Cottage Cheese and Mustard Are Being Bought Together More Than Ever Before—So We Tried It

We've been seeing cottage cheese pop up in lots of different ways this year. First, it was blended, then it was made into ice cream. We even did a taste test to find the best cottage cheese you can buy. But at Allrecipes, we've always known how great this ingredient can be, especially for whipping up some favorite recipes that feature cottage cheese, either as the starring ingredient or supporting role. Well once again, as the saying goes, "Everything old is new again."

Recently a new way to utilize the creamy goodness of cottage cheese has taken over the airwaves. Just add...mustard? TikTok user @tiffanyymagee has made the art of combining cottage cheese and yellow mustard a thing that everyone is talking about. But,is it all just hype?

When online grocery shopping giant Instacart let us know that carts containing both cottage cheese and mustard saw significant +90% sales growth over a two-week period in July (adjusted for platform growth), we knew it wasn't just the kids on social media blowing smoke.

Why Is Cottage Cheese and Mustard a Thing?

Instacart’s Trends Expert, Laurentia Romaniuk has some insight. “One reason the cottage cheese with mustard dipping sauce is taking the Internet by storm is because it’s extremely simple to make—requiring only a few ingredients that are relatively inexpensive. Unlike other wellness trends, there is no cooking, blending, or juicing required, and the final spread serves as the perfect pairing for raw veggies and flavorful sausage” she says.

When put in these terms, it makes sense. And while I haven't personally gotten a chance to try the combo yet—though I do love both prepared mustard of all kinds, and cottage cheese—a co-worker just did and reported back to us. "Given that I am not even a mustard fan, this was such an approachable way to eat it. The cottage cheese really dilutes the flavor to make it almost like a dressed cottage cheese...I normally don't fall for food trends, but I love chicken sausage and cottage cheese so I was willing to give in to the mustard portion of it all...I am, sadly, impressed. I kind of see the hype. Although French's is a classic, I feel like using a Dijon or honey mustard would also be pretty YUM," she said.

Since I, alternately, always fall for food trends, I'll be adding both ingredients to cart ASAP. It seems like it serves as a tasty dip for chicken sausage and vegetables as originally promoted, but I could also see it working as a spread for tomato sandwiches, in egg dishes like scrambled eggs, egg salad, or egg bites for extra zest, or even in stuffed chicken for an elevated brightness. It's also worth noting, both are already used for this Healthy Chicken Salad recipe. Simply dollop some mustard into the cottage cheese to taste and you're ready to test the trend, too.