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Cottage cheese replaces heavy cream in this Cottage Cheese Alfredo recipe. Paired with chickpea pasta, this dish is a healthier, higher protein way to enjoy your favorite meal! Gluten Free + Low Calorie
Where my pasta lovers at? If you're one, you're in luck! Today I'm sharing a recipe I've been loving lately. Alfredo sauce made with cottage cheese!
Now before you doubt me I'll have you know this dinner is a true winner.
Unlike yogurt that has a funky taste when replaced in sauces and creams (am I right...it's not the same?), cottage cheese offers a neutral flavor making it a great substitute to sneak into heavier recipes.
Cottage Cheese Alfredo
Why is cottage cheese a better option than heavy cream? It may seem obvious, but sauces with heavy creams are higher in fat and calories making them not a great option for a healthy diet.
How do you replace heavy creams with cottage cheese? Blending! Most don't realize it, but you can blend cottage cheese smooth.
No one will even suspect it's there and the texture is thick like Alfredo from combining it with a little corn starch.
What makes it Alfredo-like? The parmesan and seasonings! That's what you taste in this sauce. Parmesan, garlic and a little bit of herby-ness from the parsley.
Are All Cottage Cheese's The Same
No, they're not! Shamrock Farms has cared-for cows, a state-of-the-art farm and no growth hormones like rBST.
Cared-for cows means high-quality, better tasting milk! Shamrock Farms cottage cheese is packed with 13 grams of protein and 110 mg of calcium per serving to keep you fuller longer so you can maintain more lean muscle mass and keep your bones strong.
Not only has does it have all the nutrition you'd expect in cottage cheese, but it's also fresh tasting.
What You Need
- Cottage Cheese
- Milk
- Grated Parmesan
- Garlic, Nutmeg, Parsley
- Corn Starch or Arrowroot Powder
- Chickpea Pasta
- Salt, Pepper
Helpful Tips
If you're making the sauce with pasta, I recommend using a plant-based one like chickpea pasta that's higher in protein and nutrients. Adding veggies to this dish will also increase the nutrients and your fullness!
For the Alfredo sauce, I used low fat cottage cheese but you can certainly substitute it with any Shamrock Farms cottage cheese variety. Look for their NEW green lid in your local dairy case!
If you make the recipe, tag SkinnyFitalicious and Shamrockfarmsmilk on Instagram so we can re-share it.
Cottage Cheese Alfredo with Chickpea Pasta
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice
- 1/2 cup parmesan grated
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 4 ounces chickpea pasta elbows
Instructions
- In a blender, blend cottage cheese, milk, parmesan, cornstarch, garlic powder, nutmeg, and pepper until smooth. Set aside. The mixture will have a liquid consistency but will thicken as it sits and cooks.
- Fill a saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
- Add the chickpea elbows and cook according to package instructions. Remove from the saucepan and strain.
- Place the saucepan back on the heat and reduce to low. Transfer the cottage cheese mixture from the blender to the pan. Cook 3 minutes to thicken.
- Toss pasta with the cottage cheese alfredo, sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!
Notes
- My Amazon shop has more products similar to those used for this recipe and that I recommend to my nutrition clients.
Nutrition
Can I use this alfredo sauce in casseroles or on a pizza? Would it be stable in the oven?
It should be I've used cottage cheese in my spinach artichoke dip recipe which is baked. The only word of caution is to use full fat cottage cheese in that case as the cottage cheese may curdle and separate when baked.
This was excellent. I added a bit of leftover homemade pesto to it to use up. Everyone liked it! Wasn’t sure what to expect. Creamy and lower fat than cream.
I was looking for a way to use up some cottage cheese and this is perfect. I don't make cheese sauces often at all, so was very pleasantly surprised by how great this is- I will be adding it to my regular dinner rotation.
I doubled the sauce recipe and used 1 whole box of regular elbow pasta and for me that gave the perfect sauce to noodle ratio (more like a mac and cheese instead of a heavy sauce dish)
Do you know how well this saves for like meal prep?
I haven't not tried it for meal prep myself.
Is the 4 ounces of chickpea pasta measured before cooking it or after?
Is the serving size and calories with the pasta included??
Yes, all the ingredients listed are included in the nutritional data and servings.
Amazing and healthy, definitely needed a bit more salt though! I also sprinkled in some green peas and roasted brussel sprouts. So excited to try more recipes!
Wow, Megan, I am so glad that I found your blog!! I love cooking so much and this pasta is so amazing. I will try this recipe asap. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe with all of us. Much Love and Regards.