American
Cottage Cheese Ranch Cucumber Chicken Salad
Blended cottage cheese ranch coats chicken, cucumbers, herbs, celery, and pickled onions for a high-protein lunch salad.
This is the cottage-cheese recipe I actually want for lunch: cold, crunchy, and savory. Blending the cottage cheese turns it into a ranch-style dressing instead of leaving curds in the salad.
Cucumbers bring the freshness, but they need a little help.
I salt them briefly and drain off the extra water so the dressing stays creamy after the salad sits.
The flavor is familiar in a good way: dill, chives, garlic, lemon, and black pepper.
It works in lettuce cups, on toast, or tucked into a pita when lunch needs to be fast.
For something else to cook in the same spirit, try Dill Pickle Chicken Potato Salad Lettuce Cups or Creamy Cucumber Dill Salad.
Directions
- Salt cucumber slices lightly and let them stand for 10 minutes, then pat dry.
- Blend cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, lemon juice, garlic powder, dill, chives, salt, and pepper until mostly smooth.
- Combine chicken, cucumbers, celery, and pickled onions in a large bowl.
- Fold in enough cottage cheese ranch to coat the salad.
- Taste and add more lemon, salt, or pepper as needed.
- Rest for 10 minutes before serving so the chicken absorbs some dressing.
- Serve in lettuce cups, pita, toast, or over greens.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information
Estimated per serving: 330 calories, 38 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 14 g fat.
Variations
Recipe Variations
- Add chopped avocado right before serving.
- Use turkey instead of chicken.
- Stir in hot sauce for buffalo-ranch flavor.
Notes
- Full-fat cottage cheese gives the smoothest dressing.
- Patting the cucumbers dry keeps leftovers from watering out.
- Use finely chopped rotisserie chicken if you want a deli-style texture.
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