Broccoli cheddar protein mac
25 min · 30 g protein · 345 cals / serving
Stovetop mac and cheese with a sharp, glossy cheddar sauce built on blended cottage cheese, protein elbows, and a big head of broccoli cooked right in the pasta pot. Creamy, mustardy and on the table in about twenty-five minutes.
Ingredients
- 5 oz protein pasta, dry, elbows (about 360 g once cooked)
- about 6 cups broccoli, from 1 large head, in small florets
Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups cottage cheese (1%)
- 2/3 cup skim milk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 3/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp paprika, smoked if you have it
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 3/4 cup low fat cheddar cheese, grated
Steps
- Blend the cottage cheese, milk, cornstarch, mustard, garlic powder, paprika and pepper for a full 2 minutes, until completely smooth.
- Cook the elbows in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water. Add the broccoli for the last 4 minutes, then drain both together and let them steam-dry in the colander for 2 minutes.
- Pour the blended sauce into the empty pot and warm it over low heat, stirring, until it thickens, 3–4 minutes. Do not let it boil.
- Take the pot off the heat, stir in both cheddars until melted and glossy, then fold through the pasta and broccoli. Serve straight away, loosening with a splash of milk if it thickens as it stands.
Good to know
Why two cheddars?
The sharp one brings the flavor and the low-fat one brings the volume without the grease. Grate both yourself: bagged shreds are coated in starch and melt grainy.
My sauce turned grainy.
It got too hot, or the cottage cheese was not blended completely smooth. Keep the heat low once the cheese goes in, and blend longer than seems necessary.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 95
- Protein
- (35%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (20%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (44%)
- 11 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 185 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1379 kcal goes into the pot and 1502 g of ingredients comes out as about 1450 g of food: 95 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.