How to make a low-fat cheese sauce with quark

Cheese sauce is one of those things that can transform a fairly ordinary dinner into something much more comforting. Pour it over vegetables, stir it through pasta or add a generous layer to a lasagne and suddenly dinner feels much more interesting.

Traditional cheese sauce is usually made with butter, flour, milk and cheese, but you don’t always need to make a roux to get a creamy sauce. Quark cheese sauce is a really easy alternative, particularly if you’re looking for something lighter or simply happen to have a tub of quark in the fridge that needs using.

Quark has a naturally thick and creamy texture, so it works surprisingly well as the base of a cheese sauce. You can then add cheese and seasonings to get the flavour you want without needing lots of butter or cream.

It’s also incredibly versatile. I use this sort of sauce anywhere I’d normally want a creamy cheese sauce, including pasta dishes, lasagne, cauliflower cheese and vegetable bakes.

If you’re following Slimming World, I’ve included a section further down explaining how quark cheese sauce can fit into the plan too, but you certainly don’t need to be following Slimming World to make it.

What is quark?

Quark is a soft dairy product that’s somewhere between yoghurt and soft cheese in texture. It has a fairly mild flavour and a thick, creamy consistency, which makes it useful in both sweet and savoury recipes.

One of the reasons it became so popular in lower-fat recipes is that varieties of quark can be considerably lower in fat than ingredients such as cream, crème fraîche or full-fat soft cheese.

On its own, however, quark doesn’t taste particularly cheesy. That’s why I wouldn’t simply warm up a tub of quark and call it cheese sauce! Adding cheese and seasoning gives it much more flavour while the quark provides the creamy base.

Why make cheese sauce with quark?

The biggest advantage for me is how simple it is.

A traditional cheese sauce isn’t particularly difficult to make, but you generally need to make a roux with butter and flour before gradually adding milk and then cheese. With quark, you’ve already got that thick creamy base to work with.

It can also be a useful option if you’re trying to reduce the amount of fat in a meal without removing the creamy element altogether.

That doesn’t automatically make every quark cheese sauce “healthy”, of course. It still depends on which quark you use, how much cheese you add and what you’re serving it with. I much prefer looking at the whole meal rather than deciding that one ingredient makes something healthy or unhealthy.

Why choose my low-fat cheese sauce with quark?

Whilst it isn’t the same as a full-fat cheese sauce, I do not feel like I am missing out when I have this. I thought I would share this cheese sauce with quark recipe with you to try too.

The recipe is low in fat but works perfectly and will, I promise, soon be a family favourite!

Do check out my Mediterranean vegetable lasagne recipe if, like me, you are a fan of lasagne.

Cheese sauce with quark – Top Tips

In recipes that need quark, there are a few simple things you can do to ensure it tastes good. Quark doesn’t have much flavour so ensure you flavour the dish well.

Quark is available in most large supermarkets now and even stocked in Aldi and Lidl. You can usually find it near soft cheeses in a tub similar to that you would buy cottage cheese in.

Due to the low-fat content of quark, it easily splits if heated too much or has hot water or hot liquid added to it.

Be careful and stir in gradually, and you should be ok. This is something to really remember when making this low-fat cheese sauce with quark.

How to stop quark cheese sauce from splitting

There is one important difference between quark and a traditional cheese sauce: quark doesn’t particularly like being boiled.

Heating it too quickly or letting it become extremely hot can cause the sauce to separate or develop a grainy texture.

Gentle heat is your friend here. Keep stirring and don’t allow the sauce to bubble away furiously on the hob.

If you’re adding quark to another hot mixture, reducing the heat first can help too. You can even mix a little of the warm liquid into the quark before adding everything together so there isn’t such a dramatic temperature change.

If your sauce isn’t quite as silky as one made with butter and full-fat milk, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve done anything wrong. Quark cheese sauce has a slightly different texture because, well, it’s made from different ingredients!

What can you use quark cheese sauce for?

This is definitely not a sauce I’d make for one particular recipe and then forget about.

It’s lovely with pasta, either stirred straight through or used in a pasta bake. Add chicken, vegetables, bacon or whatever else you fancy and you’ve got the beginnings of an easy dinner.

It’s also great with vegetables. Try it with cauliflower or broccoli for a lighter take on cauliflower cheese, or pour it over mixed vegetables before baking them.

Then there’s lasagne, which is probably one of the most useful ways to use it. Instead of making a separate béchamel sauce, you can use your quark cheese sauce for the creamy layers.

You could also try it with potatoes, chicken dishes or anywhere else you’d normally use a creamy cheese or white sauce.

Using quark cheese sauce for lasagne

Quark cheese sauce works particularly well in lasagne because you don’t necessarily need a huge quantity of sauce to get that lovely creamy layer.

Prepare your sauce and spread it over the lasagne as you would a traditional white or cheese sauce. You can then add a little extra grated cheese to the top if you want that bubbling golden finish.

If you’re making the sauce specifically for lasagne, I’d keep it slightly looser than you might if you were pouring it over vegetables. It will continue cooking in the oven and you don’t want the finished lasagne to be dry.

My lasagne recipe

Is quark cheese sauce healthy?

I don’t think it’s particularly useful to label individual foods as simply healthy or unhealthy because it depends on the ingredients, quantities and the rest of your diet.

What we can say is that using lower-fat quark as the creamy base can reduce the amount of butter, cream or higher-fat dairy you’d otherwise use in some cheese sauces.

The cheese itself still contributes calories and fat, but it also provides protein and calcium. You don’t necessarily need enormous quantities either; using a mature cheese can give you plenty of flavour from a relatively small amount.

If reducing calories or fat is important to you, compare the nutritional information on the particular quark and cheese you’re buying because products can vary.

Making quark cheese sauce on Slimming World

If you’re following Slimming World, quark has long been a popular ingredient for making creamy sauces without relying on traditional butter-and-flour cheese sauce.

You can use this quark cheese sauce with pasta, vegetables or as the creamy layer in a Slimming World-friendly lasagne.

The important thing is to calculate the recipe using the current Slimming World plan rather than relying on an old Syn or Swip value you’ve found online. Slimming World changes its food classifications and allowances from time to time, and the cheese you choose and quantity you use will affect the value of the finished sauce.

If some of your cheese can be counted towards a current Healthy Extra allowance, that may also change how you personally count the recipe.

I’d therefore use the recipe as your starting point and check your particular ingredients in the Slimming World app.

Recipes that use this cheese sauce with quark

This low-fat quark cheese sauce is perfect for Mediterranean vegetable lasagne or even Moussaka.

If you like making cheesy pasta, why not give it a try? I make a similar version for this cheesy ham pasta bake.

Just Average Jen is an independent blog not connected with any weight loss plan. Please check nutritional values and/or syns/Swips yourself. Information correct at time of writing – always check official Slimming World materials for updates.

More recipes you may enjoy

Are you a pasta lover? I absolutely love pasta, so I have compiled a list of all the pasta recipes I have and lots of tips for you in my pasta guide, including lasagne, Bolognese and lots of unusual pasta dishes, even with butternut squash, you will love.

Which meal do you struggle with ideas for in your healthy diet? I have lists of breakfast ideas and lunch ideas if that helps you. I even have a curry sauce recipe you can try.

If you are a vegetarian or want to eat more vegetarian or plant-based meals, I have a full list of vegetarian and vegan recipes.

Have you tried my cheese sauce with quark recipe? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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