15-Minute Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce

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Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » 15-Minute Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce

I was grain-free for a long time (and generally still am) while healing my Hashimoto’s, but my husband is Italian so I had to find a way to still have pasta. This creamy homemade alfredo sauce recipe makes any type of pasta delicious, including zoodles (zucchini noodles).

Even though alfredo sauce is typically thought of as unhealthy (all that butter and cheese), this version gets it creaminess not from heavy cream but from a secret ingredient… cottage cheese!

Can Alfredo Sauce Be Healthy?

I decded to try making this alfredo sauce recipe after cottage cheese came back into my life thanks to this brand of grass-fed, organic cottage cheese that is now in my grocery store. (If you’re not intolerant, dairy can be healthy when done right… here’s what I mean by that).

Cottage cheese works as a low-carb, high-protein ingredient in other recipes too, like in this Smoked Salmon Dip or these Cottage Cheese Crepes.

Even though it isn’t your classic way to make alfredo sauce, it gets a thumbs up from my live-in Italian food critic! (And yes, I do know that alfredo sauce isn’t truly from Italy but is an American-Italian creation.)

Healthy Alfredo Sauce From Scratch (Not a Jar)

Why make alfredo sauce from scratch? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the ingredients in an average jar of alfredo sauce (popular top-selling brand undisclosed):

Not only does this homemade version skip the cheap fillers and harmful additives, it’s ten times more delicious!

How to Make Alfredo Sauce

This recipe isn’t like most alfredo recipes out there. To keep things easy, I make this sauce right in the blender.

Instead of a roux made with butter and flour to thicken the sauce, I take cottage cheese and blend it with almond milk and a little fresh Parmesan cheese. Add basil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper for flavor, and blend until smooth and creamy.

Heat, pour over pasta of choice, and that’s it!

Grain-Free Spaghetti Pasta

If you’d like a grain-free or gluten-free pasta option, I love this sauce over zucchini noodles. All you need is a simple spiralizer (or if you prefer power tools in the kitchen, a spiralizing attachment for your standmixer).

Put the zucchini in the spiralizer, turn, and you have noodles in less time than it takes to boil water. Full instructions here.

This is a great way to get more veggies in your diet especially when zucchini is in season. You can use a quality gluten-free rice pasta if you tolerate grains well. We use this one because they test their rice for arsenic levels.

Alfredo Sauce Recipe

15-Minute Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce (Low-Carb, High-Protein) Recipe

This simple and fast alfredo sauce is higher protein than regular alfredo and only takes minutes to make. Whip up a quick batch to top some veggies or chicken or gluten-free pasta. 
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Calories 166kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

4 cups

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
  • Pour the mixture into a saucepan and slowly heat on the stove until it simmers.
  • Cook and stir until warm and slightly thickened.
  • Add cooked pasta, chicken, or veggies and fold into sauce just before serving.
  • Top with additional parmesan if desired, and enjoy!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
15-Minute Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce (Low-Carb, High-Protein) Recipe
Amount Per Serving (1 cup)
Calories 166 Calories from Fat 59
% Daily Value*
Fat 6.5g10%
Saturated Fat 3.4g21%
Cholesterol 19mg6%
Sodium 1224mg53%
Carbohydrates 6g2%
Fiber 0.1g0%
Sugar 0.7g1%
Protein 20.7g41%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

To make a thicker sauce, reserve some of the milk and add in a tablespoon at a time until the perfect consistency.

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Other Healthier Italian Recipes

Brace yourself, there’s a lot of them…

Have you ever made a “healthier” alfredo sauce? What do you use? Please share!

Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

18 responses to “15-Minute Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce”

  1. Erin Avatar

    2 stars
    I had the same issue as another reviewer that the sauce never thickened. In fact, it got more watery as it continued to heat and then there were chunks of cheese beginning to form in places despite the fact that I was stirring continuously. I tried adding a bit of cornstarch but to no avail. Anything I could have tried for next time? I really wanted this to work!

    1. Jamie Larrison Avatar

      You could try adding less almond milk and heating over lower heat for less time. Some brands of cottage cheese may work differently in this recipe.

  2. Eva Avatar

    3 stars
    My apologies… it was really not very good. Did exactly what recipe said, used 4% cottage cheese and whole cow’s milk. Grated my own parmigiano reggiano… just really watery and frothy. Kids ate it. Years ago I had a recipe from a “Clean Eating” magazine for cottage cheese alfredo sauce that I remember being excellent, better than this recipe. Thank you for your nice website, sorry not to be more appreciative.

  3. Diene Avatar

    5 stars
    I really liked this! I simplified by swapping regular water for the almond milk and adding a touch of corn starch to thicken it up. Super yummy and healthier than “real” alfredo! I used it to make a pasta primavera dish, and it tasted really great with all the veggies. I will be making it again for sure.

  4. Eleni A Avatar
    Eleni A

    5 stars
    Loved this recipe! I substituted nutritional yeast for parmesan which worked beautifully. Thank you!

  5. Kathy Enman Avatar
    Kathy Enman

    I’m making this sauce now and it’s not thickening doesn’t matter how long I keep it on the stove it is very runny, why????? how can I make it thicker!!!!!!

  6. Carla Avatar

    5 stars
    I love this recipe! I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve made it, but was wondering if I could add some raw kale or spinach to it to up the nutrition? Do you think it would change the flavor too much? Thanks for all your hard work on all these wonderful recipes!

  7. Cindy Avatar

    Green Valley makes ORGANIC, LACTOSE FREE sour cream, yogurt, cream cheese and kefir. Unfortunately, no cottage cheese. However, Lactaid makes lactose free cottage cheese but it isn’t organic. They both remove the lactose by adding lactase.

  8. Susan Avatar

    What kind of parmesan cheese do you use, or recommend? Most of the prepared ones have cellulose-type fillers (think sawdust), for anti-caking…yuck.

  9. Kris Avatar

    Can’t wait to make! In paragraphs leading up to recipe it says to add basil. I don’t see basil listed in recipe. How much is called for? Fresh or dry? Also, wiuld fat-free cottage cheese work? Just use less milk?
    Thanks

  10. Beth Avatar

    I’m going to try this, but let it blend in my Vitamix for a couple minutes. See if the friction will heat it up enough without having to dirty another pan.

  11. Tina Barton Avatar
    Tina Barton

    5 stars
    Wow! Definitely trying this. Our kids love pasta but aren’t’ too keen on Mama always making red sauce (not tomato fans). I can see chicken Alfredo over spaghetti squash now. I already make homemade ranch dressing from cottage cheese. My very picky husband loves it!

  12. Rachel Zwicker Avatar
    Rachel Zwicker

    5 stars
    This was delicious and I will make it again. I made zoodles and poured the sauce over the raw zoodles. The texture was perfect and the sauce was tasty! I made the mistake of heating the sauce to long. It should only be heated until warm as recipe says but I got distracted. Sauce separated but still tasted yummy.
    I love this blog! The recipes are good and this is my go to spot for feeding a large family.

    1. Grace Avatar

      1 star
      I hated this recipe. I followed it exactly except I did the dry powdered Parmesan cheese. This sauce is gross! I’m not just saying that.

      1. f. matthews Avatar
        f. matthews

        dry powdered parm is gross. instead of insulting her recipe, why not make it properly as written

  13. Sue Avatar

    That sounds like a great alternative to the super fattening Alfredo sauce. I get it out once in awhile as a special treat. The only change I would make is Romano cheese- a nice chunk of it. I’m also Italian.

    1. Lacey Avatar

      Curious, does this sauce freeze or store well? I have a large family and would like to make a batch to store. Has anyone tried this?
      Thanks!

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