Made with a blend of protein-packed cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, this Lemon Yogurt Parfait recipe is a delicious and satisfying grab-and-go breakfast. Best of all, they taste like cheesecake and you can make them in advance! Whip them up on a Sunday for a week of hassle-free mornings!
While I’d love to make a delicious frittata or a wholesome bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, I’m lucky if I have time for a piece of toast with a boiled egg. However, in an effort to stave off mid-morning hunger, I’ve been trying to eat more protein for breakfast. Enter the grab-and-go breakfast yogurt parfait.
The base layer is a creamy blend of high-protein cottage cheese and Greek yogurt, flavored with lemon juice, vanilla, and a touch of honey. While you could skip the cottage cheese and use just yogurt, adding it gives this yogurt parfait recipe a cheesecake flavor I love! I layer it with Quick Berry Compote made with a combination of blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries, then top the parfaits with a handful of crunchy, toasted almonds.
Meal prepping this yogurt parfait recipe on the weekends makes it easy for me to eat something healthy and filling during the week. I just whip up a batch in the blender on Sunday evening, divide it evenly among five small jars layered with the compote, and store them in the fridge. In the morning, I top them with toasted nuts and breakfast is served!
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Lemon Yogurt Parfaits
The ingredients for this make-ahead breakfast are easy to find at any supermarket. Here’s everything you need:
- Almonds: Toasted until golden, sliced almonds add a crunchy contrast with the creamy yogurt and cheese mixture and the soft berry compote. You can toast these weeks in advance and store them in an airtight container on your counter to use as needed.
- Cottage cheese is currently enjoying a renaissance. Here, I use it to add both protein and a cheesecake flavor to the parfait base.
- Honey adds a touch of sweetness and a floral note. Be sure to choose high-quality honey for this recipe. I particularly like it with Italian Citrus Honey.
- Lemon juice and lemon zest are traditional in cheesecake recipes and give the parfaits a tangy flavor.
- Vanilla extract adds a subtle caramel note to many desserts. Bonus: Because people associate vanilla with sweetness, you can keep the sweetner content low.
- Greek yogurt: I prefer whole milk yogurt for this recipe because of its creamy consistency and rich flavor.
- Milk: If the brand of yogurt or cottage cheese you use is particularly thick, you may need a few tablespoons of milk to make it easier to whizz up in the blender.
- Quick Berry Compote Made with blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, fresh lime juice, and a touch of raw sugar, this compote pairs beautifully with the creamy yogurt and cheese filling. Feel free to substitute frozen berries for fresh ones. Since you’ll need only 1 cup of the compote, transfer the rest to an airtight container and store it in the fridge for up to 7 days.
- What to do with leftover Berry Compote: Use in place of jam on toast, spoon over vanilla ice cream for dessert, or serve with Challah French Toast at brunch.
How to Make This Yogurt Parfait Recipe
The best part of these breakfast parfaits is that they can be made ahead of time. When the alarm goes off, you’ll be ready to grab and go!
- Make Quick Berry Compote: Make the compote and cool it to room temperature. This can be made and refrigerated up to 3 days in advance.
- Toast the almonds. Add 6 tablespoons sliced almonds in a small dry skillet set over medium heat. Toast, stirring often, for about 3 to 5 minutes until the nuts turn golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
- Blend parfait ingredients: Combine 1 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 3 tablespoons honey, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Add 1 3/4 cups Greek yogurt, and continue blending until the mixture is completely smooth. If the consistency is too thick for easy blending, add up to 1/4 cup milk.
- Layer the parfaits: Fill each of 5 small (half-pint or 8-ounce) jars about halfway with the yogurt mixture. Top with a couple of spoonfuls of compote, then add another layer of the yogurt mixture saving enough room for more compote and a sprinkling of almonds. Seal with a lid or cover tightly and store in the refrigerator.
How to Make these Yogurt Parfaits your Own
There are plenty of ways to change up the ingredients and still end up with a satisfying breakfast parfait. Here are some ideas:
- Skip the cottage cheese: I love the concept of “cheesecake” for breakfast, but these parfaits are delicious made with only Greek yogurt. Double the yogurt quantity to replace the volume of the cottage cheese. When making them this way you can skip the blender, which is mostly important to break down the cottage cheese. Simply whisk the yogurt with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Citrus options: In place of the lemon, try orange zest and juice.
- Swap the toppings: Here, the sky really is the limit! You can replace the mixed berry compote with roasted peaches, poached apricots, strawberry-rose compote, or a few spoonfuls of Fig Jam with Vanilla and Citrus. Trade the almonds for roasted pistachios, cashews, walnuts, or Homemade Olive Oil Granola.
- Add even more protein: To add even more protein to this breakfast, I like to mix in whey protein powder, which heightens the cheesy flavor. I usually add 2 servings of unflavored whey protein powder to the other ingredients and blend until completely smooth. I prefer plain whey, but vanilla-flavored whey works, too. Because whey powders are often sweetened, you may want to cut back on the amount of honey.
What to Serve with Yogurt Parfaits
These high-protein grab-and-go parfaits may be all you need to power you up in the morning. But for those with bigger appetites, our make-ahead Spanakopita Egg Muffins are a great way to add a savory option. Loaded with spinach, feta, and mint, they take less than a minute to reheat in the microwave.
And if you can’t imagine breakfast without toast, try our Egg Toast with Vegetables. If you just want to add some veggies to that first meal you can always sip them slowly with our Green Juice recipe.
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Breakfast
Sweet Potato Breakfast with Eggs
Lemon Cheesecake Yogurt Parfaits
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons sliced almonds
- 1 3/4 cup cottage cheese
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup Greek yogurt
- Milk (optional)
- 1 cup Quick Berry Compote, chilled
Instructions
- Toast the nuts. Add the sliced almonds in a small dry skillet set over medium heat. Toast stirring occasionally for about 3 to 5 minutes until the nuts turn golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.
- Blend parfait ingredients. Combine cottage cheese, honey, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract in a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Add yogurt, and continue blending until the mixture is completely smooth. If the consistency is too thick for easy blending, add up to ¼ cup milk.
- Layer the parfaits. Fill each of 5 small (half pint or 8-ounce) jars about halfway with the yogurt mixture. Top with a couple of spoonfuls of compote, then add another layer of the yogurt mixture saving enough room for more compote and a sprinkling of almonds. Seal with a lid or cover tightly and store in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Shop this recipe: Visit our shop to browse quality Mediterranean ingredients including the honey used in this recipe.
- Greek Yogurt Variation: I love the concept of cheesecake for breakfast, but these parfaits are delicious made with only Greek yogurt. Double the yogurt quantity to replace the volume of the cottage cheese. When making them this way you can skip the blender, which is mostly important to break down the cottage cheese. Simply whisk the yogurt with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Note: The nutrition information for this recipe does not include the Quick Berry Compote.
Nutrition
Greek Honey – Thyme, Forest & Wild Herbs
Start your day with the highest quality honey from the Greek island of Crete.
