High Protein Cottage Cheese Alfredo

Cottage cheese alfredo pasta on a beige plate

High Protein Cottage Cheese Alfredo

Step aside, heavy cream! This tested-till-perfect cottage cheese Alfredo sauce is creamy, dreamy, and made with just a handful of ingredients. With over 20 grams protein per serving, this is the Alfredo sauce of my dreams!

Course Main Course, pasta

Cuisine American, Italian

Diet Vegetarian

Keyword Cottage cheese alfredo

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Servings

Calories 436kcal

Author Katie Trant

Ingredients

8 ounces of dry pasta I like linguini best for this recipe
1 cup cottage cheese
¼ cup milk
¼ cup heavy cream
1 Tablespoon melted butter
¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon garlic powder
freshly cracked black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Start by bringing a large pot of water to the boil. Salt the water generously, and then add your pasta. Cook according to package directions until al dente.
8 ounces of dry pasta
Drain the pasta and set aside while you're preparing the sauce.
Wipe out the same pot, so it's dry, and return to the burner but don't turn the heat back on yet.
Combine the cottage cheese, milk, heavy cream, melted butter, Parmesan, cornstarch, and garlic powder in a blender. Blend until completely smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
1 cup cottage cheese, ¼ cup milk, ¼ cup heavy cream, 1 Tablespoon melted butter, ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pour the sauce into the pot, and turn the heat on to medium-low (on my induction stovetop, I use setting 4/9 for this).
Using a whisk, stir the sauce for about 5 minutes. It may look a bit grainy at first, but we're waiting for the cornstarch to work its magic. Keep whisking until smooth and glossy.
Add the drained pasta into the sauce, and stir to combine and heat through. Turn the heat to low, and let the pasta sit for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Season with lots of freshly cracked black pepper, and serve!
freshly cracked black pepper

Notes

Nutrition values are an estimate only
I've calculated based on this recipe serving 3-4 people, but that really depends on how hungry you are!
I prefer full-fat cottage cheese for this recipe, but 2% will also work fine.
Many cottage cheese Alfredo recipes call for adding milk, but I find adding a tiny bit of butter and a bit of heavy cream adds a richness and glossiness to the sauce you don't get without them. You can use ½ cup of milk instead of ¼ cup milk and ¼ cup heavy cream if you prefer, but keep in mind we're replacing a LOT of heavy cream and butter in a classic Alfredo sauce.
This recipe works out best with freshly grated Parmesan, as pre-grated Parmesan uses an anti-caking agent that will mess the sauce up.
Make sure your noodles are well-drained and slightly cooled before adding them to the sauce. Hot, wet noodles will cause the sauce to break, and the sauce won't stick to the slippery noodles.

Nutrition