Course: Main Course
Keyword: clean eating, gluten free, gluten free pasta, healthy, healthy dinner, healthy pasta, high protein, high protein dinner, keto, keto friendly, low carb, pasta, ziti
Why You’ll Love This
Dietary friendly – This is high protein, keto friendly, and can easily be made gluten free with a few swaps listed below.
What You’ll Need
Balanced meal – With at least 30g of protein per serving, it keeps you full and grounded without the energy crash.
One-dish meal – This is minimal mess because once everything is cooked, you pour it all into one dish, bake, and that’s it! No need to prep a ton of extra ingredients.
Meal prep gold – Make it once, eat it for days. It stores so well in the fridge for three to five days or longer in the freezer. Just reheat in the oven or air fryer! You can always cook the pasta and beef ahead of time too so when you’re ready to make this those steps are already done.
Spices – I kept things simple with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, you can add any others you like.
Pasta of choice – You can use gluten free or regular pasta. I love using lentil pasta for extra protein and fiber in this meal! Other great gluten free options are brown rice pasta and cassava pasta.
Ground beef – If you want a lighter option, use ground chicken or turkey instead.
Cottage cheese – I use the full-fat one from Good Culture or Kalona Super Natural. I would say full-fat will have the best results!
Mozzarella
Pasta sauce – I used regular pasta sauce but if you want this to be a little spicy, you can use a spicy sauce
.How To Make
Let it cool for a few minutes and enjoy!
Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly spray a 9×13 baking dish with oil.
Cook your pasta of choice according to the package. Drain the pasta and set aside while you prep the meat.
In a large pan on the stovetop, cook the ground beef until it’s no longer pink. Add in salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
In the baking dish, mix the cooked pasta, cooked ground beef, cottage cheese, and pasta sauce. Stir until everything is coating and combined.
Sprinkle mozzarella on top to evenly coat everything.
Bake for thirty-five minutes, until cheese is bubbly and edges are browned.
Recommended Tools
Strainer – To strain the cooked pasta before adding it to the dish.
Large sauce pan – GreenPan is one of my favorite non-toxic brands.
Baking dish – I use this 9×13 one!
Stainless steel measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- 6 oz pasta (uncooked)
- 1 lb cooked ground beef (+ salt, pepper, Italian seasoning)
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella
- 1 jar pasta sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F and lightly grease a 9×12 baking dish.
- Cook pasta according to package.
- Add ground beef to a pan and cook over the stovetop until no longer pink. Add salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
- Mix the cooked pasta, cooked ground beef, cottage cheese, and pasta sauce in the baking dish.
- Top with mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 35 min until cheese is bubbly and edges are brown. Enjoy!
