The Best Way To Add Cottage Cheese To Any Sauce

There's a lot that's said about all the incredible superfoods that you're often told to add to your meals, especially during the summer. We hear a lot about foods like blueberries, salmon, spinach, and mushrooms, but what about cottage cheese? It might make the superfood list less frequently, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't deserve a place there. It's full of nutrients — like vitamin B12, selenium, and riboflavin — and it's also high in protein. It's been linked to muscle gain, improving bone health, protecting against the development of insulin resistance, and helping you feel fuller for longer. That's great for a breakfast that has to see you all the way through to lunchtime, but what about other meals?

Fortunately, there are a number of ways to use cottage cheese that the whole family will love, including adding it to some of your favorite sauces. Cottage cheese can be a tough sell, so if you and your family don't like the texture but want to add it to your meal plan for all of the amazing benefits it offers, hiding it in sauce is a great way to do exactly that.

Not only does adding cottage cheese to your favorite sauce give your meal a boost of protein and nutritional benefits, it also makes it extra creamy. Because it has a mild, almost neutral flavor, it's not going to change the taste, but it will add a delicious texture — as long as you remember to blend it first.

If you're planning to add cottage cheese to your favorite sauce, remember that not all types are created equal. There are large and small curd varieties, and the small curd tends to be a little more acidic. If that's not something you want for your sauce, opt for the large curd.

The curd size itself isn't going to matter in the final process, as the best way to add cottage cheese to your sauce is to put it into a blender — along with any ingredients like your marinara sauce, red pepper flakes, butter, milk, or parmesan, depending on the type of sauce you're making — and blend it until it reaches a creamy consistency. Once it's ready, just gently warm it. If you're making a pasta sauce, add it to already-cooked pasta and slowly warm it through. Heat it up too much, and your sauce could curdle, but stir regularly over a low heat and magic will happen.

The creamy texture can also vary depending on what kind of cottage cheese you use. A 4% cottage cheese usually contains cream as one of the ingredients, so if you're looking for something that's a little less dense (and higher in protein), use a cottage cheese with a lower fat content. You'll end up with a lighter sauce, which can be perfect for warm summer nights where you feel like a pasta dish, but aren't looking for something that's too heavy.

A marinara sauce might be the first thing that comes to mind when you're deciding what kind of sauce to enhance with cottage cheese, and that's definitely a delicious option. But remember, you can also use it in almost any pasta sauce. It can replace the heavy cream in a vodka sauce, and it also adds an amazing texture when added to beef stroganoff.

Love a hearty, warm-you-from-the-inside sauce? While you might want a rich, comforting Alfredo during those long winter months, it can be a bit much during the summer. Cottage cheese is an amazing option, though, and when blended with milk and parmesan, it makes for a lighter, creamy Alfredo that's perfect when it's served with fresh summer veg like spinach or peas.

There's another kind of sauce that we haven't touched on, but once you try mixing cottage cheese with it, it might be your new go-to, no matter what the season. Cottage cheese is the secret ingredient to a high-protein mac and cheese. Now that we say it, it makes a whole lot of sense, right? Not only does it give your mac and cheese a protein boost, but it also results in an unprecedented creamy texture that's exactly what the dish is all about. And on that note, we do feel an obligation to add that yes, cottage cheese also makes a great cheese sauce that can definitely be used on nachos as well. You're welcome!