Zucchini Lasagna Recipe
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My zucchini lasagna recipe features tender zucchini “noodles” layered with rich meat sauce and creamy cheese. Deceptively low-carb, I’ve tested this countless times to ensure no watery lasagna.
Contrary to popular belief, you can make a veggie-based lasagna with the same taste and textures as traditional lasagna.
Inspired by my eggplant lasagna, this recipe uses zucchini slices to recreate the lasagna noodles. Then, it’s layered with a rich, savory meat sauce and, of course, plenty of cheese. It’s so good, it’s my favorite way to sneak veggies into my family’s dinner.
This dish is naturally gluten-free, packed with greens, lean ground beef, and an ample amount of cheese without being excessive. The most important thing, though, is that my lasagna is NOT watery. It’s just as tender and cheesy as you’d expect.
★★★★★ REVIEW
“I love your never watery Lasagna recipe. The only thing I did differently was add some sliced green olives for a little wow flavor. This one will be going in my rotation. Thank you.” – Karen
Table of Contents
Key Ingredients
Here’s what goes into this low carb zucchini lasagna, along with my kitchen notes. Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
- Zucchini. Thinly sliced. When choosing a zucchini for lasagna, select one that is firm and ripe, with no bumps or bruises on the flesh.
- Salt. To sprinkle over the sliced zucchini to draw out excess moisture.
- Olive oil. To cook up the meat sauce mixture.
- Ground beef. I used lean ground beef to make this lasagna healthier, but you can use a slightly fattier cut, like 80/20. Avoid using very fatty meat, as it can cause oil to pool at the bottom of the baking dish during baking.
- Tomato sauce. Homemade pomodoro sauce or sugo to make the lasagna even more flavorful and delicious.
- Italian seasoning. A must for all Italian-inspired dishes.
- Cheesy filling. I’m mixing full-fat ricotta, frozen spinach, and an egg. I also mix in cheddar cheese rather than using straight ricotta, which Kelley in the comments correctly identified as another sneaky source of wateriness. The cheddar binds the filling and absorbs excess moisture from the ricotta itself.
- Mozzarella cheese. Adds an extra layer of cheese and a light sprinkle over the top.
How to avoid watery lasagna
After making this lasagna hundreds of times, I’ve perfected the recipe so it’s never watery. However, you must follow these foolproof tips-
- Salt the zucchini. Sprinkling the zucchini with salt before using it in the lasagna will draw out excess moisture. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes!
- Slice the zucchini thinly. The thinner the zucchini slices, the less likely they are to hold moisture.
- Avoid using reduced-fat ricotta cheese. Reduced-fat dairy products compensate for the lack of fat with extra water.
How to make zucchini lasagna
Step 1- Slice the zucchini into ⅛-inch thick slices and lay them on a plate. Sprinkle with salt. After 15 minutes, pat dry with paper towels.
Step 2- Oil a large skillet over medium heat. Cook ground beef for 5 minutes until no longer pink. Add the red sauce and herbs and cook for another 5 minutes.
Step 3- In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, cheddar, thawed spinach, and egg.
Step 4- Layer ½ cup meat sauce, zucchini strips, ½ cup ricotta, and ½ cup mozzarella in a baking dish. Repeat until all ingredients are used.
Step 5- Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese and cover with foil.
Step 6- Bake for 50 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for another 30 minutes.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Use a mandolin. While it’s definitely optional, I try to use a mandolin when I have one since it helps guarantee even, thin zucchini slices.
- Make it in advance. You can make your lasagna up to 3 days in advance. Simply let the meat sauce cool to room temperature, then assemble the lasagna, cover it with foil, and refrigerate until you’re ready to bake.
- Cover it with aluminum foil. If you notice the cheese is browning before the center is fully cooked, cover the lasagna with foil and continue baking.
Zucchini lasagna variations
- Swap the meat. I love ground beef, but you can use any ground meat, like ground turkey, Italian sausage, or plant-based meat.
- Add extra flavor. I think this lasagna is super flavorful as is, but you can add all sorts of extra ingredients, like freshly ground black pepper, minced garlic, caramelized onions, or sautéed mushrooms.
- Garnish the lasagna with fresh basil and parmesan cheese for a little extra touch.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to one week. First, ensure the lasagna has been cooled to room temperature to prevent sweating.
To freeze: Place the lasagna in a shallow container and freeze for up to 6 months.
Reheating: Either microwave for 1-2 minutes or reheat in a preheated oven until warm, with the cheese bubbling.
Zucchini Lasagna (Non watery!)
Video
Ingredients
- 3-4 large zucchini thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef I used extra lean ground beef
- 3 1/2 cups tomato sauce * see notes
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded cheese cheddar or tasty
- 10 oz frozen spinach thawed and with all liquid squeezed out
- 1 large egg
- 2 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Thinly slice the zucchini into 1/8th inch thick slices (I like to use a mandolin). Lay onto a flat kitchen surface and sprinkle with the salt, to draw out extra moisture. After 15 minutes, pat dry with a towel.
- In a non-stick pan, add the olive oil and place over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook for 5 minutes, until no longer pink. Add the tomato sauce and Italian herbs and cook for 5 minutes, before removing from the heat.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the ricotta cheese, shredded tasty cheese, thawed spinach, and egg.
- Assemble the zucchini lasagna. Spread half a cup of the meat sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Add a single layer of the zucchini, before adding ½ cup of the ricotta mixture. Sprinkle ½ cup of the mozzarella cheese on top of it. Repeat the process until all the ingredients have been used up. Top with any remaining mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes, removing the foil after 30 minutes.
- Remove the lasagna from the oven and rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
More creative recipes
- Lasagna with cottage cheese– My higher protein take on a classic lasagna that nobody can tell isn’t ricotta.
- Keto lasagna– The original low carb lasagna that inspired other low carb versions.
- Seafood lasagna– The most impressive lasagna I make, and the one I save for dinner parties.
What is the weight of a serving in grams or ounces? I made mine in a slightly smaller baking dish and I need to weigh the serving.
Thanks!
Hi Becki- I haven’t calculated it in terms of weight- I just slice it into equal pieces. You could just slice weigh yours when it comes out of the oven then divide it by the number of servings.
This is a fabulous recipe… I make this frequently and nobody complains that there’s no pasta in the lasagna. It’s really important to salt the sliced zucchini and let it sit for a while. This is the first recipe that I’ve seen that adds a different cheese to the ricotta. thanks so much for all of your fabulous recipes.👍
You are so welcome, Kelley. Yes- I did that on purpose. I find that using straight ricotta actually risks watery lasagna (from the ricotta, ironically, not the zucchini). I’m so glad you enjoyed it- I appreciate your lovely review and rating.
I enjoyed this recipe and will make it again. I used tomato basil organic pasta sauce (low carb) instead of tomato sauce and oregano. Tasted great!
Thanks for the feedback and review, Melissa. I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, and that sauce sounds delicious 🙂
so what temp do I bake at? 400?
350F for this one! Check the recipe card if you’re unsure.
Amazing taste. Loved it. I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta. It turned out very good.
Sounds delicious! So glad you enjoyed this recipe Debra and thanks for sharing your alteration.
This was delicious! I don’t have a mandolin so sliced the zucchinis as thin as I could by hand. Despite salting them, letting them sit for at least half an hour, and patting them dry, they still released a lot of water into the casserole dish and then onto the plates. After serving, I used paper towels to soak up as much excess liquid as I could from the casserole dish before refrigerating. I added onions to the sauce and nutmeg to the ricotta/cheddar/egg mixture. I will definitely make this recipe again, but just wish it wasn’t so watery.
I didn’t salt my zucchini. I’m not a fan of salt. It was flavorful enough without it. Mine wasn’t too watery.
I used ground turkey instead of hamburger. Also cut up fresh spinach instead of frozen. Added garlic and fresh basil to the meat sauce. Will make this again.
Absolutely delicious!
However, the recipe quantities do not add up. There is 3.5c sauce, about 3.5c cheese mixture, and 2.5c mozzarella (mozz) to layer, which doesn’t work out mathematically.
The recipe reads.”Put 1/2c sauce on bottom of dish, layer zucchini, 1/2 c cheese mixture, 1/2 c mozzarella. Continue layers until ingredients are used up”.
But this means making 6 layers for the sauce and cheese mix to be used up, and only 4 layers possible to use up the mozzarella with 1/2c left for the top. And 6 layers is really too much zucchini.
I suggest (after 1/2 c sauce on the bottom) three layers of zucchini, 1c cheese mix, 1/2c mozz, and 1c sauce, 3 times, ending with 1/2c mozz on top of the last layer of sauce.
THEN, when it is done cooking, switch to broil and toast the sauce and cheese for 4 or so minutes until nice and golden. I also note that when you salt the zucchini and wait 15 minutes, the layers are glistening with water which I mopped up with paper or clean kitchen towels and it worked great!
This is a very tasty recipe and deserves 5 stars. Thank you.
Can you half and half / exchange the ricotta with cottage cheese for extra protein, or will that make it too watery?
Hi Donna-Marie, that would be perfectly fine! You can even whip the cottage cheese up before mixing it through to make it extra creamy 🙂
To add more protein and lower the calories, could I swap the ricotta for cottage cheese? Would this change the flavour?
Absolutely Georgia! That is a perfectly fine swap. You can even blend the cottage cheese for a smoother consistency if you prefer. Let us know how you go 🙂
I love your never watery Lasagnia recipe. The only thing I did a different was add some sliced green olive for a little wow flavor. This is one that will be going in my rotation. Thank you.
You are so kind, Karen!
Just made it and have to comment.
If I could give this six stars, I would.
Didn’t have the time to make tomato sauce, so sauted finely diced half an onion in olive oil until translucent, added two large, very finely diced cloves of garlic for half a minute, then added the meat until no longer pink. Added tomato passata and fresh basil, salt, freshly ground pepper, and a little demerara sugar.
Grated Gouda, parmesan and cheddar to mix with the ricotta.
Did not have spinach so just skipped it.
It needed an extra five minutes in the oven to get a nice golden color.
My husband’s reaction: “Wow. Incredible. Phenomenal. Absolutely perfect. Best lasagna you ever made. Please make it again”.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!
You are such a gem, Ossie. Also, GOUDA!!! The most underrated cheese ever.
Best Lasagna ever! Reheated tonight after thawing from freezer and it was just as delish as when originally made! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Aw, thanks Elaine!
Wow amazing. Can it be other Cheese instead of Ricotta?
Definitley this summer will try to make this!
Truly the best zucchini lasagna recipe I have EVER made!
I can’t wait to try this
I am impressed with this website , really I am a fan.
This was outstanding
Thank you, Linda!
This was outstanding
Thank you, Linda!
So good! I used spicy Italian sausage in lieu of the hamburger and it came out amazing. If you didn’t tell anyone no one would figure out that it was zucchini instead of noodles! Will definitely be a staple in my freezer.
Very good and easy.
The best zucchini lasagna out of the many I’ve made from different recipes. Love not having a puddle of watery sauce in the bottom! My husband and kids also said it was their favorite of any lasagna recipe. That’s high praise!
Thanks so much, Jen!
It was amazing, I used ground turkey and ground italian sausage instead of ground beef, it was amazing thank you
Totally delicious!
Fantastic dish.
So delicious. Step by step instructions made it so easy. Even my picky husband enjoyed it.
Is there any substitute you can use for the ricotta cheese besides cottage cheese (I know some people use this) I can not eat either of them. Thanks for any suggestions.
Can you use fresh spinach? If so, would the amount be the same?
About one cup 🙂
Can this be assembled ahead of time and bake a few hours later? I have made this before and it is a hit!
Yes, but not too far in advance, you don’t want a watery lasagna 🙂
I’ve been meaning to make lasagna for a few weeks now. I have an egg crepe recipe substitute for noodles, but THIS is what I’m going to do TONIGHT. Thanks again, Arman. You always come through, you fabulous chef, you! 🙂
Absolutely delicious I made enough for 2 layers this time.
I made this last name get and the family loved it! All had it for lunch today, too. No one knew or cared it was good for you, too!
I made this last night and my 18 year old son & my husband loved it! As did I! They had no idea it was zucchini! They both ate it for lunch today too!!! I love your site and recipes!
Can’t wait to try your zucchini lasagna. I am giving you 5 stars based on my cooking skills and your ingredients. Yes to more yummy keto recipes!