First and foremost, neither is better or worse. It all comes down to personal preference. But keep reading for our take on Ricotta vs Cottage Cheese Lasagna—our take might surprise you.
Table of Contents
What is Ricotta Cheese?
What is Cottage Cheese?
Comparing Nutrition
The Best Cheese For Lasagna
What Curd Size is Best?
Whole Milk or Low Fat?
Substituting Cottage Cheese
More Cheesy Recipes to Try
What is Ricotta Cheese?
Ricotta cheese is a fresh cheese known as “whey cheese.” It’s made from the resulting whey protein left over from making other types of cheese. You can read more about theprocess here. But for cooking purposes, know that it’s light, fluffy and milk in flavor. Ricotta is best used in lasagna, as fillings for pasta shells, or as a base for dips.
What is Cottage Cheese?
Cottage cheese is also a fresh cheese. It features small curds of cheese in a creamy, milk-like sauce. It’s made by adding an acid to milk, resulting in curds separating from whey. The curds are then cut, pressed, rinsed and seasoned lightly with salt.
Cottage cheese is great in lasagna, as a filling for ravioli, or blending into sauces and dips. We also like to blend cottage cheese to make creamy, protein-packed salad dressings. Mix them into batters to make Cottage Cheese Pancakes or Cottage Cheese Cake. Spread cottage cheese on a plate and top it with canned smoked salmon, herbs and fresh cucumber slices for a delicious and satisfying lunch.
Pros & Cons of Ricotta
If you want a lasagna that’s rich, creamy and decadent, turn to whole milk ricotta. It delivers on richness and creaminess! Be sure to season the cheese well with salt, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper and dried herbs. Plain ricotta can be, well, very plain and mild. At the very least season it with kosher salt!
Pros & Cons of Cottage Cheese
For a slightly lighter, less-indulgent lasagna, turn to whole milk cottage cheese. It’s less creamy but has great cheesy flavor. The cheese curds create light pockets of cheesiness without weighing down the lasagna. One thing we love about cottage cheese—it’s already nicely seasoned with salt. We recommend adding some pepper, dried herbs and crushed red pepper.
The drawback with cottage cheese is its lack of thick, creaminess.
As the table shows above, per 1 cup measurement, whole milk ricotta has double the amount of calories, more than double the fat content, and five times as much saturated fat as whole milk cottage cheese.
On the other hand, whole milk cottage cheese has more than three times as much sodium as ricotta cheese does.
Protein and carbohydrates are where ricotta and cottage cheese are similar.
The Best Cheese For Lasagna
The key to creating the absolute best lasagna is to use a combination of ricotta and cottage cheese. Ricotta brings the rich creaminess while cottage cheese lightens things up and seasons the whole dish.
For even more cheese, we recommend also using shredded Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese (or Pecorino Romano).
No more wondering whether ricotta or cottage cheese lasagna is better. Try it for yourself and make our Cottage Cheese Lasagna recipe which combines the best of both parts of both and uses half ricotta and halfcottage cheese.Our homemade lasagna recipe features traditional Italian cheeses, spicy Italian sausage, no-boil noodles, homemade tomato sauce, and loads of fresh veggies, fresh parsley and dried herbs.
What Curd Size is Best?
When it comes to choosing a curd size for cottage cheese, we like small-curd cottage cheese. But frankly. it doesn’t make much of a difference. If you like and have large curd cottage cheese, use that!
Whole Milk or Low Fat?
We are firm believers that whole milk dairy is the best option, always. Can you use low-fat cottage cheese or low-fat ricotta cheese? Sure. The lasagna won’t be as creamy, will likely have excess moisture pooling in the pan, and it may even have a slight grainy texture to it—but nothing that will keep you from enjoying every bite. If you have to choose low-fat for one of them, opt to use low-fat ricotta and whole milk cottage cheese.
If you don’t want to use cottage cheese, you can simply use more ricotta cheese. (Some recipes feature béchamel sauce—we find that unnecessary).
More Cheesy Recipes to Try
Appetizers
Spinach Artichoke Mac and Cheese Cups
Pasta & Noodles
Aged Gouda Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Soups, Stews & Chilis
Healthy Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup
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About The Author
Lauren Grant is a professional culinary food scientist, food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer. Lauren is a previous magazine editor and test kitchen developer and has had work published in major national publications including Diabetic Living Magazine, Midwest Living Magazine, Cuisine at Home Magazine, EatingWell.com, AmericasTestKitchen.com, and more.
FAQ. Is lasagna better with ricotta cheese or cottage cheese? This is a matter of personal preference but honestly, homemade lasagna tastes just as good with either ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. Cottage cheese will give you a slightly lighter lasagna while ricotta will give you a bit thicker, more rich texture.
The key to creating the absolute best lasagna is to use a combination of ricotta and cottage cheese. Ricotta brings the rich creaminess while cottage cheese lightens things up and seasons the whole dish. For even more cheese, we recommend also using shredded Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese (or Pecorino Romano).
In Italian cuisine, ricotta cheese is a popular ingredient in many dishes, but when it's not available, Italians may substitute it with other soft cheeses like mascarpone, stracchino, or crescenza.
If you don't have ricotta on hand, here are six totally solid substitutes. Cottage cheese: As far as ricotta substitutes go, light and mild cottage cheese is your best bet. In fact, some people prefer to use cottage cheese because it has a similar flavor and fewer calories.
A béchamel is rich, creamy, and better adheres the layers of pasta together. But some still firmly believe ricotta is the way to go. It's lighter in texture than a béchamel and can offset the richness of the meat sauce and mozzarella.
Adding egg to ricotta cheese helps to bind the cheese for lasagna so that it doesn't ooze out of the casserole when you cut it. Basically, the egg helps all the cheesy goodness stay intact. So what happens if you don't put eggs in your lasagna? It'll just be a bit runnier, but omitting the egg won't affect the taste.
Let me break it to you: If you want to make a lasagna, three layers just won't cut it! For the perfect lasagna, you need at least 4-5 layers to really enjoy all those mouth-watering flavors. And, here's a pro-tip: make sure to season each layer generously, but not too much. The average lasagna has 8 layers!
You can substitute it, but consider these few factors, there is a lot more salt in cream cheese than in ricotta so you will have to adjust the over all salt. Cream cheese is a bit more tart than ricotta.
Whole ricotta cheese, made with full-fat milk, contributes a dense and smooth consistency to the lasagna layers, helping to bind the ingredients together while providing a luxurious mouthfeel. Shifting to skim ricotta, which is made from skimmed or non-fat milk, can lighten the dish significantly.
Because of this creaminess, cottage cheese melts easily in recipes. As for flavor, cottage cheese has a saltier flavor than ricotta since salt is added during the making of cottage cheese. If you love cottage cheese, keep enjoying it.
Mascarpone and ricotta start from the same, heating milk, except Mascarpone is from curd while ricotta's the whey leftover from other cheeses like Mascarpone. Bakers give it another spin with lemon juice, cook it up again, and strain it once more to make ricotta!
Many people are not aware of just how incredibly easy it is to make your ricotta at home, and if you use good-quality dairy for your ingredients, your results will be far superior to most store-bought U.S. brands—fresher, creamier, and more flavorful. Once you've tried it, you might never go back to store-bought!
The flavor of cottage cheese is also sharper and more acidic than ricotta, which may not be desirable as a lasagna filling. So, while cottage cheese and ricotta cheese may seem similar, don't substitute one for the other in lasagna.
Ricotta cheese, with its creamy texture and mild flavor, is a quintessential ingredient in many lasagna recipes. However, it can also introduce excess moisture if not handled properly. To avoid a runny mess, it's crucial to pat dry the ricotta before incorporating it into your lasagna.
The primary differences I found between American lasagne and Italian lasagne were: The use of a layer or two of white bechamel (“"besciamella”) sauce imparts a nice creaminess to the lasagne in Italy. The pasta sheets seemed thinner and “fresher” in Italian pasta, very tender and with a “"melt in your mouth” texture.
As for texture, chalky, grainy ricottas are a sign that the milk was heated too hot or agitated too much during production, causing the proteins to tighten up into rubbery bundles.
Flavor: Ricotta contains less salt than cottage cheese and tends to be on the sweeter side. Ricotta salata is one exception because it is a salted ricotta that has a flavor and texture more akin to feta cheese. Nutrition: Ricotta cheese has a higher fat content, cholesterol content, and calories than cottage cheese.
If uncovered, the prolonged exposure to heat will quickly dry out your lasagna, no matter how much sauce you've added. Make sure to always add a layer of tin foil over your baking dish, which will trap the moisture inside while still allowing the dish to cook properly.
Introduction: My name is Dan Stracke, I am a homely, gleaming, glamorous, inquisitive, homely, gorgeous, light person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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