Cottage cheese egg bites
Or: How you turn those random leftovers in your fridge into a perfect grab-and-go breakfast.
Cooking

April 5, 2025

Three cottage cheese egg bites sit on a plate with one cut in half.
Naz Deravian’s cottage cheese egg bites. Ghazalle Badiozamani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Cottage cheese egg bites, versatile and handy

By Mia Leimkuhler

In the spirit of giving oneself a little grace, I’ll say yes, I did make good on my goal of eating more breakfasts this year. I’ve been making this baked oatmeal and this rice-cooker oatmeal on a loop, changing up my add-ins each time, and these two make-ahead breakfasts have kept me fed and full in the mornings.

But I think I need something new. Also, I’m out of oats.

Hello, cottage cheese egg bites! The recipe for these adorable little protein-rich snacks from Naz Deravian blends eggs with cottage cheese and shredded Cheddar (or Monterey Jack or Gruyère) to create a smooth batter that holds raw or cooked chopped vegetables and cooked meat. In other words: This recipe is how you turn those random leftovers in your fridge — some roasted broccoli, a lone chicken drumstick and a half-bunch of parsley — into a perfect grab-and-go breakfast.

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Cottage Cheese Egg Bites

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Three more easy breakfasts: a happy pink strawberry smoothie, Lidey Heuck’s French toast casserole and these unmeasured crepes (actual title, and actual amount of math I want to do in the morning).

Weekends are the time for good breakfasts, and they’re also good for a little bit of meal prep and planning. April showers bring May sniffles, so I’m eyeing this ginger-spiced chicken broth from Kristina Felix, a boldly flavored elixir that can sit ready in my freezer for that inevitable springtime cold.

Ali Slagle has a fun new guide to building better lunches, with three clever recipes: tinned fish hand rolls, spinach and feta lentil bowls and tortellini pasta salad. And because even the most carefully planned, pride-inducing lunch can be ruined by leaks, here’s Wirecutter’s guide to the best food storage containers.

I don’t have to tell you, New York Times Cooking reader, that a big batch of weekend chicken pays weekday dividends. But I’ll leave Sam Sifton’s miso chicken here anyway.

And for dessert, how about a hefty slice of old-fashioned coconut cake? Lisa Donovan’s recipe is the stuff spring birthday dreams are made of — three layers of tall, soft white cake held together with Swiss buttercream, each element confidently coconutty.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER

Article Image

Ghazalle Badiozamani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Ginger-Spiced Chicken Broth

By Kristina Felix

3 1/2 hours

Makes 3 1/2 to 4 quarts

Article Image

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Simon Andrews.

Miso Chicken

By Sam Sifton

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

11,688

45 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Article Image

Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Michelle Gatton.

Tinned Fish Hand Rolls 

By Ali Slagle

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

8

45 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Article Image

Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Michelle Gatton.

Spinach and Feta Lentil Bowls

By Ali Slagle

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

61

45 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Article Image

Mark Weinberg for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Michelle Gatton.

Tortellini Pasta Salad

By Ali Slagle

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

26

20 minutes

Makes 4 servings

Article Image

Sarah Anne Ward for The New York Times. Food stylist: Heather Meldrom. Prop stylist: Rebecca Conroy.

Unmeasured Crepes

Recipe from Michael Ruhlman

Adapted by Tamar Adler

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

1,550

10 minutes

Makes Number of servings vary

Article Image

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop Stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas.

Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake

By Lisa Donovan

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarUnfilled Star

9

2 hours 20 minutes

Makes 10 to 12 servings

Article Image

Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Strawberry Smoothie

By Martha Rose Shulman

Filled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled StarFilled Star

972

5 minutes

Makes One 16-ounce or two 8-ounce servings

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