This high protein Tuscan chicken pasta is a creamy one-pot dinner that’s ready in under 30 minutes, with around 58g of protein and 510 calories per serving. The sauce is blended cottage cheese instead of double cream, and the red lentil pasta cooks right in the stock, all the comfort of a creamy Tuscan pasta, with exactly one pot to wash.
This recipe is part of my 30 Dinners in 30 Minutes series, which exists for one simple reason: the gap between “I want something creamy and comforting” and “I have 27 minutes and no interest in washing up” is exactly where takeaways happen. This pasta closes that gap.
Traditional Tuscan chicken pasta leans on double cream, and I have no quarrel with double cream. But when I want this on a random Tuesday and still want to hit my protein target, cottage cheese does something quietly brilliant, it melts into the hot pasta and becomes a creamy, savoury sauce that has no business being this easy. Here’s what you’re getting:
- One pot, start to finish, the pasta cooks in the stock, so there’s no draining and no colander
- About 27 minutes, which is less time than it takes a delivery driver to find your flat
- Four meal-prep-friendly portions that reheat beautifully
Key Ingredients
- Red lentil fusilli — it brings roughly double the protein of regular pasta and cooks directly in the stock. Banza chickpea pasta or any other high-protein pasta behaves the same way, and regular pasta works too — just start checking it a couple of minutes early.
- Cottage cheese, the whole trick. Stirred in over a low heat it melts into a creamy sauce; blitz it for 10 seconds first if you want it completely smooth. If you’re sceptical, I understand, I’ve converted people with my cottage cheese egg muffins before, and this will finish the job.
- Sun-dried tomatoes, the flavour engine of the dish: salty, sweet and intensely savoury. Don’t swap them for fresh tomatoes; it’s not the same job.
- Low-sodium chicken stock, it reduces down into the sauce itself, so a low-sodium one keeps the finished dish balanced rather than salty.
- Baby spinach, wilts in at the end and disappears politely into the sauce, taking its iron and folate with it.
Coaching note: the reason this bowl keeps you satisfied for hours isn’t just the protein, it’s the protein and fibre working together, slowing digestion and steadying your energy. It’s the exact pairing I’ve written about in why fibre and protein both matter, and it’s what makes this feel like comfort food that may actually support your goals instead of fighting them.
If creamy weeknight pasta is your genre, my creamy zucchini and chicken pasta is this recipe’s cousin, same energy, different vegetables.
Alex 🙂
High Protein Tuscan Chicken Pasta (One Pot, 30 Minutes)
A creamy one-pot Tuscan chicken pasta with around 58g of protein per serving. Blended cottage cheese replaces the double cream, the red lentil pasta cooks right in the stock, and the whole thing is done in under 30 minutes, one pot, no draining, no takeaway.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Heat the olive oil in a large, deep pan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add to the pan and sear for 4-5 minutes until golden on the outside — it does not need to be cooked through yet, it will finish in the sauce.
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Add the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
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Pour in the stock and add the pasta straight to the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes so the pasta does not stick to the bottom. It is ready when the pasta is tender and the liquid has mostly reduced.
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Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the cottage cheese, spinach, and Italian seasoning, and keep stirring for 2-3 minutes until the spinach wilts and the cottage cheese melts into a creamy sauce coating the pasta. For an ultra-smooth sauce, blitz the cottage cheese in a blender for 10 seconds before adding.
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Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, top with the parmesan, and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 ServingCalories:510kcalTotal Fat:12.5gSaturated Fat: 3.3gSodium:760mgTotal Carbohydrate:37gDietary Fiber: 5.5gSugars: 5gProtein:58g
Note
- Nutrition values are per serving and are estimates based on standard UK products, red lentil pasta, cottage cheese and stock all vary by brand, so check your labels if you are tracking closely
- For an ultra-smooth sauce, blitz the cottage cheese for 10 seconds before adding, it disappears completely into the sauce
- Meal prep: keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. The pasta soaks up sauce as it sits, so stir through a splash of stock or water when reheating
- Freezes for up to 1 month, though the texture is best fresh or fridge-reheated
- Contains dairy (cottage cheese, parmesan). Gluten-free as written with red lentil pasta — just double-check your stock is gluten-free too
