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–+ servings
A shallow white bowl with a pile of spaghetti coated in a cream sauce and peas.
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4.54 from 13 votes

Easy One Pot Lemon Ricotta Pasta (plus how to make it as a high protein pasta salad!)

This pasta is so easy, delicious, and packed with protein using our favorite high protein pasta!
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: dinner, lunch
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: high protein, lemon, Pasta, protein
Servings: 6
Calories: 531kcal
Author: Mika Kinney

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Make pasta, strain and reserve 2 cups of pasta water.
    Pouring pasta water into a glass mason jar with a ladle.
  • While the pasta boils, add ricotta, parmesan, basil, lemon juice, and lemon zest to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
    A hand squeezing a lemon over other ingredients inside a blender.
  • After the pasta is removed, in the same pan, heat oil and add garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until fragrant.
  • Add the ricotta mixture to the same pan and stir constantly to keep from burning. As it heats it will begin to melt down a bit as the cheese melts.
  • Add 1 cup of pasta water to begin to thin out sauce. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper as needed.
    Pouring pasta water into a dutch oven filled with a ricotta cream sauce.
  • Stir in peas and let cook for 1 minute (still stirring). Then, add pasta back in and gently stir to coat. Note: add more pasta water as needed to thin out sauce (we sometimes add in up to one more cup).
    Tongs lifting up spaghetti coated in a cream sauce and peas.
  • Enjoy topped with more parmesan and lemon zest!

Video

Notes

how to make this a pasta salad

In the summer, I will make this into a lemon ricotta pasta salad. Here's how you can do it and make it high protein!

Ingredients

  • 1 large lemon (juice and zest from lemon)
  • ¼ cup basil
  • 14.5 oz Pasta (small protein pasta like shells)
  • ½ cup ricotta
  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
  • 1 cup parmesan
  • 1 cup petite peas
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 c cubed ham

Steps

  1. Cook the pasta and cool it with cold water.
  2. Blend together the cottage cheese, ricotta, pepper, salt, parmesan, ½ c of oil, and ½ c of water until smooth.
  3. In a large bowl add everything and gently mix. Serve right away or store in the fridge for up to 2 hours. You will need to stir it and maybe add a bit more oil before serving to make it silky.

Nutrition

Calories: 531kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 536mg | Potassium: 351mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 739IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 398mg | Iron: 2mg