Cottage Cheese and Radish Sandwich with Dill (Open-Faced)
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This cottage cheese and radish sandwich is made with rustic bread, a generous layer of cottage cheese, thin slices of red radish, salt, pepper and lots of fresh dill and chives. It’s so pretty, and it’s ready in 5 minutes!
This cottage cheese, radish and dill sandwich is a Latvian classic, and was my grandmother’s favorite.
Radish Sandwiches Recipe at a Glance
- Time: 5 minutes
- Makes: 2 open-faced slices, enough for 1 person
- Main ingredients: bread (dark rye or other), cottage cheese, radishes, fresh dill, chives
- Why it works: dairy and salt soften the radishes’ peppery heat
- Best as: a savory breakfast, brunch, a light lunch, next to a bowl of soup, as part of a northern European smörgåsbord or cut into squares as appetizers.
Why Radishes and Cottage Cheese Go Together
Radishes can be a bit spicy if you eat them as is or put them in a salad with an oil and vinegar dressing.
But if you pair radishes with dairy and a bit of salt, they lose their “bite” and taste quite crunchy and fresh. Radishes are very popular in European kitchens and both Balts and Scandinavians eat them on sandwiches.
These biezpiena maizītes ar redīsiem (little cottage cheese sandwiches with radishes) were my vecmāmiņa’s favorite. (Vecmāmiņa is Latvian for grandmother). I kid you not, she would eat them for breakfast, for lunch, with a bowl of soup, or dinner.
I grew up with Baltic cooking, from kotletes to Latvian pepper cookies, and most of those recipes come from the stack of notes and recipe cards I inherited from my grandmother. You’ll find more of my family’s recipes in my Baltic recipes.
Radish Sandwich with Butter or Cottage Cheese?
The radish sandwich most people know is based on the French radis-beurre, where radishes are eaten with butter, salt and bread on the side. My French husband still eats his radishes that way. I prefer cottage cheese. It’s creamier and more filling, it looks prettier, and it has much more protein: about 9 g per slice, while butter has almost none. And if you love butter, keep a thin layer underneath. 🙂
Ingredients for a Cottage Cheese and Radish Sandwich
- Rustic bread. I prefer dark rye bread, but any kind of rustic bread works well. More on choosing bread just below.
- Cottage cheese. Plain, and full-fat if you can find it, spooned on straight from the tub. In Latvia this would be biezpiens, a drier farmer’s cheese, but ordinary cottage cheese or quark is lovely here.
- Radishes. Regular round red radishes or French breakfast radishes. Not the daikon radishes (the large white Japanese ones). Leave the skin on.
- Fresh dill, chives or parsley. Dill, chives, or both is traditional.
- Butter (optional). See the steps for when it helps.
- Flaky salt and black pepper.
Which Bread to Use for a Radish Sandwich
You can use any kind of bread really, but here are some suggestions if you would like a European flavor.
- Rupjmaize (dark rye). The bread my grandmother used and the one most Latvians use. It’s dense, dark and slightly sour.
- Saldskābmaize (sweet-sour rye). The other everyday Latvian loaf. It’s lighter and softer than rupjmaize, gently sweet and sour, and often has caraway seeds, which are lovely with radishes.
- Grainy or seeded bread. Not traditional, but very good, and the seeds add extra crunch.
- White sourdough. It works and tastes good, especially toasted, though it’s less traditional in Latvia.
Note: Eastern European and German delis usually sell a dense dark rye, and a supermarket German-style rye or pumpernickel is a decent stand-in. Slice it fairly thin, about 1 cm (3/8 inch).
Substitutions and Additions
- Cottage cheese – farmer’s cheese or quark are closest. You can also use ricotta, which is softer and milder, or cream cheese, which makes a richer, smoother version.
- Cucumber radish sandwich – tuck thin cucumber slices under the radishes for extra freshness.
- Avocado – lately I sometimes add a thin layer of avocado under the cottage cheese. If you like that combination, have a look at my cottage cheese avocado toast or my cottage cheese and avocado dip.
- Fresh herbs – parsley or green onion tops work if you don’t have dill or chives. You can use dried herbs in a pinch, but it’s not as fresh and full of flavor. If you don’t have any fresh herbs, you can just leave them out. This radish sandwich is still very nice with just some salt and pepper.
- Herbs mixed in – You can also stir the fresh herbs directly into the cottage cheese. I sprinkle them on top so you see them and taste them first, and it’s just easier that way.
How to Make a Cottage Cheese and Radish Sandwich
- Slice the bread. Toast it if you like. I do sometimes, for extra crunch.
- Butter the bread (optional). A thin layer is worth it if your cottage cheese is on the wet side or you aren’t eating straight away, because it stops the bread from going soggy. Otherwise skip it.
- Spread on the cottage cheese. Be generous, about 3 to 4 heaped tablespoons per slice.
- Slice and add the radishes. Cut them into thin rounds, about 2 mm (1/16 inch), with a sharp knife, and overlap them over the cottage cheese.
- Season with salt and pepper. Make sure some salt lands on the radishes themselves.
- Finish with herbs. Scatter chopped dill and chives over the top, generously.
Tips for the Best Radish Sandwich
- Slice the radishes just before assembling. They’re crispest and brightest freshly cut.
- Salt at the last minute. Salt draws moisture out of both radishes and cottage cheese, so season just before eating.
- Chop herbs with a dry knife and board. Wet dill and chives can clump together instead of scattering.
- Keep the leaves if they’re young. Fresh, tender radish leaves can be chopped in with the dill and chives, the way Latvian cooks often do. Older, tougher leaves are better left for the compost.
Radish Appetizers (Cottage Cheese Canapés)
These also make really nice little appetizers, a bit like Latvian canapés. Cut the bread into small squares, about 1 to 2 inches (2 1/2 – 5 cm), and add a teaspoon or two of cottage cheese, a few slices of radish and a pinch of herbs to each one.
- Dense rye works best because it holds its shape when cut small and doesn’t go floppy.
- Butter the squares lightly if you’re making them an hour or two ahead, so the bread stays firm.
- Add salt and herbs last, just before they go on the table.
- Two slices of bread make roughly 4 to 8 squares, depending on the size of your squares.
Open-Faced Sandwiches in Northern Europe
I grew up eating open-faced sandwiches, because that’s how most sandwiches are eaten in the Baltic countries and Scandinavia: one slice of bread with the topping on show. The Latvian word for sandwich is sviestmaize, which literally means “butter bread.” Danes say smørrebrød and Estonians say võileib, and they mean exactly the same thing 🙂
Cottage cheese on rye is everyday food in Latvia. It’s even in the Ministry of Health’s official healthy-eating guidelines for children, which suggest rye or wholegrain bread with cottage cheese, vegetables and herbs for breakfast.
When the family gets together, these sandwiches go on the aukstais galds (literally “cold table”), the Latvian version of a Swedish smörgåsbord.
What to Serve with Radish Sandwiches
- Soup. This is very common in Latvia. Try it with my Baltic-style asparagus soup with dill or a creamy cauliflower, potato and leek soup.
- Other open-faced sandwiches. For a cold table at home, add a plate of salmon and cream cheese toast and some shrimp avocado toast.
- Breakfast. On its own with a cup of coffee or tea, it’s one of my favorite savory breakfasts.
Storage and Make-Ahead
- Best fresh. These are nicest within about 30 minutes of assembling, while the radishes are at their crispest.
- If you need to make them a few hours in advance – Lightly butter the bread first, so the cottage cheese doesn’t soak in and make it soggy. Cover and keep them in the fridge, and add the salt and herbs just before serving.
- For a larger gathering, you can also prep parts up to a day ahead: slice the radishes and keep them in a sealed container in the fridge, chop the herbs.
- Leftovers don’t keep well, so make only what you’ll eat that day.
FAQ
Yes, and in Latvia and other Baltic and Scandinavian countries, it’s completely normal. Spread it thickly on sturdy bread like rye, with a little butter underneath if you’re not eating it right away.
No. The skin is where the color is, and it’s thin enough that you won’t notice it.
You can put them in a garden salad with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, you can eat them plain with a bit of butter and salt, like the French do, or you can grate them and make a radish salad with sour cream.
Made this cottage cheese radish sandwich? Leave a star rating and a comment below. It helps other home cooks find the recipe, and I read every one.
Every recipe on this blog is made and tested in my own kitchen. You can read more about how I develop and test recipes here. 🙂
Cottage Cheese and Radish Sandwich with Dill
Ingredients
- 2 slices dark rye bread or saldskābmaize, grainy bread or sourdough
- 1 to 2 tsp softened butter, optional (optional)
- 3/4 cup 6 oz plain cottage cheese
- 3 to 4 radishes
- Flaky salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 1 1/2 tsp chopped fresh chives
- 1 tbsp parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Slice the bread and toast it, if you like.
- If using butter, spread a thin layer over each slice.
- Spread 3 to 4 heaped tablespoons of cottage cheese over each slice.
- Slice the radishes into thin rounds, about 2 mm (1/16 inch), and overlap them on top of the cottage cheese.
- Season with flaky salt and black pepper, making sure some salt lands on the radishes.
- Sprinkle generously with chopped dill, chives and parsley (if using). Serve right away.
Notes
- Butter under the cottage cheese keeps the bread from going soggy if the cottage cheese is wet or the sandwiches need to be made in advance.
- Swap dill and chives for parsley or green onion tops. Farmer’s cheese, quark or ricotta can replace cottage cheese.
- For a cucumber radish sandwich, add thin cucumber slices under the radishes.
- Best eaten fresh, but they’ll keep for a few hours in the fridge if you lightly butter the bread first. Add the salt and herbs just before serving.
- For appetizers, cut the bread into 1 to 2 inch (2 1/2 – 5 cm) squares and top each with a teaspoon or two of cottage cheese, some radish slices, salt, pepper and herbs.
Nutrition
Notes from my Kitchen
My chives are doing so well, and I just love those little purple flowers!
