Protein Mac and Cheese

The cottage cheese sauce

Blending cottage cheese until completely smooth, then warming it gently with a modest amount of strong mature cheddar, gives a glossy sauce with a fraction of the fat of a traditional butter-and-flour roux, plus a large protein uplift from the cottage cheese itself. A 250g tub of cottage cheese can carry around 25g to 30g of protein, most of which transfers straight into the sauce.

Blend it properly — around thirty seconds in a high-speed blender or food processor — or the sauce stays visibly grainy, which is the main reason people are put off this method the first time they try it. Keep the heat low once the cheese goes into the pan so the proteins do not split and turn the sauce oily.

Pasta and extras

Swapping to a legume or enriched wheat pasta, covered in more detail on our protein pasta guide, adds another few grams of protein per portion on top of the sauce. Stirring in shredded chicken, tuna or crisped bacon lifts the total further and turns the dish into a complete meal rather than a side dish.

Strong, well-aged cheese used in a smaller quantity beats a large quantity of mild cheese for the same flavour intensity, which keeps the calorie count more reasonable while the cottage cheese base does the protein work.

Method for a family-sized batch

For four portions: cook 300g of pasta according to the pack. Blend 500g of cottage cheese with a splash of milk until completely smooth, then warm gently in a pan with 80g of grated strong cheddar, a little mustard powder and black pepper, stirring until glossy. Toss the drained pasta through the sauce off the heat, adding a splash of pasta cooking water if it needs loosening.

For extra protein, stir through 200g of shredded cooked chicken or drained tinned tuna before serving, and top with a little extra grated cheese under the grill for a crisp finish if you like a baked version.

Homemade versus shop-bought

Shop-bought 'protein' mac and cheese products exist and can be a convenient option, but check the pack carefully since some rely mainly on the pasta for the protein uplift rather than the sauce, giving a smaller overall improvement than a cottage-cheese-based homemade version.

A homemade version also allows you to control sodium, which can be high in packaged cheese sauces, and to adjust the cheese-to-cottage-cheese ratio to taste.

Common mistakes

The most common mistake is skipping the blending step, which leaves a lumpy, unappealing texture that undermines the whole idea for anyone trying it for the first time. The second is boiling the sauce hard once the cheese is added, which causes it to split and become greasy rather than staying smooth and glossy.