Cottage Cheese Alfredo Spaghetti with Mini Beef Meatballs (47 grams of protein)
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Nothing says comfort food like creamy alfredo and meatballs. As a girl who loves comfort, I love turning comfort food into a lightened-up but still delicious version with loads of protein. This alfredo spaghetti has no heavy cream and no butter, and it’s still rich enough to twirl with 47 grams of protein.
Cottage cheese alfredo sauce always steals the show. Blended cottage cheese (no curds, just smooth perfection), milk, Parmesan, and a little arrowroot to thicken it up. Pairing the creamy sauce with the juicy mini meatballs and protein noodles makes for the perfect weeknight 30-minute meal.
The whole thing comes together while the pasta boils. Meatballs bake, sauce blends, spaghetti cooks, and everything meets in one skillet. Need more pasta night ideas? My high-protein pasta recipes roundup has plenty.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- 47g protein per serving
- Ready in 30 minutes
- 35 mini meatballs, split evenly per bowl
- Oven-baked meatballs, one skillet for the rest
Ingredients and Substitutions:
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for this alfredo spaghetti. See the recipe card below for the full ingredient list and instructions.
- 96/4 Lean Ground Beef. Keeps the meatballs lean. The panko soak gives moisture, so don’t skip it.
- Panko and Milk. The soak keeps lean beef juicy. Regular breadcrumbs work too.
- Parmesan. Freshly grated, in the meatballs and the sauce. Pre-grated doesn’t melt as smoothly.
- Worcestershire Sauce. Adds savory depth to the beef. Small amount, big payoff.
- Barilla Protein+ Spaghetti. Higher protein than regular pasta. Any spaghetti works, but your macros will change.
- 2% Cottage Cheese. The base of the sauce. Blend it until completely smooth, no curds.
- Fairlife 2% Milk. Extra protein in the sauce. Any milk works, with slightly lower protein.
- Arrowroot Powder. Thickens the sauce as it warms. Cornstarch is the easy swap.
Dietary Modifications
- Gluten-free: Use gluten-free panko and gluten-free spaghetti. Double check your Worcestershire sauce is gluten-free.
- Dairy-free: Doesn’t really work here. The sauce is built on cottage cheese, milk, and Parmesan.
Expert Tip!
Room-temperature dairy and low heat. That’s the whole game. Set the cottage cheese and milk out before anything else, and keep the skillet on medium-low. Cold dairy hitting heat is how you get a grainy, split sauce. Let the drained pasta rest a minute before tossing, too, so it’s close to the sauce’s temperature.
Variations
- Swap the beef: Use 93/7 ground turkey instead. Leaner turkey (99/1) turns dry and crumbly, so stick with 93/7.
- Add veggies: Toss in steamed broccoli, spinach, or peas at the end with the meatballs. Spinach wilts right into the hot sauce.
- Make it spicy: Add more red pepper flakes to the meatballs, or a pinch in the sauce.
- Skip the meatballs: Top with grilled chicken or shrimp instead.
- Change the pasta: Penne, rigatoni, or fettuccine all hold the sauce well. Macros change with anything other than Barilla Protein+.
Troubleshooting tips
- Sauce is grainy or separated → Dairy was cold or the heat was too high. Fix: room-temp dairy, blend a full 60 to 90 seconds, keep the heat low.
- Sauce got too thick → It thickens as it sits. Fix: add a splash of pasta water or water and toss.
- Meatballs are tough → Overmixed. Fix: mix with your hands only until combined, then stop.
Recipe FAQs
Add a splash of milk or broth to loosen the sauce, then warm it gently. The sauce tightens up in the fridge, so don’t skip the splash.
About 2-3 days in an airtight container in the fridge.
The meatballs freeze well in the fridge in a freezer safe container for 2-3 months. The pasta does not freeze well and is not suggested.
160°F on a thermometer, browned on top after the broil.
Yes, you can use any pasta you love.
To log this in MyFitnessPal or MacrosFirst, search: Ohsnapmacros – Alfredo Spaghetti with Mini Beef Meatballs.
Check out our other high-protein meals
If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!
Alfredo Spaghetti and Meatballs
MyFitnessPal & MacrosFirst App Users
You can find this recipe and many others on MyFitnessPal and MacrosFirst by searching: Ohsnapmacros – Alfredo Spaghetti and Meatballs
Ingredients
Mini Meatballs
- 2 Tbsp. 2% Fairlife milk
- ¼ cup panko
- 1 lb. 96/4 lean ground beef
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- ¾ tsp. kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
Pasta and Sauce
- 8 oz Barilla Protein+ spaghetti
- 1½ cups 2% cottage cheese room temperature
- 1 cup 2% Fairlife milk room temperature
- ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. arrowroot powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- fresh parsley and extra Parmesan for serving
Instructions
- Set the cottage cheese and milk for the sauce out on the counter first so they lose their chill. Room-temperature dairy is less likely to separate. Heat the oven to 425°F and line a sheet pan with parchment.
- In a large bowl, stir the panko into the 2 tbsp of milk and let it soak for 5 minutes. This helps keep the meatballs juicy.
- Add the beef, egg, Parmesan, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Mix with your hands only until combined, since overmixing makes them tough.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, portion out 35 mini meatballs onto the pan, then quickly roll each one with wet hands. Crowding is fine because they shrink as they cook. You could even go small if you want just bake for less time.
- Bake at 425°F for 10 minutes, then broil 1–2 minutes until browned on top. Pull them at 160°F.
- While the meatballs bake, put a pot of salted water on to boil. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions.
- Blend the cottage cheese, milk, Parmesan, garlic powder, arrowroot, salt, and pepper on high for 60–90 seconds, until completely smooth.
- As the pasta cooks, pour the sauce into a large skillet over medium-low. Warm it for 5–7 minutes, whisking often, until it thickens. Keep the heat low so it doesn't burn.
- After draining, give the pasta 1 minute to cool slightly so it's close to the sauce's temperature. With the heat on low, add it to the skillet and toss with tongs until every strand is coated. It will thicken as it sets. If the sauce gets too thick, add a splash of water.
- Turn off the heat. Fold in the meatballs. Finish with parsley and more Parmesan, pepper or red pepper flakes as desired. Serving size: 7 meatballs and 307 grams of pasta.
Notes
- Serving size: 7 meatballs and 307 grams of pasta.
- Leftovers: add a splash of milk or broth to loosen the sauce when reheating.
- Keep the dairy at room temperature and the heat low so the sauce stays smooth.
- You can definitely make these meatballs even smaller if desired. Just bake them for less time until cooked through.
- Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with substitutions.
