This creamy cottage cheese sauce is going to change your mind about cottage cheese! We're taking a few simple ingredients and concentrating those flavors into a delicious one pan garlic chicken with a high protein cottage cheese sauce. Inspired by vodka sauce, you get the delicious creaminess with a bump of protein!
Recipe Price: $7.81 | Per Serving: $1.95 | Yield: 4
Recipe at a Glance
- Cooking Time: 30 minutes
- Dietary Info: Protein-rich (28g+ per serving!), Gluten-free
- Recipe Highlight: On the table in 30 minutes + just add veggies and a starch on the side, like a quinoa side dish or roasted delicata (or just pasta or rice!).
- Flavor & Texture: This cottage cheese cheese sauce recipe has a richness from cooking down the cottage cheese and a milk tomato flavor. It's inspired by vodka sauce, but is much thicker.
- Tip: You want to cook the cottage cheese cream sauce longer than you think. After 5 minutes, it may seem 'done', but we're taking a tip from Indian curries and simmering it for much longer to really concentrate the flavor. But of course, feel free to leave it looser if you prefer. You can also stir in some baby spinach before serving if you'd like.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
If you grew up in the 90's and early 2000's did you know about "pink sauce"? It's basically vodka sauce but without the vodka, and I remember it being common on kids' menus circa 2005. I didn't try it until I was at least 18, but I LOVED it. Cream does a great job of balancing the acidity in tomatoes, and this cottage cheese pink sauce is inspired by that creamy sauce, but is also something totally different.
There's a lot of versatility with this cottage cheese sauce recipe - feel free to swap out the protein, or add garlic or other herbs to the blended sauce. You can change up the seasonings and lean into Italian herbs, or head further south with other Mediterranean (smoked paprika) or Indian (curry, turmeric, fenugreek, cayenne, etc.) spices. Try this dairy-free butter chicken next.
Ingredients
- Roma Tomato: You can use any fresh tomatoes here, but Roma and small grape or cherry tomatoes will have more pectin, which results in a thicker sauce. Feel free to replace with 1 Tablespoon tomato paste or ¼ cup canned tomatoes if you'd prefer.
- Cottage Cheese: I recommend 2% or full-fat (which is 4%) cottage cheese here. Try these cottage cheese pancakes too.
- Garlic: Go for fresh - this is definitely a significant component of this garlic chicken, and you won't get the same flavor from powder or pre-minced.
See the recipe card for the full list of ingredients with quantities.
Dietary Modifications & Variations
- Paleo: This recipe is not Paleo, but you could try a cashew-based sauce instead of cottage cheese.
- Vegetarian: To make this vegetarian, I recommend butter beans instead of chicken. It's similar to how I used them in this marry me butter beans recipe.
- Vegan: Cashew cream or silken tofu (with nutritional yeast) can replace the cottage cheese, while butter beans can replace the chicken
- Low FODMAP: if you skip the garlic, this recipe is moderately low FODMAP, but it depends on your tolerance of lactose in the cottage cheese.
How to Make Cottage Cheese Vodka Sauce
There's very little prep for this healthy sauce for chicken, and I promise you it is absolutely delicious despite the simple ingredients!
Step 1: Chop your tomato and mince your garlic, set the garlic aside.
Step 2: Blend the cottage cheese with the chopped tomato and a little water.
Step 3: Cube the chicken and brown it in a hot skillet.
Step 4: Add the garlic and spices and sauté for about 30 seconds.
Step 5: Add the 'pink sauce' and stir well. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the flavors have melded. Feel free to add more water if you think it's too thick.
Step 6: Optionally, you can stir in some baby spinach to wilt right before you take it off the heat. Serve as is or over rice or pasta, and with veggies on the side, like a salad with lemon basil dressing.
Expert Tips
You’re going to cook this cottage cheese tomato sauce for so much longer than you think you need to - soldier on! We’re going for a deeper, richer flavor, which you get from that longer cook. If you want a looser sauce or more sauce to pour over pasta or rice, you can stop cooking this around 8-10 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
To make this cottage cheese and tomato sauce with chicken a complete meal, here are some ideas:
- cook with a drained can of butter beans (add when you add the sauce) and stir in fresh baby spinach until it wilts (just before removing it from the heat)
- stir in a few cups of frozen cauliflower and serve with your favorite gnocchi or pasta, try a lemony arugula salad on the side
- plop in a Tablespoon of sambal oolek and serve with rice and a sesame cucumber salad
- serve with quinoa and vegetables, like this roasted vegetable salad.
Cottage Cheese Sauce Recipe FAQs
Yes! The texture of dairy changes in the freezer, so it might be a little bit different when you reheat it, but it should work! You can make the sauce ahead of time and freeze it either before or after you cook it.
If you reheat this in a pan, it might stick to the pan, so you'll need to add a little water. Alternatively, feel free to reheat this in the microwave.
More Easy Chicken Thigh Recipes
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Creamy Pink Cottage Cheese Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 roma tomato about 100g
- 1 cup 4% cottage cheese full fat is my preference here!
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 4 large cloves garlic
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs
- ½ Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt as needed
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
- Finely mince the garlic and set aside. Roughly chop the roma tomato.
- To make the sauce, blend the chopped tomato with the cottage cheese and about 2 Tablespoons of water until smooth. Set this aside.
- Chop the chicken into small bite-sized cubes. Bring a skillet to medium heat. If using a cast iron skillet, be sure to let it heat up for 2-3 minutes so it is evenly heated. Then add the olive oil and swirl it around, and immediately add the chopped chicken in an even layer and sprinkle with some of the salt. Try not to move the chicken for about 2 minutes so it can develop some nice brown color.
- After 2-3 minutes, stir the chicken well to brown on all sides, and make a space in the middle of the pan to add the garlic, along with the black pepper and the red pepper flakes. Give the garlic about 1 minute to have full contact with the pan before stirring it all together to incorporate. (Note: the chicken doesn’t have to be fully cooked here, we will keep cooking it!)
- After another minute or so, pour in the sauce, scraping out the blender cup to make sure you get it all! Stir to combine and then simmer over low-medium heat for about 15 minutes or until it has reduced and thickened and lost most of the raw tomato flavor. Stir occasionally to prevent the chicken from sticking to the bottom.
- We’re cooking this longer than you think in order to really concentrate the flavors. It’s going to be delicious! Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and garnish with fresh herbs of choice - basil is great here. Serve as is or over your favorite starchy carb with a lightly dressed salad on the side. (I love it with this bright arugula salad or with a tangy vinaigrette.)
Notes
- Feel free to skip the red pepper flakes if you don’t tolerate spice.
- You’re going to cook this for so much longer than you think you need to - soldier on! We’re going for a deeper, richer flavor, which you get from that longer cook. If you want a looser sauce or more sauce to pour over pasta or rice, you can stop cooking this around 8-10 minutes.
- Serve with a nice light green salad and your starch of choice on the side, such as rice, pasta, or quinoa.
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