Blend This Creamy Ingredient Into Tomato Sauce For A Sneaky Protein Boost

A simple, homemade tomato sauce is a hearty, gratifying accompaniment to everything from a steaming bowl of pasta to pizza dough ready for baking. The best sauces have a San Marzano tomato base along with aromatics like garlic and onions and various spices, leaving plenty of room for other ingredients. One ingredient to incorporate that you may already have stocked in your refrigerator that not only adds flavor but also a punch of protein is cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese is also having a viral moment thanks to its versatility and surprisingly high protein content. Blending or mixing in mild, milky cottage cheese into a finished tomato sauce gives it a pronounced zip and tang as well as a thicker, creamier consistency. Furthermore, adding ½ cup of 2% cottage cheese contributes 12 grams of protein to your full batch of sauce. 

When it comes to how much cottage cheese to add to your sauce, a 1:1 ratio of cottage cheese to tomato sauce is an excellent place to start. Since cottage cheese comes in a variety of curd sizes, it's dealer's choice when it comes to blending versus mixing. Personally, I prefer reaching for my immersion blender — perfect for puréeing — to transform the sauce into something luxuriously smooth.

Cottage cheese is made from cow's milk curds with cream or milk added for richness. Low-fat cottage cheeses add lower-fat milk back to the curds, resulting in a higher water content. As such, whole-milk cottage cheese leads to a creamier, richer tomato sauce, while reduced-fat cottage cheese varieties generally cause a thinner texture and less overall richness. 

Cottage cheese is also an incredibly adaptable ingredient. It works with any type of tomato sauce, whether homemade or store-bought, and regardless of flavor — from sweet basil to spicy arrabbiata. You can even use it in a vodka sauce. Its mild flavor readily takes on herbs, spices, and flavorful additions without overpowering them. Just be sure to taste and season as you go to get the desired consistency and flavor.

The resulting velvety tomato-cottage cheese sauce can be used in a multitude of ways. Serve it simply over a bowl of pasta or spoon it onto a pizza as the base for a doubly cheesy Margherita pie. Serve it atop grilled chicken breasts or fish, or use it as the foundation for a decadent shakshuka breakfast. It also works in place of marinara when serving up a tray of crispy, cheesy mozzarella sticks.