Bulking it up: white beans or chicken for people who lift
This question comes up every single session, so I've finally given it its own lesson rather than answering it three times a class.
Somebody always asks it a little sheepishly, as though they're worried it's a strange thing to want. "Can I put more protein in this?" Of course you can. Let's talk about how to do it well.
Heather teaches spin, and back when she was doing early classes plus later ones, she needed food that actually held her through the day — not just a bowl of noodles that burned off in an hour. That's how I started bulking up plain pasta with either a can of white beans or extra chicken, depending on what was in the fridge. It's less a technique than a habit, but it's a genuinely useful one, so here's the whole thing, carefully.
Why this works better than just "adding protein"
If you dump raw chicken or a can of beans into finished sauce at the very end, you get either undercooked chicken or beans that taste like they were never really invited. The trick is to build the protein into the sauce while it cooks, so it picks up flavor instead of sitting on top of it.
White beans, the easy route
This is the one I do most nights, because it's very nearly no extra work.
- Get a can of white beans — cannellini or great northern, it doesn't matter much, whatever's cheaper that week. Drain them and rinse them.
- When your sauce is maybe two-thirds done — tomatoes in, simmering, tasted and adjusted — add the beans.
- Let them simmer with the sauce for the last ten minutes or so. They'll soften a touch more and soak up whatever's in the pan — garlic, salt, all of it.
- That's it. You've roughly doubled the protein and added fiber, and the one extra step was opening a can.
Beans also thicken the sauce a little, which I like. If it gets too thick, splash in some of that pasta water you're already saving — you know the drill by now.
Chicken, the slightly-more-work route
- Cut boneless chicken thighs or breast into small, roughly bite-sized pieces. Thighs stay juicier, if you ask me; breast is fine too.
- Salt it. And a real cooking caution here, not a lawyerly one: wash your hands and your cutting board after handling raw chicken, every time, before you touch anything else. Please don't be the one who cross-contaminates the salad because he was in a hurry.
- Brown the chicken in the pan first, before your garlic and tomatoes go in. You want some color on it, a few minutes a side, and don't crowd the pan or it'll steam instead of brown.
- Pull it out, build your sauce in the same pan — garlic, tomatoes, all of it — then return the chicken to finish cooking through in the sauce for the last several minutes. If you're not sure, cut a piece open: no pink, and the juices run clear.
- Taste as you go, the same as always. Chicken can soak up salt without your noticing, so check it near the end.
That's really the whole method. Sauce first, protein built in, pasta timed to land last. Nothing new — just an extra ingredient tucked into the system we've been using all course.
A quick honesty break
I want to admit something here, because it's relevant. I tried making pasta completely from scratch exactly once. Flour everywhere, dough like wet cement, my hands a disaster — and I threw the whole batch in the trash and opened a box instead. There's no shame in that at all.
I bring it up because people sometimes think bulking up a meal means it has to grow more complicated too, as though adding protein obliges you to level up the pasta itself. It doesn't. Boxed pasta is genuinely great — I'll say it in every module if I must — and pairing it with beans from a can or chicken from the store is not a step down from some fancier version. It's simply dinner that holds you through a workout.
A note on portions
If you're cooking for someone who lifts or runs a lot, don't be shy with the protein. A whole can of beans for two people isn't too much. Same with chicken — I'll do a full breast or two thighs per person if I know they'll be hungry after a workout. This isn't a delicate restaurant portion; it's fuel.
Before next time
Next time you make your regular pasta and sauce, add a can of beans you already have in the pantry and see how it changes things. A Costco run is a good spot to stock up on a few cans, so they're just sitting there ready when you need them.
~devin