Emily Mariko’s 3-Ingredient Breakfast Is Brilliant

If you’re looking for someone to follow on TikTok or Instagram for some healthy recipe ideas, Emily Mariko might be your girl. Mariko boasts plenty of followers on Instagram and TikTok, and since she’s always posting soothing videos and delicious dinner ideas, we totally get the appeal. We have her to thank for the internet’s favorite Salmon Rice Bowl, and now we’re inspired by her classic three-ingredient breakfast: a cottage cheese bowl with fruit.

In a recent stripped-down video, Mariko shares this simple breakfast recipe in a set of ruffled, floral pajamas, and all you’ll need to copy her morning repast is cottage cheese, strawberries and just enough organic cane sugar to sweeten the deal. 

She starts by washing and dicing the fresh strawberries, then adds a spoonful of sugar and mixes it with the red berries. She plops her portion of cottage cheese into a small bowl, then tops it with the sweet, macerated berries. The video concludes with her bringing her breakfast outside and taking a satisfying bite—because sometimes a little sunshine can help wake you right up.

Pairing that refreshing sunshine with protein-packed cottage cheese is a brilliant morning combo. If she opts for ½ cup of cottage cheese, that’s around 12 grams of protein and 125 milligrams of calcium. Though some brands may contain more salt that you’d like to consume in a sitting, there are low-sodium and no-added-salt alternatives. We recommend limiting the sodium to about 360 mg per serving, which offers a flavor boost but still allows you stay under the American Heart Association’s recommended guideline of no more than 2,300 mg per day.

In fact, if you keep the sodium and saturated fat to a reasonable amount, cottage cheese can even be part of a balanced breakfast for people with high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol. Though Greek yogurt is marginally more nutritious due to its glut of probiotics and slightly higher calcium content, cottage cheese is still a winner when it comes to low-calorie dairy-based breakfasts.

But as appealing as Mariko’s cottage cheese and strawberry combo is, there’s no need to feel constrained by it. Any fruit or berry could sub in for a sweet touch. Just skip the pre-paired stuff like pineapple and peach-flavored cottage cheese, which may contain more added sugar than you expect. Cutting your own fruit and adding sugar yourself (or not!) is your best bet. And if you like the added sweetness but still want to skip the sugar, a little drizzle of honey, agave or maple syrup would all be easy substitutions.

And don’t be limited by sticking to sweet uses for cottage cheese. We love making it a creamy base in our High-Protein Cottage Cheese Bowl, which combines the star ingredient with a soft-boiled egg and chickpeas for even more protein, plus the big flavors of dill and capers. If you prefer a savory breakfast, a bowl or a loaded piece of Cottage Cheese Toast are both fun options.

And if the curd-y texture has you feeling skeptical about a morning cheese bowl, you might want to try the popular whipped cottage cheese method, which just involves blending it on high for a minute. You can use the whipped base to make a tasty dip or use it as a base for a quick fruit bowl—no curds necessary. One of our favorite uses? It’s a brilliant way to simultaneously add protein and a creamy texture to pasta, like Giada De Laurentiis does in a simple sauce with Corbara tomatoes and Parmesan that we’ve eaten over and over again.

Still haven’t had your fill of the trendy ingredient? Our favorite cottage cheese recipes run the gamut, including everything from High-Protein Lemon-Blueberry Cake to High-Protein Spinach Dip. Cottage cheese has plenty of potential—something we’re sure Mariko knows well.