Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake with Mushrooms

This new recipe for Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake also has mushrooms, Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce, Mozzarella, and Parmesan Cheese. And this is a delicious meatless baked pasta made with Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini, so it’s lower in net carbs than you might think.

PIN the Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake to try it later!

Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake with Mushrooms is a vegetarian pasta casserole that’s loaded with creamy goodness from plenty of cottage cheese and Mozzarella cheese! And I know warmer weather is coming, so I’m happy to share it with you before casserole season turns into salad season.

Kara and I loved this recipe, even though the final results were not overly ultra photogenic. But the combination of pasta, mushrooms, flavorful Rao’s pasta sauce, dried herbs, cottage cheese, Mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan Cheese was such a winner.

My site has quite a few recipes for pasta with sausage, but this is a flavorful pasta casserole that has great flavors without any meat! I hope you try this recipe soon if you like the sound of these ingredients!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

(This is only a list of ingredients; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe with ingredient amounts.)

• Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini (affiliate link)
• fresh mushrooms
• olive oil
• Rao’s Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce (affiliate link)
• Italian Seasoning (affiliate link)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link) or Salt Free Spike Seasoning (affiliate link)
• Dried Oregano (affiliate link)
• cottage cheese, preferably Good Culture Cottage Cheese
• grated Mozzarella cheese
• coarsely grated Parmesan Cheese

Why I added mushrooms to the Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake:

We added mushrooms for flavor but also because they’re an ingredient that doesn’t add many carbs. And when we were eating this we loved the bites of mushroom throughout the pasta dish. We used brown Cremini mushrooms, but regular white mushrooms will also be great.

Why I used Good Culture Cottage Cheese for this recipe:

You can use any cottage cheese you prefer for this recipe. But I love the extra creaminess of Good Culture Cottage Cheese, and it’s slightly lower in carbs and higher in protein than most other brands of cottage cheese.

Why I used Rao’s Pasta Sauce for this recipe:

I used Rao’s Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce (affiliate link) for this recipe. I’m a fan of Rao’s sauces because they don’t have added sugar, which makes them lower in carbs. You can use any low-sugar pasta sauce you prefer.

Why I used Fiber Gourmet Pasta for the Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake:

I used Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta for this recipe to keep it lower in carbs of course! Fiber Gourmet is a product from Italy that tastes just like regular pasta, and has lots of fiber to reduce the net carbs. Making this pasta casserole with Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini (affiliate link) combined with other low-carb ingredients makes it much lower in carbs than traditional pasta dishes. You could use another brand of high-fiber pasta, or make this with traditional pasta if you don’t care about the carbs. It could be made with Penne or another similar pasta shape if that’s what you have on hand.

More about Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta:

Both Kara and I are smitten with Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta (affiliate link)! This high-fiber pasta comes in Penne, Rotini, Spaghetti, and Elbows. It’s a lower carb pasta that tastes absolutely the same as regular pasta made with wheat. I haven’t found it in stores near me, and when I order it from Amazon I’m careful not to choose the option for only one or two boxes which makes quite expensive. If you get the pack with six boxes (or even twelve) it’s more reasonable in price. And sometimes it goes on sale on Amazon! For me it’s worth using this brand to enjoy true pasta flavor with lower carbs, but of course you can make this recipe with any brand of pasta you prefer.

How low in carbs is the Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake with Mushrooms?

This tasty baked pasta has 17.2 net carbs per serving with 22.2 grams of protein. I am tagging it low-carb because it’s low in carbs for this type of dish, but it’s not suitable for strict Keto.

How to Make Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake:

(This is only a summary of the steps for the recipe; please scroll down for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE link at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

1. Preheat oven and spray baking dish with non-stick spray.
2. Bring pot of water to a boil, add salt, and cook pasta until it’s al dente.
3. Rinse mushrooms and drain well, then wipe with paper towel if needed.
4. Pull out mushroom stems, trim dried end, and cut stems in half. Cut mushrooms into fourths or sixths.
5. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan. Add mushrooms and cook until they’re softened, liquid is evaporated, and mushrooms are starting to brown.
6. In Utah the Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini took 17 minutes to be done. Drain cooked pasta well in a colander. Add cooked pasta to baking dish.
7. Add cooked mushrooms to casserole dish over the pasta.
8. Add Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce, Italian Seasoning, Spike Seasoning, and Dried Oregano to frying pan. Simmer 5-10 minutes, or until sauce has slightly thickened.
9. Add reduced sauce over the pasta and mushrooms in the baking dish.
10. If cottage cheese seems watery, drain for a few minutes in a colander.
11. Then add cottage cheese, 1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese to the baking dish.
12. Use a large spoon to gently stir ingredients to combine.
13. Top ingredients with the rest of grated Mozzarella.
14. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until pasta is bubbling hot and cheese is starting to lightly brown.
15. Serve the pasta bake hot and enjoy!

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

If you’re watching carbs, you want to serve Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake with side dishes that are extra low in carbs. Here are some good options:

• Barely Cooked Asparagus with Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette
• Lemon Green Beans
• Stir-Fried Spinach with Garlic and Parmesan
• Pan-Fried Broccoli with Pine Nuts and Parmesan
• Asparagus with Pesto

More Recipes with Rao’s Pasta Sauce:

You can see lots more recipes using the delicious low-sugar sauces from Rao’s in my collection of Recipes with Rao’s Pasta Sauce and Pizza Sauce!

Continue to Content

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Yield: 8 servings

Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake with Mushrooms

Prep Time 25 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 55 minutes

This delicious Cottage Cheese Pasta Bake is made with Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini and Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce to keep it lower in carbs. And the recipe also includesother low-carb ingredients like mushrooms, Mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini
• 16 oz. fresh mushrooms
• 1 T olive oil
• 24 oz. Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce
• 1 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp. Spike Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. dried Oregano
• 2 cups Good Culture Cottage Cheese
• 2 cups grated Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Spray a 8" X 12" baking dish with non-stick spray. (If you only have a dish that's 9" x 13" the cooking time may be slightly shorter.)
2. Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil. When it boils add a generous amount of salt, add pasta, stir, and cook the pasta until it's al dente, or barely tender. 
3. Rinse mushrooms and let them drain well. Then wipe mushrooms with paper towel if you see any dirt on the mushrooms.
4. Pull out the mushroom stems, trim dried ends, and cut stems in half. Cut mushrooms into fourths or sixths, depending on how big they are. Make same-size pieces of mushroom.
5. Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and cook until they're softened, all released liquid is evaporated, and the mushrooms are starting to slightly brown.
6. In Utah where the altitude is relatively high the Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini took 17 minutes to be done. Drain cooked pasta well in a colander placed in sink.
7. Add cooked pasta to baking dish. Then add the cooked mushrooms over the pasta.
8. Add the Rao's Tomato Basil Sauce, Italian Seasoning, Spike Seasoning, and Dried Oregano to the frying pan. Simmer over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, or until sauce has thickened slightly and some water has evaporated.
9. Put the reduced pasta sauce over the pasta and mushrooms in the baking dish.
10. If the cottage cheese seems watery at all, drain for a few minutes in a colander placed in the sink.
11. Then add the cottage cheese, 1 cup of grated Mozzarella cheese, and the Parmesan cheese to the baking dish.
12. Use a large spoon to gently stir so ingredients are combined.
13. Top ingredients with the other cup of grated Mozzarella,
14. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the casserole is bubbling hot and cheese is starting to lightly brown.
15. Serve the pasta bake hot and enjoy!

Notes

This recipe created by Kalyn and Kara.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 338.5Total Fat 18.3gSaturated Fat 7.3gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 40.5mgSodium 875.5mgCarbohydrates 31.2gFiber 14gSugar 6gProtein 22.2g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

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Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This pasta bake has cottage cheese, mushrooms, Fiber Gourmet Light Rotini, Rao’s low-sugar pasta sauce, Mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese, and those ingredients make it much lower in carbs than traditional pasta dishes of this type. It’s too high in carbs for strict Keto. I don’t know if Fiber Gourmet Light Pasta would be approved for the original South Beach Diet, but if you wanted to make this for South Beach they would recommend reduced-fat dairy products.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Casseroles or Pasta to find more recipes like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest, on Facebook, on Instagram, on TikTok, or on YouTube to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.