With this microwave cottage cheese pizza bowl, you can satisfy pizza cravings in minutes. Plus, it's high in protein and low in calories and carbs!

If you've haven't tried the viral cottage cheese pizza bowl yet, you'll likely fall in love with it since it's full of pizza flavor, quick to make (just a few minutes), low in carbs and calories, and high in protein.

It's basically a bowl of pizza toppings mixed with a full serving of cottage cheese. And you don't have to like cottage cheese to love this bowl since most of the flavor comes from the marinara sauce, veggie toppings, turkey pepperoni and melted cheese topping. The cottage cheese serves as more of base and makes the bowl more substantial and filling (while also driving up the protein).

Of course, we made our own modifications to the viral pizza bowl to increase the protein, decrease the calories, and make it more substantial.

Pizza Bowl Modifications

• Less marinara or pizza sauce: In our taste tests, we found that you don't need to add that much marinara sauce since it can lead to more of a runny consistency and can reduce the protein percentage. But don't worry, even with less sauce, the marinara flavor still powers through.

• More fillings: More veggies make the bowl more substantial, flavorful and filling. We love adding chopped mushrooms, chopped bell pepper and olives. But you could also consider chopped red onion, spinach, jalapenos or other favorite pizza toppings.

• Less cheese topping: Although cheese contains protein, it also includes fat, which can decrease the protein percentage and drive up the calories. We use just enough to make the top all cheesy, and we also use a combination of mozzarella and parmesan (which is higher in protein and lower in fat than mozzarella).

Ingredients

Cottage cheese: We use a low-fat cottage cheese (2% milkfat) in this bowl since we found little difference in taste between the low- and high-fat cottage cheese when done. If you use low-fat cottage cheese, the bowl will be slightly lower in calories and fat, but it may be a little more runny or not as creamy in consistency as the full-fat. However, it's best to buy whatever cottage cheese you prefer.

Chopped white mushrooms & green bell pepper: To enhance the flavor and texture and make the bowl more substantial, we add raw chopped, white mushrooms and green bell pepper. But you could replace with other low carb veggies like chopped red onion, jalapeno peppers, spinach or olives.

Turkey pepperoni: To make this salad high in protein, you need to use turkey pepperoni (not pork) since it's leaner, higher in protein and lower in calories and fat. We use ½ an ounce (about 12 slices) of turkey pepperoni to keep calories lower, but you can use more if you prefer.

Rao's Arrabbiata Sauce: We recommend Rao's Arrabbiata Sauce since it's one the best low-carb sauces out there (in terms of carbs, taste and clean ingredients). We use Arrabbiata (since it has a tasty kick), but you can also use Rao's regular marinara sauce or another low-carb sauce of your preference. You could also consider a low-carb pizza sauce.

Shredded mozzarella & grated parmesan: We use a combination of shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan in this bowl. We not only love the flavor combination, but parmesan is also higher in protein and lower in calories and fat than mozzarella.

Pinch of Italian seasoning: Just a pinch of Italian seasoning enhances to the flavor. Or you could use other herbs or seasonings of choice.

How to Make

STEP 1: Chop veggies and turkey pepperoni slices into smaller chunks. In a small microwaveable bowl, add cottage cheese, marinara sauce, mushrooms, bell pepper, turkey pepperoni and Italian seasoning. Stir until well combined.

STEP 2: Heat on high in microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir. Sprinkle the top with shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan.

STEP 3: Heat for another 30 seconds to 1 minute (each microwave heats differently) until cheese is melted and mixture is thoroughly heated. Serve immediately.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED HIGH IN PROTEIN?

We love high-protein meals, snacks and desserts since they help keep you full for longer periods of time. Therefore, you’re less likely to overeat.

Wikipedia defines a high-protein diet as more than 20% of calories from protein while Diet Doctor uses 25% to 35% of calories. For more information about a high-protein diet, check out Diet Doctor.

More Cottage Cheese Recipes

If you try this recipe, we would love to hear your feedback! Leave a comment, rate it, and tag @lowcarbsimplified on your photo of this recipe on Instagram or Facebook. We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

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