I Tried the Viral Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

Back in 2023, what seems to be one of the first recipes for high protein ice cream went viral on TikTok. The video shows holistic nutritionist and influencer Lainie Kates (@lainiecooks) making a no-churn “ice cream” by blending together cottage cheese and honey (though Kates says you can use whatever sweetener you like). She also folded in some peanut butter and chocolate chips before freezing the mixture until scoop-able.

As high-protein everything continues to trend, I went ahead and tried it for myself. But, like many viral recipes, I found the claims about this one were indeed too good to be true. As opposed to creamy and smooth, this ice cream was grainy and very icy, plus I also found the cottage cheese flavor to be overwhelming. 

Long story short, I wasn’t impressed, but I believed there was a tastier way to indulge in a high-protein, frozen snack. For a smoother, creamier texture, I turned to whole milk Greek yogurt, which is also known for its impressive protein content.

My easy take on frozen yogurt uses only three ingredients and is inspired by banana “nice cream," in which banana slices are frozen, then blended into a cold, creamy, soft-serve-like dessert. For this yogurt version, simply fill an ice cube tray with whole milk Greek yogurt and freeze until solid. 

Once frozen, transfer the yogurt cubes to the bowl of a food processor and pulse the machine until the yogurt breaks down to a snowy, shave-ice texture. At this point, add in a liquid sweetener of your choice (I prefer the creaminess of sweetened condensed milk) and vanilla extract, as well as some additional (non-frozen) yogurt. Finally, process the mixture until smooth and creamy.

Straight out of the food processor, this frozen dessert has a similar consistency to the soft-serve-style froyo that was so popular in the 2010s, but you can also pop it back in the freezer for an hour if you desire a more scoopable texture. 

With nine grams of protein per half-cup serving, this yogurt dessert has slightly less protein than Kate’s cottage cheese version (which according to my calculations, has about 12 grams for the same size serving), but it certainly makes up for it in flavor and creaminess. Feel free to add any mix-ins you like—chocolate chips, swirls of caramel, fresh fruit are all great options, but I’ll always prefer a good old-fashioned vanilla.

Easy High-Protein "Ice Cream"

Serves: 2 to 4

Prep: 15 minutes, plus 6 hours freezing time

Ingredients:

• 2 cups plain whole milk yogurt, divided
• ⅓ cup liquid sweetener of choice (sweetened condensed milk, honey, and light corn syrup all work well), plus more to taste
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Method:

Fill an ice cube tray with about 1 ½ cups of yogurt and freeze until sold, about 6 hours. Once frozen, transfer the yogurt cubes to the bowl of a food processor and pulse the machine until the yogurt breaks down to a snowy texture and resembles shaved ice. Add the sweetener, vanilla extract, and remaining ½-cup of (not frozen) yogurt and run the machine until the mixture is smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. If the machine is struggling to break down the frozen yogurt, add a splash of milk of your choice and continue processing until smooth.

Serve immediately or for a more scoop-able consistency, transfer the mixture to a loaf pan and freeze for about one hour.