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30 Minute One Pot Pumpkin Pasta with Cottage Cheese

Danielle Lima Posted on Updated on
This Pumpkin Pasta is a one-pot meal loaded with ground beef and pasta shells in a creamy cottage cheese pumpkin sauce. Full of fall flavors, this is a great recipe to warm you up on cold winter nights. It's like hamburger helper went to the pumpkin patch drinking a pumpkin spice latte and came home a high protein, light but hearty meal that's also ready in less than 30 minutes.
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Pumpkin beef pasta plated on a placemat with a fork for eating with sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Get cozy this fall with this dreamy pumpkin pasta. This healthy one pot meal is made with a creamy pumpkin sauce, ground beef and pasta shells, with fall flavors loaded in each bite.

This easy meal is high protein, high fiber and lighter than a traditional cream sauce. We make the creamy pumpkin sauce with cottage cheese and no heavy cream, meaning you still get a heavenly rich sauce but at a fraction of the fat and calories.

I like to think of this as a hamburger helper/gnocchi type dish. Because we cook everything together, the sauce and meat get naturally stuffed in the shells, so eat bite is filled with the creamy sauce, meat and pasta. Need I say more?

Now you’ve got the savory covered, so don’t forget about the sweet! Try my pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust and pumpkin chocolate chip bread, to compliment your pumpkin pasta.

Why you’ll love this recipe

  • Creamy one pot meal.
  • Simple ingredients.
  • High protein and added fiber from pumpkin.

Ingredients and Substitutes:

These are the main ingredients and substitutions. See recipe card below for full ingredients list and instructions for this creamy pumpkin pasta recipe.

Medium shell pasta, water, cumin, rosemary, olive oil, tomato paste, pumpkin puree, beef broth, ground beef, onion, garlic, cottage cheese, cinnamon, salt and pepper for making pasta.
  • Lean Ground Beef: or ground chicken, ground pork or ground turkey or omit entirely.
  • Chipotle Chili Powder: this adds depth and some heat. You can omit if preferred.
  • Medium Shell Pasta: you can use any type of pasta, but I love using shells because the meat and sauce gets into every shell making each bite super flavorful.
  • Beef Broth: if using ground beef, beef broth is your best option but you can use chicken broth, vegetable broth or bone broth.
  • Canned Pumpkin Puree: not pumpkin pie filling.
  • Low-Fat Cottage Cheese: we use this in place of heavy cream. Use full fat instead of low-fat for a more creamy sauce. You can substitute with greek yogurt, heavy cream or whole milk to keep it creamy.
  • Tomato Paste

Variations

Dietary Modifications

  • To lower carb, you can use half the shells and half the beef broth. Up the volume with added veggies or cauliflower rice. 
  • For gluten-free, use a gluten free noodle.
  • For dairy-free, add some dairy-free yogurt at the end to get a similar creamienss.

How to make this pumpkin pasta dish (a step-by-step guide):

Step 1: cook the ground beef

Add the olive oil to a large skillet or large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent (image 1). Add the ground beef and cook, breaking into bite size pieces, until cooked through (image 2). Approximately 5 minutes. Add the salt, chipotle powder, cumin, rosemary and pepper (image 3). Stir to combine (image 4).

Four images showing sauteed garlic and onion, adding ground beef to brown and then added the spices to season the beef.

Step 2: cook the pasta and make the sauce

Add the uncooked pasta, beef broth and water to the pan, stirring to submerge the pasta shells as best as possible (image 5). Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat. Cook, stirring often for 12-14 minutes or until the pasta is cooked (image 6). Add cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, tomato paste and cinnamon directly to the pan with the pasta (image 7). Stir and cook for a few additional minutes to warm through and evenly coat the pasta shells (image 8).

Four images showing how to add the pasta shells to the liquid to cook and adding the pumpkin and cottage cheese to make the creamy sauce.

Expert Tip!

If using chickpea pasta you will need to reduce the simmer time so it doesn’t get mushy.

Recipe FAQs

How do I store leftovers?

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. If it dries out, add a little milk or cream.

Is canned pumpkin puree the same as pumpkin pie filling?

No! And you don’t want to swap the two. Pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices whereas the puree is just canned fresh pumpkin and nothing more.

Creamy pumpkin beef pasta in a large skillet with parmesan cheese and a spoon for serving.

Check out our other savory dishes!

If you make this recipe, please leave a rating and/or comment! Tag me on Instagram @ohsnapmacros, I love hearing from you!

Pumpkin beef pasta plated on a placemat with a fork for eating with sprigs of fresh rosemary.

Pumpkin Pasta

Danielle Lima
This Pumpkin Pasta is a one-pot meal loaded with ground beef and pasta shells in a creamy cottage cheese pumpkin sauce. Full of fall flavors, this is a great recipe to warm you up on cold winter nights. It's like hamburger helper went to the pumpkin patch drinking a pumpkin spice latte and came home a high protein, light but hearty meal that's also ready in less than 30 minutes.
4.78 from 9 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Servings 6 servings
Calories 459 kcal

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Ingredients
  

  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb. lean ground beef 96/4
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/2-1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder see notes
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
  • fresh cracked pepper
  • 16 oz. medium shell pasta
  • 4 cups low sodium beef broth 32 oz.
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese 220g
  • 1 can pumpkin puree 15 oz.
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste

Optional Garnish

  • fresh rosemary
  • fresh basil
  • fresh sage leaves
  • Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onion is translucent. 
  • Add the ground beef and cook, breaking into bite size pieces, until cooked through. Approximately 5 minutes. Add the salt, chipotle powder, cumin, rosemary and pepper. Stir to combine.
  • Add the uncooked pasta, beef broth and water to the pan, stirring to submerge the pasta shells as best as possible. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat. Cook, stirring often for 12-14 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. 
  • Optional, add the cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, tomato paste and cinnamon to a blender and blend so the cottage cheese is smooth. Or, just add in chunky, I promise it doesn’t effect the taste or texture of the pasta. 
  • Add the cottage cheese, pumpkin puree, tomato paste and cinnamon directly to the pan with the pasta. Stir and cook for a few additional minutes to warm through and evenly coat the pasta shells. 
  • Adjust with salt and pepper to taste, serve and enjoy! 

Notes

  • Heat Notes: use ¼ tsp. of chipotle for mild and ½ for medium. We like this to have some heat to compliment the pumpkin. 
  • This is a high-carb pasta, we’re using a full box of shells. To lower carb you can use half the shells and half the beef broth. Up the volume with added veggies or cauliflower rice. 
  • Add spinach or kale for extra veggies.
  • Nutritional information is an estimate and will vary with substitutions. 
  • Serving size grams are an approximate and will change person to person, for the most accurate measurement weigh you dish and divide by the serving size for grams per serving. 

Nutrition

Serving: 402gCalories: 459kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 33gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 490mgPotassium: 644mgFiber: 5gSugar: 7g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

17 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Just made this tonight with half of the pasta and used banza shells. Used 1.25 lbs of bison from Costco and it was fantastic! I added about 15g of agave syrup at the end and the tiny bit of sweetness really brought out all of the flavors. Delicious!! Will keep this one in the rotation.

    Reply

    1. Hmm, do you mean sub chicken or turkey with the ground beef? If so, yes you can definitely substitute the ground beef for ground turkey or chicken. I would use a higher fat % to keep a good flavor like a 93/7 turkey vs. 99/1. If you mean sub the beef broth with another broth then sure, the beef broth just adds more flavor than a chicken or vegetable broth for this recipe.

      Reply

  4. 5 stars
    So delicious and the perfect balance of flavors! I love pumpkin and a savory recipe done right is just *chefs kiss*… I’m already looking forward to making it again. This is being added to my regular rotation!

    Reply

  7. 5 stars
    Tis the season for pumpkin and this is the perfect addition to our fall rotation!! Your recipes never disappoint! We all appreciate you sharing your talent with us all! ❤️

    Reply

  8. 5 stars
    I’m obsessed with all things pumpkin and was so excited to try this and it did not disappoint. I blended it so the sauce was smooth and used penne noodles so there was sauce in every bite. Loved.

    Reply

  9. 3 stars
    i had super high hopes, but something was just missing. :/ made the recipe exactly as written, except used a pound of veggie ground, and vegetable broth in place of beef. kiddo wouldn’t eat it. partner thought it was worth eating. i was disappointed because it sounded so good, but somehow… wasn’t.

    Reply

    1. Bummer! I imagine by not using ground beef or beef broth you lost a lot of the flavor in this recipe since it’s heavy beef which is going to add a lot of flavor to the dish.

      Reply
4.78 from 9 votes

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