This grain-free Zucchini Lasagna uses zucchini slices in place of pasta but is still full of lasagna flavor and satisfying. It’s a fresh take on a comfort food classic!
Before you start thinking that I love zucchini lasagna because it’s super healthy, this recipe has all the cheesy goodness of a traditional lasagna, but it’s just a tiny bit fresher and lighter thanks to using zucchini instead of noodles. My vote is for full fat ricotta and mozzarella, because I mean, go big or go home; but you can use reduced fat if that’s your jam. And before you start thinking this is just a quick little dinner you can whip up on a weeknight; be warned, this recipe is not for the faint of heart! The steps are easy, and I believe in you, but there are kind of a lot of steps!
I started with my mom’s lasagna recipe and made a few modifications over the years based on what I have found works best for this zucchini version! It turns out that this is a tough recipe to blog because I rarely measure and I make it a tiny bit differently every time, but I’ve done my best within this post to give you some tips and options to end up with a bangin’ lasagna. Additionally, because there are only three of us currently residing in the house I make 2 pans; one for now and freeze one for later.
Before I dive into the recipe, there’s one very important step when making zucchini lasagna. Use whatever filling you like, whatever sauce you like, but do NOT skip this step!
Since zucchini has such a high-water content, you must get some of that out before building the lasagna, or else all of that water will seep out when you bake it and make for a soupy mess. Over the years, I’ve tried every method I could think of; baking, boiling, salting the zucchini slices and letting them sit. In the end, I’ve determined that the PERFECT method is grilling. It allows you to cook a ton of zucchini at one time, and on a screamin’ hot grill, the zucchini cooks fast and kind of dries out some. because I can be “OCD” II used a mandoline slicer to cut my zucchini into 1/4 inch slices. The size of your lasagna will determine how many zucchini squashes you will want to slice. For this dish I actually used left over zucchini from my zucchini enchilada recipe. If recommend 2 medium squashes for this recipe.
Now onto the cheesy goodness!
Zucchini Lasagna
- February 28, 2019
- 8
- 1 hr 30 min
- 591 Cals/Serving
- Print this
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground Grass Fed Beef or Ground Turkey
- 1 cup Green Bell Peppers (chopped)
- 1 cup Onion (chopped)
- 2 Zucchini sliced thinly
- 24 oz Marinara Sauce
- 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese fresh, shredded
- 16 oz full fat Ricotta Cheese
- 1 Egg
- 2 cups full fat Mozzarella Cheese
- 2 cloves Garlic (minced)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Garnish with Italian herbs
Directions
- Step 1
- The goal is to have enough slices to lay them end-to-end in your pan x 3 (3 layers of lasagna zoodles)
- Step 2
- Cut both ends off the zucchini/squash, and slice ¼ inch thick. I use this for slicing my vegetables
- Step 3
- Layer raw lasagna zoodles on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt on both sides to draw out some of the water. Set them aside while you prep your spaghetti sauce
- Step 4
- Prepping Zucchini: Heat your grill over high heat and grease the grates with tongs holding a paper towel and olive oil. Add all zucchini to the grill and cook for 2-3 minutes per side until it’s pliable and has dried out a bit. Dump out any zucchini liquid that accumulated and place the cooked zucchini back on the cookie sheet to cool while you prep the cheese mixture
- Step 5
- In a medium bowl, combine 16oz Ricotta Cheese, 1 cup Shredded Mozzarella (reserve 1 cup for the top), 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, and 1 egg. Mix with a fork or a spoon until it’s smooth.
- Step 6
- Use a spoon to split the mixture in half right in the bowl – this is a helpful guide for how much to use in between the zucchini layers.
- Step 7
- If you plan to bake the lasagna immediately, preheat oven to 375˚
- Step 8
- Add 1 cup of the sauce to the bottom of pan. Spread it out to coat the bottom of the pan evenly.
- Step 9
- Layer grilled zucchini slices over the sauce, fitting them together like a puzzle and overlapping a tiny bit if you have enough
- Step 10
- Spread another heaping cup of sauce over the zucchini in a somewhat even layer
- Step 11
- Grab a good handful of the cheese mixture and drop it in small blobs over the layer of sauce. Your hands are the best tools for this task! Use about half of the mixture
- Step 12
- Repeat with layer two of the grilled zucchini
- Step 13
- Spread another heaping cup of sauce over the zucchini in a somewhat even layer
- Step 14
- Drop the remaining cheese mixture over the layer of sauce
- Step 15
- Top with remaining grilled zucchini and cover with one final cup of sauce
- Step 16
- Sprinkle remaining cup of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle with dried oregano and a little extra parm if it strikes your fancy
- Step 17
- If you’re baking the lasagna immediately, pop the pan in the oven and bake for an hour (or more). If you notice the cheese getting too browned, cover it with foil. Everything is already cooked in there, so really you just want it to marry into a melty, glorious mess. You’ll know it’s done when it’s bubbly all over and the cheese is nice and melted and browned
- Step 18
- TIP: If lots of liquid rises to the top while baking, you can sop it up with some bunched-up paper towels or use a turkey baster to get some of it out of there. Put it in a mug so you can drink it like lasagna soup
- Step 19
- If you’re baking the lasagna later (or tomorrow), pop it in the fridge. When you are ready to bake, let it sit out at room temp for a bit and be prepared to tack on an extra 30 minutes or so (it will take longer if it’s cold)
- Step 20
- Make sure you let the lasagna sit for 20-30 minutes before digging in! If you cut it right when it comes out of the oven, it will be a soupy mess
