Creamy High Protein Pasta for Weight Loss

Creamy pasta for weight loss? What? Listen. Just listen to the sound of this pasta. Wow. You know what’s good when you start pointing the fork at it.

Why You’ll Love This

Today, I’m going to share with y’all a recipe for a protein pasta that has 40 plus grams of protein. It’s super easy, delicious, and most importantly, nutritious.

This is the only one that tastes just like regular pasta, so you don’t need to worry about it tasting like cardboard.

I would definitely, definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a good protein pasta.

It has a great texture once blended. It’s going to be perfectly fine once you blend it, and you’re not even going to note that it’s cottage cheese in the sauce.

It’s literally going to hit every single time. I haven’t gotten tired of it. It only takes like 15 minutes to make. Macro friendly.

Ingredients

Protein pasta (penne or whatever you like)
Onion
Garlic
Tomato paste
Red chili flakes or red chili-like paste
Basil (optional)
Shrimp (fresh or frozen)
Cottage cheese
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Crushed red chili flakes
Olive oil
Salt
Butter

Instructions

I’m going to start by thawing out my shrimp.
I’m just going to soak this under water.
Then, I’m going to go ahead and get some water boiling for the pasta.
And while the pasta water is boiling, I’m going to chop up my onions and garlic.
For one serving, about a quarter of an onion, depending on the size, is fine. You’re going to cut it this way. So, like, thick-wise. And then, this way. Dice.
And then, I’m also going to mince one clove of garlic.
Once your shrimp is thawed, you’re going to add a little bit of onion powder.
A little bit of garlic powder.
And a little bit of crushed red chili flakes.
Add a little bit of olive oil on top and give it a good mix.
Make sure to give a hefty pinch of salt to your pasta water.
Go ahead and put your pan on medium-high heat.
My water is boiling, and I’ve set my pan on medium-high heat with a little bit of olive oil.
I’m going to add half a cup of pasta to the boiling water. I’m using a quarter cup measurement. And a little bit more, because I’m hungry.
Then, I set my timer for eight minutes for the pasta.
And once my pan is hot, I’m going to go ahead and start cooking my shrimp.
Then, in the meantime, I’m going to prep the base for my sauce, which is going to be a quarter cup of cottage cheese.
Once the shrimp is cooked, just take it off the pan.
And immediately go in with a little bit of butter. This is probably around like a teaspoon of butter.
Kind of just want to get all the scrapings off.
And then, I’m going to go ahead and add my onion.
While I’m here, I’m going to set aside a little bit of pasta water.
And once the onion is clear, I’m going to add in my garlic.
Add in your chili flakes or your chili paste.
And go ahead and add in your tomato paste. I’m using like an eating spoon, about half of it. Probably is like a tablespoon.
Then, go ahead and add in a little bit of pasta water to dilute the tomato paste.
It’s time to get in the pasta.
Alright, so now that this has thickened up a bit, I’m going to turn the heat off.
And then, go ahead and add the tomato, onion, and garlic mixture to the cottage cheese.
If you have basil, go ahead and add it in. Mine is starting to go bad, so I’m just picking out the good pieces.
Then, go ahead and pour it all together into the blender.
Alright, then put your pan back on low heat.
And add your sauce back to the pan.
Then, go ahead and add your pasta back into the pan.
Then, go ahead and add your shrimp in as well.
Once everything is thoroughly combined, you’re now ready to plate.

Cooking Tips

These only take like one to two minutes to cook, so make sure to keep an eye on them.

You can see how the edges start to pink. That’s when you know they’re ready to flip. You don’t really want to overcook these.

The shrimp is one serving, and that’s 23 grams of protein. You can do more, you can do less, whatever you like. I find eight is fine for the amount of pasta.

It’s okay if it’s a little bit more. It’s honestly just extra protein.

You can make it more, obviously, by having more shrimp, more pasta, a little bit more of the sauce. Or you can also add a cheese to the sauce to make it a bit creamier.

This recipe would definitely be great for meal prep. I would just say, if you are meal prepping it for four days, things are going to cook a little bit. When you reheat. So just make sure to undercook your pasta and your shrimp just a bit.

Serving Suggestions

I’m going to go ahead and garnish with a little bit of fresh basil. Or a lot of it.

As well as a little bit more of the red chili flakes. Just because I like my pasta spicy.

And there you have it. Here is your 40 gram plus pasta. The protein breakdown is this. The half a cup of pasta is 10 grams. The shrimp is about 23 grams. The cheese, a quarter cup will yield 7 grams of protein. And that adds up to 40 grams.

Yeah, other than that, if you give this recipe a try, please let me know. Thanks. Bye.