oil and pair with miso grilled chicken, toss with marinara sauce or a creamy mushroom sauce (similar to this miso mushroom Alfredo). Or make a simple brown butter sauce (literally just melt a few tablespoons of butter in a pan until it gets a little foamy and smells nutty, then add the cooked gnocchi).
PREP AHEAD: Freezing the gnocchi is the best way to prepare them in advance. Pop the gnocchi on a lined tray into your freezer, then once frozen, pop into ziplock bags to store. You can cook them directly from frozen, just add another minute or so to the cooking time. You can also store the gnocchi in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking them, but I recommend the freezer option for the best results.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: The gnocchi is best served fresh from the pan, but it reheats fine if you have any leftovers. If you’ve made the green goddess sauce, you’ll notice it will dull in color as it sits if you store leftovers in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave until piping hot and you can store leftovers for about 4 days in the fridge. I like to loosen the sauce with a little water when I reheat the gnocchi, as it will thicken as it sits.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 10
- Category: pasta
- Method: stove top
- Cuisine: american
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 250g
- Calories: 550
- Sugar: 4.6g
- Sodium: 1523.6mg
- Fat: 15.3g
- Saturated Fat: 5.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8.7g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 68.1g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 35.2g
- Cholesterol: 19.4mg
Made this tonight and wow! Can’t believe how well it works! It really is easy
I am curious as to not adding an egg. How does it stay together?
Great question! The cottage cheese has just enough moisture to keep the dough together – it acts as a binder and a source of richness, similar to what an egg would do. Hope that helps x Kate