Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar are perfect to make on the weekend and eat all week for a quick breakfast. These tasty muffins have a tiny amount of flour, but they’re still low in carbs; see notes to switch out the flour for a version that’s Keto and Gluten-Free!
PIN Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins to make them later!
Back in the days when I had to rush out the door to go teach school every day, easy grab-and-go breakfasts were a must to have in the fridge. I made my regular Egg Muffins over and over, (and I confess, I’d eat them in the car on the way to work.)
Then I discovered high protein breakfast muffins with cottage cheese and came up with several variations of this tasty easy breakfast, including these Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar. Imagine a biscuit married an omelet and they had a child, but the child got a few more omelet genes than biscuit genes; that’s what these tasty muffins are like.
Now I’m more likely to eat breakfast in front of the computer than behind the steering wheel but it still seems hard to sit down and eat a proper breakfast. Even if your mornings are more relaxed, you’ll love these easy cottage cheese muffins with ham and cheddar for a breakfast muffin with a delightful taste and texture.
What ingredients do you need?
(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- finely diced ham
- grated sharp cheddar
- green onions
- cottage cheese
- grated Parmesan
- White Whole Wheat Flour (affiliate link), or see Keto and Gluten-Free options below
- Almond Flour (affiliate link)
- baking powder
- salt
- eggs
- water
Can you use other cheese or meat in Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins?
There are endless variations of cheese or meat that will work in these breakfast muffins, or switch the meat for vegetables and make a meatless breakfast muffin if you prefer. Check out my other versions with Bacon or with Mushrooms and Feta if you want to see some other combinations I’ve made.
How low in carbs are the breakfast muffins with Ham and Cheddar?
These delicious breakfast muffins made with cottage cheese have only 7 net carbs and 17 grams of protein!
How can you make the breakfast muffins Gluten-Free and even lower in carbs?
If you check the nutritional information you’ll see that the small amount of white whole wheat flour doesn’t add many carbs, and the flour does give a nice texture to the egg muffins with cottage cheese. But if you need a version that’s gluten-free or Keto or don’t want to use flour I’d recommend replacing the flour with Flaxseed Meal (affiliate link) or Hemp Seeds (affiliate link), or maybe a combination of both those. There’s also a delicious gluten-free breakfast muffin on the blog that was partly inspired by this recipe.
Want more ideas for Breakfast Muffins?
Check out Low-Carb Muffins and Breakfast Muffins for more tasty muffins to eat for breakfast! And you can use Low-Carb and Keto Grab and Go Breakfasts for more breakfasts to eat on the run!
How to make Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar:
(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)
- Cut up ham into small cubes, slice the green onions and measure out the grated cheese.
- Combine the cottage cheese, Parmesan, White Whole Wheat Flour or Flaxseed Meal or Hemp Hearts if that’s what you’re using, Almond Flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, and water in a bowl.
- Then stir in the diced ham and grated cheese.
- Put the batter into large Silicone Baking Cups (affiliate link) that you’ve sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Bake at 400F/200C for 25-30 minutes, or until they’re lightly browned on top.
- Muffins can be kept in the fridge for several days and reheated in the microwave.
- One of these large muffins is a perfect breakfast for me, but you can make smaller ones if you only have small baking cups.
More Easy Breakfast Recipes from Kalyn:
- Bacon Frittata with Two Cheeses
- Broccoli, Ham, and Mozzarella Baked with Eggs
- Egg-Crust Breakfast Pizza
Weekend Food Prep:
This recipe for Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar has been added to a category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar are perfect to make on the weekend and eat all week for a quick breakfast.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup finely diced ham (see notes)
- 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar
- 2 T sliced green onions
- 2/3 cup cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour (see notes)
- 2/3 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 3 T water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray large Silicone Baking Cups with non-stick spray or olive oil, or use foil muffin cups. (I would spray those too.)
- Dice the ham, slice green onions, and measure out the grated cheese.
- In mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, white whole wheat flour (or Flaxseed Meal or Hemp Hearts), almond meal, baking powder, salt, eggs, and water.
- Mix until well combined, then gently stir in ham, sharp cheddar, and green onions.
- Divide batter between six muffin cups.
- Bake muffins 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top and set. (If you’re going to be microwaving, I would bake about 25 minutes, for eating immediately I would use closer to 30 minutes.)
- Muffins can be refrigerated and reheated in microwave. Be careful not to microwave too long or they will get tough.
Notes
To make a version that's Keto and Gluten-Free I would replace the white whole wheat flour with Flaxseed Meal (affiliate link) or Hemp Seeds (affiliate link), or use a combination of both.
I used large Silicone Baking Cups to cook these muffins, and I’d recommend those or foil baking cups for these muffins so they don’t stick to the pan. If you only have metal muffin pans, spray well with non-stick spray or you’ll have a hard time getting the muffins out of the pan! If you have smaller silicone baking cups you can make 12 small muffins instead.
You could use turkey ham if you prefer.
Recipe adapted from Cottage Cheese Muffins at 101 Cookbooks, original recipe by Rose Elliot.
Nutrition Information
Yield
6Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 265Total Fat 18gSaturated Fat 6gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 154mgSodium 566mgCarbohydrates 9gFiber 2gSugar 1gProtein 17g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar are quite low in carbs even with a small amount of flour. Use white whole wheat flour, lean ham, low-fat cottage cheese, and low-fat cheese if you’re making these breakfast muffins for the original South Beach Diet. With those choices, this would be a good breakfast for phase 2 or 3. See the notes in the recipe for using Flaxseed Meal or Hemp Hearts to replace the flour for a version that’s Keto and Gluten-Free.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Breakfast Recipes to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe for Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins was posted in 2007 and I’ve been making them regularly since then! The recipe was updated with better photos in 2015 and it was last updated with more information in 2024.
105 Comments on “Cottage Cheese Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar”
These are delicious! Quick to make and absolutely perfect on a cold winter day. Thanks so much for sharing this! Definitely a go to for me from now on
So glad you like it! This recipe is definitely a favorite for me too!
Hi how do you store these
I store them in the fridge in a plastic container with a snap-tight lid, where they will last about a week.
These are very tasty muffins. They pop out of my silicone muffin cups without any oil and without effort. The recipe is in my binder for future make ahead and grab and go breakfasts. Love it!
So glad to hear you’re enjoying the recipe.
Can these be made with self raising flour?
I don’t have any experience with that. But this recipe is really flexible so I am guessing it might work.
What does 3T water in the recipe mean?
Tablespoons?
Thanks!
Yes, on all the recipes on my site T = Tablespoon and tsp. = teaspoon.
3T is Tablespoons
3t would be teaspoons
On my site I use T for tablespoon but tsp. for teaspoon.
These are delicious muffins. I like the texture much more than just a plain egg muffin. Would you know how many WW points 1 serving would be?
Thank you!
I’m glad you like the muffins! I love them too.
I’ve never done WW so I wouldn’t have any idea how to calculate that.
I make this recipe often, I often sub chicken sausage for the ham and add veggies like spinach and mushrooms Its a great recipe and they reheat great without having that sponge-ey texture a lot of egg muffins can get.
Glad you have enjoyed! I agree, I love the texture of these.
These muffins are super yummy, my husband and daughter love them so much 🙂
Do you know if I can freeze them please?
I wish I could answer but I haven’t frozen them. I don’t like things with eggs frozen (because they release a lot of liquid when they thaw) but in these muffins I think the other ingredients might make it so they would work. If you do try it, I’d love to hear how it works out, thanks!
I have frozen them and don’t like the texture. Make just enough to eat fresh in my opinion.
Yes, you see that nowhere in my recipe do I recommend freezing. I agree, it changes the texture in a way that doesn’t improve them!
Would this recipe work substituting the almond flour with more whole wheat flour? I need to keep my kitchen nut-free. I am intrigued with the cottage cheese idea and want to try it out!
I can only say that I “think” it might work. I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it.
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These are really good. I made them for my brother in law who is diabetic. I omitted the almond flour (because I did t have any) and added a drained can of green chilies. The texture is really nice and they taste awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks Karly, glad you enjoyed!
Hi Kalyn ~ Can you please recommend a replacement for the wheat flour? I don’t metabolize grains very well *at all* but the rest of this recipe looks amazing! Should the almond flour be increased to provide the density needed since the wheat flour won’t be used? Trying to find good alternatives before the baking begins! 😉
I used quinoa flakes instead of flour for a gluten-free version of this recipe. I will add that link to the post; hope you enjoy!
Would it be okay to make these with bacon and cheese? Thank you.
Definitely; there is actually a version of the recipe with bacon on the blog!
These might possibly be the new favorite around here. So delicious.
Laurel, so glad to hear they were a hit!
It's nice to be able to eat breakfast somewhere other than behind the wheel of your car, but these are definitely the perfect grab-and-go breakfast for work days.
Yes, hopefully my days of eating in the car are mostly over, but these are a great recipe for people who rush out of the house in the morning.
Yummy! I would love such muffins for breakfast!
Thanks, hope you will try them.
Kendra, truthfully I don't really know for sure. I'd probably eat them but I hesitate to advise you to since I don't really know.
Hey! I love these muffins and have been making them over the past 2 months. My husband had a couple this morning and accidentally left them out on the counter for a couple hours, are the rest still okay to eat or should I toss them? Thanks!
Michelle, so glad you are enjoying the recipe. I think you inspired me to make these for my breakfast the next few days. And thanks for sharing your tips!
I've made this recipe twice now, and I absolutely love it!! I love breakfasts that I can make once, then reheat throughout the week! I've made just slight variations, and I'll write them in case anyone's curious.
1- I've used almond flour and almond meal (the first time I could only find the flour, then I found the meal at Trader Joe's and used that), and both worked. I'd say they're interchangeable here! I did use 1/2 cup instead of 2/3.
2- I skipped the Parmesan and it turned out fine (my Parmesan had gone bad, but it was just as delicious with only cheddar!).
3- As far as baking info, I made this using my jumbo silicone muffin pan (lightly greased with butter), and it was perfect. Each muffin uses 6 tbsp of egg mixture (which is 2 scoops of my largest cookie scoop). I bake them for 27 minutes, and reheat them (from cold) for 30 seconds.
Thank you for sharing this great recipe! I'll make this again & again! 🙂
Almond meal is a little more coarsely ground than almond flour, but both will probably work in this.
Cant wait to try this one… looks super yummy!! I am assuming almond mill is same as almond powder…
Jen, thanks for sharing that. I saw Gluten-Free flour at Costco! So it really is widely available now.
Made these yummy egg muffins GF by using 1/4 C. of GF flour blend and they came out great. Would like to experiment with some healthier GF options, but will have to think about it a bit. Be careful not to add more salt than Kalyn has wisely suggested. I though it sounded a little light on the salt for my taste, but wasn't thinking about the ham or salt in the cheese and mine were a little over the top.
To answer your question, flax seed meal is nothing like almond meal and won't work as a substitute. Almond meal is finely ground almonds. You can probably grind your own, or it's sold near health foods in most grocery stores.
We can't use Almond flour due to tree nut allergies so what can we use?
We used coconut flour in place of almond flour and it worked well.
Thanks for sharing that, good to know.
Sorry, but I wouldn't know what else would work in place of the almond flour. You might want to just make my regular Egg Muffins that don't have any almond flour in them.
My question: I have flaxseed meal. How different is that to almond meal and could I use it instead.
I have to tell your I found your recipe a few months ago and have been making it every week or two since. I even made them in a mini muffin tin and served them as appetizers. I've made many variations but my favorite is turkey and swiss cheese. My boyfriend, who is the pickiest eater I have ever met, gobbles them up. THank you! These are seriously good!
Sarah, glad you like the idea. I can't publish comments with links to other food sites though or my blog will get over-run with spam comment links.
Wow that looks amazing
One of my favourite recipe .. i have a website about cottage cheese recipes too .. just love this type of cheese
These are absolutely delicious. So light and fluffy and savory! I ground up my own almonds to make the almond meal because I can't be bothered to drive 20 minutes to my local health food store, lol. I also didn't feel like ham this morning so I added some sun dried tomatoes. Seriously amazing.
Claire, I love these muffins; hope you enjoy them.
Mmmm, I can't wait to try these. Winter leaves me starving in the morning, and my regular bowl of cereal just isn't cutting it anymore. Thanks Kalyn!
Stephanie, so glad you liked it!
All I can say is, "yum!" thanks for sharing the recipe.
I can feel its taste in my tongue!
I will sure try this one out tomorrow! I love how it is being made..really healthy and delicious.
Oh my. That looks good. And sounds delicious. Might be problematic finding almond meal though.
Mrs. L., thanks! That was the best way I could think of to capture what they're like!
I love your description of omelet and biscuit genes! And I think these would be great made with the leftover ham we'll have from Christmas.
Sandie, it is a great idea, but credit goes to Rose Elliot who came up with the original recipes. I love the combination of cottage cheese and almond meal in these muffins, they're one of my favorite breakfasts!
Love cottage cheese mixed in scrambled eggs, baked oatmeal & omelets, but who would have thought to add it to breakfast muffins as well? Genius, Kalyn…just genius! (I suppose it makes baked goods as moist as sour cream does?)
Daryl, I've never tried making this without almond so I don't know what would happen. It is finely ground almonds, and I think it's pretty readily available, maybe in the health foods section of a large grocery store, and certainly at a place like Whole Foods you can find it.
These look delicious. I have never heard of or seen almond meal. How crucial iss it to the recipe and where would I find it?
thanks!
These sound great! I just found your site and am enjoying seeing some gluten and sugar free cookies! I did the 6 week body makeover, which doesn't do gluten or sugar and am glad I can find some yummy cookies while keeping the weight off!
Thanks for the input! I'm going to try them again with the almond and see if that goes better and I'll try the other egg muffins too. I've made a similar dish a few times and it's gone over well with him but yours just look better so I'll try your recipes. 🙂
CookinsForMe, I do think soy flour is much less dense than almond flour, so it would make quite a difference. You could add more egg to replace some of the almond flour, or just make regular Egg Muffins without any flour if you want less fat.
Thanks for the nice words about the blog, always appreciated.
I made these today and since my man person needs low carb and low fat (arrggh!) I used soy flour instead of almond flour. I also used turkey pastrami rather than ham and put a little less cheese in them. All in all they turned out okay but didn't have much flavor and mine aren't nearly as pretty as yours! Mine are misshapen and kind of leaning. lol I think I'll try them again with the almond flour and see if those taste better. Methinks they will! Thanks for sharing this, though. I heart your blog!
TC, you’re welcome. Glad you are enjoying them!
I just wanted to thank you for the recipe. I make these for my fiance on weekends in place of the usual junk he’d rather be eating (bacon, toast with butter…etc.) and he absolutely LOVES them. He always asks for extra to take to work during the week 🙂
Glenna, too funny.
Zoe, thanks for the sour cream idea. I always have that even if I might not have cottage cheese so I’ll probably try it.
Megan, so happy to hear you like them so much. Me too! I read a post from someone who didn’t like the “texture” but I love the slightly chewy aspect of the almond meal.
Second week, second batch. These are a great, quick breakfast! I even found the almond meal! Love them.
Oh, and a comment about subbing cottage cheese: I ran out of cottage cheese in the middle of making these, and used reduced fat sour cream in place of about 1/3 of the cottage cheese called for. It worked great and didn’t make the muffins taste or feel any different than when I made them before with the full amount of cottage cheese. However, I don’t know if it would be as successful if you replaced 100% of it with sour cream.
Also, I made both versions with regular whole wheat flour (not white whole wheat) and they came out great.
Kalyn, I can’t remember if I left a comment on your first cottage cheese egg muffin post, but I tried both of these variations — as well as the original sun-dried tomatoes one from 101 Cookbooks — to great success. I am completely in love with these muffins. So yummy, healthy, convenient! May I suggest one more variation — cilantro! My DH suggested throwing in some that we had left over, and it was delicious! I’m sure you’ll agree. 🙂
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh! Yuuuuummmmm!!!! Kalyn those looks incredibly good. You’re torturing me this morning!
Gumbeaux gal, what fun! I’ve never been anyone’s personal breakfast saviorr before! They really are great, I had one for breakfast today!
Kalyn, I now declare you my personal breakfast (and even lunch) saviour! What a great recipe.
These muffins look and sound so good!
Pegasus, thanks for sharing. What makes these muffins different from Sara Moulton’s and also my previous versions of Egg Muffins is the almond meal. It adds a chewy texture that I really like. Sara’s recipe does sound good but I’d have to change it a bit to make it South Beach friendly.
Wow, yummy sounding muffins! I’ll have to make these for my hubby 😀 Thanks for sharing!
I have used this very similar recipe from Sara Moulton for years now. It only uses 1/4 cup of flour, and if I don’t make it full size for dinner, I make it in silicone muffin cups for breakfasts and then freeze them. It is infinitely variable: different cheeses, add some meat if you like, various onions or leeks, etc.
It’s always nice to add another recipe to the quick breakfast file! Thanks!
To those who have inquired about a substitute for cottage cheese, I think any type of crumbly, dry, low-fat cheese would work. Ricotta is one thing that comes to mind as a substitute. I’m not that familiar with cheese in other parts of the world, but the cottage cheese is melted into the muffins and adds moistness.
Oh my gosh Kalyn, these look absolutely delicious! I’ll be giving this recipe a try very soon! Cheers, Heather
Kalyn,
These look fantastic. The only problem is that there is no cottage cheese in Marrakech. Any idea of a substitute? There is no ham here either but perhaps I could substitute with turkey?
Those muffins look delicious! I was thinking how great they would be in a vegetarian version when I read your reply to comments – can’t wait for your veggies!
oh wow this is very healthy. i’m gonna give it a try. right now i’m doing a cereal with milk routine..nothing fancy 🙂 any substitute for cottage cheese?
Doesn’t this look delicious! It is morning here in France and since I’m quite useless until around 10, I wish I had someone I could order to make this for me now with my coffee….sigh!
ronell
Great idea Kalyn. GH and I drink breakfast standing up…a low carb breakfast shake made with ice water, frozen strawberries and banana, ground flax seed, and soy protein mix. It’s high in protein and fiber. It stays with us all morning. But soon I’ll be out of strawberries and I’ll try this. Thanks.
Wow, you continue to inspire me. Thanks for having such a great “spot” on the net to keep me motivated. I check at least once a day!
Time constraints or not, these look delicious. I love savory breakfasts…and second breakfasts…
Thanks for the info on ‘A Menu for Hope’ – I was wondering who the coordinator for Europe was.
Cool, they look like a savoury muffin and cottage cheese is great for baking.
I’m home tomorrow. These must be for breakfast on Tuesday. Beautiful again Kalyn!
Those look seriously delicious, Kalyn! I’m saving recipes for a houseful of people for over the holidays, add this to the list for easy breakfasts!
Hi everyone,
Happy to hear that people like the sound of these because I’m loving this recipe. Next I’m thinking a vegetarian version is in order. Pille, must go check out your muffins.
Gretchen, Let me know if you try it. The cottage cheese does kind of melt into the muffins so I’m thinking it would work.
Ellie, I think you could use whole wheat flour, but I’m not a baker so I don’t know much about the properties of different flours. White whole wheat can usually be used interchangeably with white flour in most recipes so you might use just white flour if you’re not avoiding it.
r.d. One reason I like South Beach is not having to count carbs, so I’m not an expert at it. There are quite a few ingredients here with minimal carbs, but the cottage cheese, flour, and almond meal do have carbs. I’m coming up with 6-7 carbs per muffin, depending on the type of cottage cheese you use. (My cc has 5 carbs per 1/2 cup.) These are pretty nutritionally dense, so one is enough for me for breakfast, but if you’re a hearty eater you might want two.
These look wonderful! I wonder if you have any idea how many carbs per muffin these are? Even though more of a phase 2 recipe I like to keep track. Thanks!
I like your muffins. Very different!
Paz
I’m a grab-and-go breakfast person, even though I work at home! These muffins look perfect for someone who doesn’t want to devote a lot of thought to breakfast, but who wants something nutritious and delicious.
Kalyn, I didn’t have a chance to check your blog yesterday, and only did it while half-way through writing today’s blog post – yes, about cottage cheese muffins:) Talk about great minds thinking alike:)
I love your version with ham – excellent idea!!
Kalyn, these look absolutely marvellous! I’ve never seen white whole wheat flour though…would there be much difference if I just used wholemeal instead?
Ellie @ Kitchen Wench
Oh they look wonderful – those definitely go on the list of things to try!
These sound rather tasty. I wonder if I could sort of replace the cottage cheese with “blended” queso fresco? I just might have to try that!
Wow, those look really yummy. I might have to try them.
MM