Cottage cheese bagels are no-yeast bagels made from cottage cheese and flour, shaped by hand and baked without boiling. Run the ingredients through USDA FoodData Central and each bagel lands at about 9 to 10.5 g of protein, close to a plain bakery bagel, with roughly 40 percent fewer calories.
The protein per bagel barely moves, but each calorie carries more of it.
This is general nutrition information, not dietary advice for any medical condition.
The 2-ingredient dough and why it holds together
The base is one cup of self-rising flour and one cup of cottage cheese, mixed into a soft dough and divided into four. Those quantities are the common 1:1 version; the step-by-step method in the video below is the Clean & Delicious one.
Self-rising flour carries its own leavening, so you skip the yeast and the boiling pot.
Cottage cheese replaces the water in a normal dough. Its moisture hydrates the flour, and its milk protein bakes into a dense, slightly chewy crumb.
Dani Spies of Clean & Delicious uses a version with plain flour and baking powder. Her recipe card calls for 1 cup (120 g) of all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1.25 cups of 2% cottage cheese, with a beaten egg brushed on top before baking at 375 degrees F.
Video: Clean & Delicious
Protein per bagel, worked out from USDA data
We multiplied each ingredient weight by its USDA value per 100 g, then divided the batch by four. The egg wash is left out, since part of it stays in the bowl.
| Bagel | Protein | Calories | Carbs | Protein per 100 kcal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-ingredient: 1 cup self-rising flour + 1 cup 2% cottage cheese, makes 4 | 9.0 g | 156 | 25.9 g | 5.8 g |
| Clean & Delicious: 120 g flour + 1.25 cups 2% cottage cheese, makes 4 | 10.5 g | 166 | 26.3 g | 6.3 g |
| Plain bagel, medium (105 g) | 11.1 g | 277 | 55.0 g | 4.0 g |
| Plain bagel, large (131 g) | 13.8 g | 346 | 68.6 g | 4.0 g |
Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy entries 172182 (2% cottage cheese, 1 cup = 226 g), 168895 (self-rising flour, 1 cup = 125 g), 168894 (all-purpose flour) and 174899 (plain bagel), accessed 20 October 2026. Calculations ours.
Ms. Spies lists 12 g per bagel. Our 10.5 g is lower, possibly because we left out the egg wash. Her figure is a recipe-card claim, not a lab result.
Where the cottage cheese version wins, and where it does not
If you picked this recipe to eat more protein per bagel, it will disappoint you. A medium deli bagel already carries about the same amount.
Per 100 calories you get 5.8 to 6.3 g of protein instead of 4.0 g, and carbs drop by more than half. If you count calories, that leaves room for an egg or smoked salmon on top.
Do not expect a New York crust either. A classic bagel is boiled before baking, which sets its shiny, chewy shell. A baked-only cottage cheese bagel comes out softer, closer to a dense roll, and the egg wash adds color rather than chew.
The self-rising shortcut costs you salt: 2% cottage cheese brings 308 mg of sodium per 100 g, and the flour far more (see the FAQ).
More cottage cheese and high-protein breakfast ideas
The same dough logic powers cottage cheese protein pancakes, where the cheese replaces milk in a batter instead of water in a dough.
Our protein waffle nutrition per serving page lists real nutrition numbers per serving. For protein you can carry without baking, see how the best protein bars rank on grams per bar. Bars are the portable option, not a like-for-like breakfast swap.
Frequently asked questions about cottage cheese bagels
Do cottage cheese bagels have more protein than regular bagels?
Not per bagel. By USDA figures, a batch of four made with 1.25 cups of 2% cottage cheese gives about 10.5 g of protein each, and a plain medium bakery bagel has about 11.1 g. The difference is calories: roughly 166 versus 277.
Can I use self-rising flour instead of flour and baking powder?
Yes, one cup of self-rising flour and one cup of cottage cheese is the true 2-ingredient version. USDA lists self-rising flour at 1,193 mg of sodium per 100 g, against 2 mg for plain all-purpose flour, so it is the saltier pick. Baking powder adds sodium to the other version too.
How do I make cottage cheese bagels with more protein?
USDA lists 1% cottage cheese at 12.4 g of protein per 100 g, against 10.45 g for 2%, so swapping it in helps a little. More cottage cheese per cup of flour helps more, but a wetter dough is harder to shape, so add flour a spoonful at a time.