Cottage Cheese Is Just A Pasta Sauce You Haven't Diluted Yet

When you find an ingredient you enjoy, there's nothing more satisfying than discovering tasty ways to feature it in other dishes. Cottage cheese is one such ingredient formerly relegated to the background as a breakfast dish served with fruit or a light lunch avocado toast topper eaten without much excitement. Fans of creamy cottage cheese can rejoice, as this simple staple doubles as a decadent pasta sauce with more protein and fewer calories.

Many associate cottage cheese with diet food, and there's good reason for that correlation. The nutritional content of the creamy milk curds is impressive, boasting fewer calories and fat than similar foods while offering a notable amount of protein, vitamins, and minerals. Folks looking to boost their protein intake appreciate the whopping 14 grams served up in every half cup of cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese is proving to be more than your mom's favorite breakfast food, and that's directly attributed to its mild flavor, creamy texture, and impressive versatility. Its mellow taste makes it an ideal vehicle for featuring bold flavors, but cottage cheese purists know that it doesn't need to be bogged down with other flavors to act as the star of a dish. 

Despite its ability to highlight other ingredients, cottage cheese is proving that it can stand alone as an Alfredo alternative for a protein-packed pasta sauce. Its mildly salty flavor is appealing to many palates, but the cheese curds create a texture that not all diners dig. When thinned out, cottage cheese blends beautifully into a rich sauce with all the decadence expected from a cream-based alternative.

Familiar flavors of ricotta and Parmesan are often the go-to cheeses in many proper pasta dishes. While similar to ricotta, cottage cheese makes for an ideal pasta sauce as it has a slightly saltier flavor and looser consistency, but its curds need a bit of additional liquid to achieve cravable creaminess. Blending cottage cheese in a food processor with evaporated milk and a little leftover starchy pasta water will keep your sauce from breaking when heated while helping it reach the rich and velvety consistency that every noodle deserves. Diluting the cottage cheese achieves a saucy texture without losing any of the creamy flavors.

A blended cottage cheese sauce offers a simple, crowd-pleasing flavor with a decadent texture that satisfies. Enhance the sauce's mild taste with a pinch of nutmeg, paprika, or garlic powder that elevate the cheese's flavor without overwhelming it. Add a little tangy Dijon mustard or fresh peas for a pop of flavor that plays well with the creamy sauce. Serve over your favorite pasta cut, and enjoy the ease and simplicity of cottage cheese pasta sauce.