I Tried the Wildly Popular Method of Making Ice Cream with Cottage Cheese, and I’m Shocked at How Close It Is to the Real Thing

In my opinion, ice cream is an “anytime of the day” type of dessert. Meaning that no matter what your flavor preference is, ice cream will never fail at hitting the spot when you’ve got that pesky sweet tooth bothering you. 

Being a bit of a traditionalist, I usually don’t veer too far away from the things I know I love, but I recognize the importance of experiencing things outside of the boxes that we create for ourselves. When it comes to out-of-the-box ice cream creations, we’ve seen everything from the wildly popular Fruit Roll-Ups and ice cream combo to the Baskin-Robbins chicken and waffles ice cream flavor. And with viral hacks popping up left and right on TikTok, it was only a matter of time until we came across Paige Lindgren’s take on a non-traditional homemade ice cream recipe. Using cottage cheese and bananas, Paige’s cottage cheese ice cream fits perfectly into the ether of viral recipes, and I was seriously amped to dig in. 

Get the recipe: Banana Cream Pie Cottage Cheese Ice Cream

The only tools you will need for this recipe are a food processor and your trusty freezer. Keep in mind that this recipe can easily be modified to fit your taste preferences, but for this take, I followed Paige’s instructions for banana cream pie ice cream. 

To get started, load cottage cheese and a banana into a food processor. Add maple syrup and vanilla extract, then blend together until everything is creamy and smooth. Pour the mixture into a container or baking pan and place in the freezer for at least an hour. When ready, grab your ice cream scooper and get ready to marvel at how accurate the consistency is with every scoop. Finally, add some crumbled-up graham crackers on top, and enjoy! 

Whenever I hear about a viral TikTok recipe, I usually approach it with a fair level of skepticism. Sometimes, these viral “hacks” make very little sense to me, but every once in a while, there is a diamond in the rough. Such was the case with Paige’s cottage cheese ice cream. And considering that my instant reaction to cottage cheese is generally an unpleasant facial expression paired with an unwillingness to consume it, I was half expecting not to like it from the jump. 

Once I removed the container from the freezer and dug in with the first scoop, I was shocked at how close the consistency was to ice cream. While banana cream pie is not my ice cream flavor of choice, I could tell right away that this “hack” was a hit. Adding some graham crackers on top was truly the icing on the cake, and I’m seriously curious now what other concoctions I can come up with. I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again: The best recipes are the ones that you can modify, make mistakes, and stumble upon exciting results in the process. The kitchen is a magical place!

1. Make it your own. The cottage cheese ice cream trend is definitely not limited to this recipe. If banana cream pie is not your cup of tea, try blending peanut butter and cocoa powder, or really any of your favorite ice cream-related ingredients. You just might surprise yourself with the end results. 
2. Make enough for later. This recipe yields about 3 to 4 small servings and can easily be doubled or tripled for more people. If you have a big-enough container and space in your freezer, you can easily make delicious ice cream that will last you and your family all week long. 

Get the recipe: Banana Cream Pie Cottage Cheese Ice Cream