Cottage Cheese Alfredo Fettuccine with Shrimp

I am so excited to share my recipe for cottage cheese alfredo sauce with you on the blog. Cottage cheese is having a moment these days, and out of all the ways you can enjoy it, blending it into a creamy cottage cheese alfredo sauce has to be the BEST USE YET.

When my husband and I were managers at a chain restaurant we used to work at, one of our favorite dishes was a creamy garlic-cream alfredo pasta. You could customize it with vegetables and your choice of protein, and we’d always opt for shrimp and mushrooms. This fettuccine with cottage cheese alfredo sauce tastes JUST like the garlic cream pasta we used to eat. The only difference? It’s healthier, higher in protein, and much lower in fat!

This shrimp fettuccine alfredo with cottage cheese sauce cooks up FAST. In fact, the whole recipe is ready to be enjoyed in about the same time it takes to cook your pasta. I recommend getting all your ingredients laid out and ready to go, because you’ll be moving through everything quickly.

Why You’ll Love this Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce

• This recipe is EASY. In about the same the time it takes to boil some pasta, you can have a delicious, healthy and KID-APPROVED dinner on the table.
• Cottage cheese alfredo sauce tastes NOTHING like cottage cheese. Hear me out, I know cottage cheese is healthy but to be totally honest, I can’t stand it. I don’t like the chunks or even the flavor. But blend it with a bit of milk, parmesan cheese and garlic powder? It turns into straight MAGIC. You won’t be able to tell this creamy and decadent sauce is made from cottage cheese!
• This pasta dish is deceptively healthy and high-in-protein. Cottage cheese packs a big protein punch!
• This pasta is endlessly customizable. You can add any vegetable or protein you’d like. Swap the shrimp for cooked sausage or ham. Swap the mushrooms for cooked broccoli, frozen peas or sun-dried tomatoes. Have leftover rotisserie chicken? Add it in. It’ll work every time.

Tips For Success

• You’ll want to make sure to blend your cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and spices very well until it’s smooth. I used a blender cup and my blender, but you could also do this in a food processor.
• Once the cottage cheese sauce is blended, you will need to be very careful to gently bring it up to temperature. If you heat the sauce too quickly, it can curdle. I like to add the blended cottage cheese alfredo sauce to a cold pan, add in the hot noodles + cooked shrimp + mushrooms, and turn the heat on to low. It only takes a couple minutes for the cottage cheese sauce to heat through.
• Don’t skip the cornstarch in the recipe. This helps the sauce to thicken and also helps to stabilize the cottage cheese to keep it from curdling.

Cottage Cheese Alfredo Fettuccine Ingredients

Cottage Cheese

I used a 2% milk fat to keep this cottage cheese alfredo sauce lower in fat and calories. You are welcome to use full fat cottage cheese if you prefer, but I would avoid the 0% fat cottage cheese as it won’t blend into the sauce as easily.

Milk

Again, I prefer a 2% milk in my recipes to keep the fat and calories lower so that is what I used. Feel free to use whole milk or skim milk. Unflavored almond milk will also work.

Parmesan Cheese

So much of the flavor of this cottage cheese alfredo sauce comes from the parmesan cheese. I just used the basic grated parmesan that comes in the shakers, but you’re welcome to grate your own if you prefer.

Cornstarch

We’ll be mixing the cornstarch into our milk and adding it when we blend the cottage cheese. Don’t skip this – as it helps to prevent the sauce from curdling.

Pasta

I used a fettuccine noodle but this recipe works with your favorite pasta type and shape. To kick up the protein, you can even use a protein pasta.

Other

We’ll also be using two kinds of garlic – fresh cloves as well as garlic powder. I’m adding mushrooms and shrimp to my fettuccine alfredo with cottage cheese, but you can substitute chicken or broccoli, or even sun-dried tomatoes. We’ll need some butter, salt & pepper. I like to garnish with parsley for a little color and flavor but that’s totally optional.

How to Make Cottage Cheese Alfredo Sauce

You’ll start by cooking your pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking, place a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in your butter. Once it starts to melt, add in your chopped fresh garlic and cook for about a minute or until garlic is fragrant. Pat dry your raw shrimp, season with salt and pepper and add to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until shrimp are plump, opaque and fully cooked through. Set shrimp aside.

In the same skillet, add the sliced mushrooms and cook for about 4 – 5 minutes, or until mushrooms release and cook off their liquid and start to brown. Add cooked mushrooms to the same bowl as the cooked shrimp and set aside.

Next, we’ll make our cottage cheese alfredo sauce. In a blender cup or food processor, add cottage cheese, cornstarch, milk, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Blend until very smooth.

I like to grab a new skillet so it’s not too hot, and then add the blended cottage cheese alfredo sauce.

Add in your hot, cooked noodles. Turn on stove to low heat.

Add in your cooked shrimp, mushrooms and parsley if desired. Stir together gently as sauce heats up. Be careful not to overheat sauce. It should be heated through in about one minute.

I like to serve this shrimp fettuccine with cottage cheese alfredo sauce with a lightly tossed green salad and a side of parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.

If you like this recipe, check out my cajun shrimp pasta, made with a similar, high-protein sauce.