20-Minute Creamy Pesto Pasta with Cottage Cheese and Spinach

This quick recipe for creamy pesto pasta with cottage cheese is my hero dinner on busy weeknights (plus my kids love it, too!). It's higher in protein, chock full of veggies and crazy simple to make. Simply blend store-bought or homemade pesto with cottage cheese and spinach, toss with cooked pasta, and bam--dinner's done in 30 minutes!

'Tis the summer of simple! Or is it just me?

Ever since I fell hard for my quick creamy roasted red pepper pasta with cashew cream, I've been trying to create more speedy plant-based pasta dinners that not only deliver major flavor, but also pack a protein + veg punch.

And you don't even have the sauté anything! Lazy girl summer. If you have a basil bounty out back ("I GREW this basil!") and want to whip up pesto, be that star that you are.

Having channeled my inner semi-homemade Sandra by going the store-bought route, I can assure you this comes together in like 5 seconds that way (and it tastes glorious).

Let's make it

A few tidbits I learned from recipe testing

I love this recipe because it's *almost* foolproof. That said, I won't let you make the same mistakes I did.

• Pasta water helps make the sauce silky smooth. In the photo below, I actually tested the recipe sans pasta water and it definitely wasn't as creamy and saucy (which you can see in the picture). Adding the starchy, salty water is key to achieving that perfectly smooth sauce texture!
• I found that over-heating the cottage cheese can cause it to separate, so go low and slow when you're warming up the sauce.
• I tested this recipe with 2% and 4% cottage cheese and I didn't notice much of a difference since the pesto has plenty of olive oil, too. You can use either one.

It's amore!

20-Minute Creamy Pesto Cottage Cheese Pasta with Spinach

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Alexis Joseph, MS, RD
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
• Category: Pasta and Noodles
• Method: Stovetop
• Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
• Diet: Vegetarian

Print Recipe

Save Recipe Recipe Saved

---

Description

This quick recipe for creamy pesto pasta with cottage cheese is my hero dinner on busy weeknights (my kids love it, too!). It's higher in protein, chock full of veggies and crazy simple to make. Simply blend store bought or homemade pesto with cottage cheese and spinach, toss with cooked pasta, and bam--dinner's done in 30 minutes!

---

Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 12oz box short pasta (pictured is Brami curly mac)
• ⅔ cup pesto (I love my homemade pesto with walnuts or use store-bought!)
• 1 ½ cups cottage cheese (low fat or full fat)
• 2 handfuls fresh spinach (or ⅓ cup thawed from frozen spinach, drained)
• reserved pasta water, as needed
• optional for serving: fresh basil, grated parmesan, and red pepper flakes

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once boiling, add a good amount of salt (I use 1 tbsp kosher salt) and the pasta. Boil per package directions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water when you drain it.
2. While pasta cooks, make sauce. Place spinach in a blender first, then add cottage cheese and pesto. Blend very well, until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, adding a pinch of salt to make it pop, or another spoonful of pesto if you like.
3. Heat pot you used for pasta over medium low heat (too high could cause sauce to separate) and add drained pasta back to pot long. Pour sauce on top and stir to combine.
4. Heat for a few minutes until pasta is warmed through, stirring in ¼ cup reserved pasta water at a time to loosen sauce as needed so it stays creamy and clings to the noodles (it'll absorb sauce as it sits; I use about ½ cup). Season with salt to taste. Enjoy topped with fresh basil, parmesan, and red pepper flakes!

---

Notes

Use certified gluten free pasta to make this gluten free.

Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days. Since the sauce thickens with time, I like to add a splash of water or lemon juice when reheating!