Here is a delicious and high-protein cottage cheese pasta recipe which is a great way to make your pasta recipes macro-friendly.
Simply blend together cottage cheese, parmesan cheese, milk, dried oregano, and garlic.
You will have yourself a yummy and creamy pasta sauce which you can even prep and add to your pasta dish for a quick weeknight dinner.
It smells so good and tastes like a creamy mac and cheese, but the key ingredient is cottage cheese. Even if you hate cottage cheese, the other flavors will dominate this sauce recipe and it can be a clever strategy to substitute this for traditional high-fat cheeses.
You can use your favorite type of pasta and even meal prep the recipe to save time on weekdays.
Why you might love this cottage cheese pasta recipe?
- High in protein.
- Perfect for a pre-workout or post-workout meal.
- You can prep the sauce and add it to pasta during weeknights.
- You can add sauce to any type of pasta.
Cottage Cheese Pasta
Equipment
Ingredients
- 200 g (1.8 cups) penne pasta
- 300 g (1.4 cups) cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup (0.5 cup) milk
- 40 g (1.4 oz) parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) cornstarch
- 4 (3 ) garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp (1 tsp) dried oregano
- 80 g (2.6 cups) baby spinach leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, add the cottage cheese, milk, parmesan cheese, cornstarch, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt and black pepper, and blend until smooth.
- Prepare the penne pasta by adding boiled kettle water to your saucepan, add olive oil and salt, and the penne pasta. Half cook for 5 to 8 minutes and drain.
- Pour the cheese mixture into a large saucepan and add the penne pasta to cook on medium heat for 5 to 8 minutes. Add the spinach leaves and cover the pan for 2 to 4 minutes, and stir to combine.
- Enjoy and serve with your favorite sides
Notes
- Refrigerate and consume within three days if you plan to make-ahead.
- Cornstarch or corn flour is optional, but it will help thicken up the sauce.
Nutrition
Recipe FAQ
Is cottage cheese pasta really macro-friendly?
This is subjective talk but if you have a balanced diet and regularly keep yourself in good shape, then I would say this is a macro-friendly meal prep because it can certainly fit into a general daily caloric plan.
I often make this for my lunch meal prep at work, and for a larger meal, you could also use this as a side dish with chicken breasts, which goes really well.
Of course, if you are following a low carbohydrate diet or on a keto diet then you might not find it macro-friendly.
How does cottage cheese pasta taste?
This truly does smell and taste like mac and cheese which is an added bonus, however, it feels so much lighter.
The parmesan cheese certainly helps in terms of flavor and lightness.
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