This shortcut creamy cottage cheese pasta combines a blended alfredo sauce with rigatoni, Italian seasoned ground chicken, green peas, and a crispy breadcrumb topping. It’s easy to make and each serving has 30g protein with only 10g fat and 405 calories. Great macros for a high protein pasta that’s so creamy!
Making Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce That’s Actually Good
Why complicate things? My recipe blends low fat cottage cheese together with real-deal jarred alfredo sauce. I find this gives the pasta the rich alfredo flavor you’re looking for and keeps the sauce smooth and creamy without adding too many calories.
I first experimented with this method to make alfredo chicken lasagna. And after it was such a hit, I had to use it again. For both recipes, I used Rao’s roasted garlic alfredo sauce that has around 100 calories per 1/4 cup serving.
Sure, you can make lower calorie cottage cheese alfredo sauce by blending parmesan cheese, black pepper, and maybe butter with low fat cottage cheese. But I find the nutrition facts come out pretty close. It’s also not as tasty as using the shortcut jarred alfredo, in my experience.
Using Different Veggies and Chicken Breast Alternatives
One of my most popular recipes of all time, lemon ricotta protein pasta, combines ground turkey and pan roasted broccoli with jumbo pasta shells and a blended ricotta sauce. This recipe draws inspiration by combining ground chicken breast and green peas.
I mention the inspiration as an example of other veggie possibilities. If you like spinach and kale in pasta, I think both would work great with this cottage cheese alfredo. I would add either at the same point as the peas to wilt the greens before mixing with the sauce and cooked pasta.
If you prefer roasted or grilled chicken alfredo over mince, my air fried chicken alfredo has an easy way to make delicious garlicky air fried chicken breast. Just skip the ground chicken stage of the recipe and serve the sliced chicken breast on top of the finished pasta.
The Crispy Topping
Back in 2023, I held a protein mac and cheese cook-off to develop the “ultimate” recipe. One of the experiment’s findings was that a crunchy panko topping is one of the biggest bang for your calorie buck additions you make to high protein pastas. It adds tons of texture and flavor complexity with something like 30-40 extra calories per serving.
In this recipe I upgraded my original topping by adding lemon zest and parsley to pan toasted panko breadcrumbs. Hold the applause until the end of the presentation, please.
Finish things off with a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese. And congrats, you’re ready to party.
That’s everything you need to know about making a cottage cheese chicken alfredo that bangs. Let me know in the comments below if you have an ingredient question or need help with anything. And don’t forget to let me know how the meal turned out in a recipe review or on my Instagram!
Until we sauce it up again. – Mason
Cottage Cheese Chicken Alfredo
Ingredients
- 1 pound Rigatoni
- 1 pound Ground Chicken
- 1 ½ cups (255g) Frozen Green Peas
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ cup Water
- 2 cups Low Fat Cottage Cheese
- 1 cup Alfredo Sauce I prefer Rao's or Carbone
- ½ cup Reserved Pasta Water
For the Crispy Topping
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- ⅓ cup (30g) Panko Breadcrumbs
- Zest of 1 Lemon
- 1 teaspoon Parsley Flakes or 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta just shy of al dente according to the time on its packaging, likely about 10 minutes.
- Blend the cottage cheese and Alfredo sauce together until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and stir to coat in the oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until golden brown. Transfer to a bowl with the parsley and lemon zest. Stir together and set aside.
- In the same pan, add the ground chicken and cook on one side for 2-3 minutes until golden brown before breaking apart and fully cooking. Add the Italian seasoning, frozen peas, and water to the pan. Cook until the peas are bright green and heated through, another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat.
- Once the pasta is cooked, reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water before draining the rest. Add the blended sauce and chicken mixture to the cooked pasta. Use the pasta water to help bring everything together as you stir.
- Garnish with the crispy breadcrumb topping and freshly grated parmesan, black pepper, and lemon juice.
