Just like all good family traditions,this is just something I’ve grown up with as normal. There’s no real idea where or when it started. It could’ve been in the old country, or just some weird combo only an overstretched family budget and a desperate mind could come up with. Either way, potato chips and cottage cheese is the most incredible combination ever!
I’m not really one to have snacks on hand in the house. The only time I buy potato chips is with a corresponding cottage cheese purchase. It’s most often done at the tail end of a large project, a chance to celebrate and savor a sense of accomplishment. The cottage cheese also lessens the guilt of pigging out on potato chips. When this combo is in front of me, my instincts turn to those of a goldfish with too much food in their fishbowl – I can’t help but keep eating.
As a kid, we always had a nice variety of chips and snacks on hand. Fritos were always popular, as were ‘corn’ Doritos – the plain non-nacho cheese covered kind, an occasional cheese doodle or equivalent, and, of course, potato chips. Since it was the late 70’s and early 80’s, dipping options in our house did not yet include salsas or anything fancy. The only dip I can remember was that tub of cottage cheese, next to the dairy tray, underneath the milk and ice tea.
The Ideal Dip
There’s something about the mild curds, complete with their somewhat soupy environs complimenting the salty crispiness of the potato chip. It’s just ideal! It’s also wildly addictive – I’ve turned on lots of friends with the combo. One of the hardest tricks is to pace the chip consumption with dip sizes. A rough 1:1 bag to tub ratio seems ideal, but overloading the chips with cheese leads to an imbalanced ratio. Doubling up small chips makes a better scoop too. Finishing off a tub of cottage cheese is never a chore. However, it does feel gluttonous when you still have chips left over without its accompanying tasty friend. So snack judiciously friends!
Potato Chips and Cottage Cheese Recipe
1 bag potato chips (any ridged/wavy chips don’t break as often)
1 container of cottage cheese
Open both bag and container, dip potato chip into cottage cheese, enjoy!
Tip of the hat to Gen G. for introducing me to folding in the bottom edges of a chips bag to make it stand up. It’s completely wild how much the vertical stand makes life so much easier!
