High Protein Tuscan Chicken Pasta (One Pot, 30 Minutes)

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

One-pot Tuscan chicken pasta in a white casserole pot, with chickpea rotini, wilted spinach and parmesan shavings

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.

Creamy Tuscan chicken pasta in a white bowl, showing tender chicken pieces, spinach and light cottage cheese sauce

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.

Forkful of high protein Tuscan chicken pasta with tender chicken and creamy sauce, held over the bowl

Alex :)

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 22 mins

Total Time 27 mins

Cooking Method: One Pot, Stovetop

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Courses: Dinner, Lunch

Difficulty: Beginner

Servings: 4

Estimated Cost: 16

Calories: 510 kcal

Best Season: Suitable throughout the year

Dietary: Gluten Free, High Protein

Description

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

500 g chicken breast, diced into 2cm pieces
250 g red lentil fusilli (or other high-protein pasta), dry
300 g low-fat cottage cheese
700 ml chicken stock (low sodium)
50 g sun-dried tomatoes (chopped)
100 g baby spinach
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
30 g parmesan (grated (optional, to serve))
Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1
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.
2
Add the garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
3
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.
4
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.
5
Taste and adjust the salt and pepper, top with the parmesan, and serve immediately.

Nutrition Facts

Servings: 4 ServingCalories:510kcalTotal Fat:12.5gSaturated Fat: 3.3gSodium:760mgTotal Carbohydrate:37gDietary Fiber: 5.5gSugars: 5gProtein:58g