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Zucchini Lasagna Recipe

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Zucchini Lasagna - gluten-free and grain-free
Wellness Mama » Blog » Recipes » Beef Recipes » Zucchini Lasagna Recipe

Are you grain free now, but sometimes wish you could indulge in a pasta dish without the insulin spike and “brick in the stomach” feeling? My husband had been requesting pasta for a long time, and I’ve been meaning to experiment with a good grain-free lasagna recipe. Thanks to reader Desiree for the inspiration!

I never liked pasta much, even when we ate grains, so, to be honest, I didn’t have high hopes for this! I even used frozen zucchini that we had from last year’s garden, so I wasn’t sure the texture would be great… but to my surprise, it turned out excellent. In my (non-Italian) opinion, it was better than regular lasagna! Even if you aren’t grain-free, this is an easy way to get some extra vegetables in a meal, and it was definitely kid-approved!

Zucchini Lasagna - gluten-free and grain-free

Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (Gluten Free)

A gluten-free, veggie based version of the classic lasagna with zucchini instead of noodles. Delicious and healthy!
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Calories 432kcal
Author Katie Wells

Servings

10 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Thinly slice zucchini lengthwise into ¼ inch slices.
  • Place on well-oiled baking sheet and bake at 400°F for about 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is just starting to brown and get tender. It isn’t necessary to peel the zucchini, but it might be a good idea if you are trying to hide the vegetables from any picky eaters!
  • While the zucchini is cooking, brown the meat in a large skillet.
  • Once the meat is cooked, add the pasta sauce to the skillet to warm if there is room. If not, add meat and pasta sauce to large pot.
  • Add spices to meat sauce and heat to a simmer.
  • In a medium size bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, Parmesan, and half of the shredded  mozzarella cheese.
  • In large 9×13 glass baking dish start layering: meat sauce on the bottom, followed by zucchini slices, then ricotta mixture. This made 2 thick layers for me, but could be spread out into three layers if your dish is deep enough. Make sure the meat/sauce layer is on the top when done.
  • If you are making ahead, throw the dish in the freezer at this point, and it will be ready to bake when you need it.
  • When you have added all ingredients in layers, place the lasagna in oven at 350°F for 45-60 minutes or until egg/ricotta mixture is set and middle is not jiggly. It will firm up as it cools too.
  • Top with the remaining half of the mozzarella for the last 15 minutes of cooking.
  • Serve immediately. I recommend a side of Italian music and a salad!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (Gluten Free)
Amount Per Serving (1 serving)
Calories 432 Calories from Fat 178
% Daily Value*
Fat 19.8g30%
Saturated Fat 9.3g58%
Cholesterol 208mg69%
Sodium 861mg37%
Carbohydrates 28.3g9%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 14.4g16%
Protein 34.4g69%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Notes

Adjust types and quantities of the spices to fit your family’s tastes.
This dish freezes beautifully, so make a double batch and freeze a pan for another night. Simply thaw overnight in the refrigerator and don’t top with mozzarella until last 15 minutes of cooking. 

Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!

Desiree has another variation of this recipe that I’m looking forward to trying. I couldn’t this time because my zucchini was pre-sliced and frozen, but her recipe seems easier! Desiree shared her recipe:

It’s very easy! For a 9 x 13 pan: Mix 2 cups shredded zucchini or summer squash or riced cauliflower with 2 eggs and 2 cups shredded cheese. Then just use your favorite lasagna recipe, adding at least one egg to the ricotta mixture (I used 2) and in place of the noodles smoosh in a layer of the veggie/egg/cheese mixture. Cover loosely with foil. Bake at 325 until just set (not wobbly when you shake the pan). It takes about an hour or so. Because it takes so long, I’d recommend making your top layer sauce and adding shredded cheese towards the end of cooking, otherwise it will be very dark. It holds up beautifully, no slippery noodles to collapse and tastes amazing!

Ever cooked Italian food without the grains? How did it turn out? Share your recipe below!

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Katie Wells Avatar

About Katie Wells

Katie Wells, CTNC, MCHC, Founder of Wellness Mama and Co-founder of Wellnesse, has a background in research, journalism, and nutrition. As a mom of six, she turned to research and took health into her own hands to find answers to her health problems. WellnessMama.com is the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and all posts are medically reviewed and verified by the Wellness Mama research team. Katie is also the author of the bestselling books The Wellness Mama Cookbook and The Wellness Mama 5-Step Lifestyle Detox.

Comments

39 responses to “Zucchini Lasagna Recipe”

  1. Bets Avatar

    Definitely have to try this. I’ve already been making Zucchini Pizza Bites and the Zucchini was never too moist or jucky but I did cook both sides first before adding the pizza sauce & cheese (you can add other stuff but I just like the sauce & cheese).

  2. Millie Avatar

    5 stars
    This is my absolute favorite recipe. So tasty and easier since I got a mandolin to cut the zucchini. It’s just my husband and I so we make the recipe and freeze what we don’t eat. It reheats great! Can’t wait to share it with friends.

  3. Sheri Avatar

    5 stars
    Your recipe is delicious! It came out perfect. I will peel the zucchini next time. The skin was a little chewy.

    Thank you!

  4. Colleen Avatar
    Colleen

    Hi Katie!
    I can’t wait to try this! You had mentioned freezing this…I know you said freezing it in the glass baking dish, but what do you use for the cover? In the past, I would just use saran wrap, but I know now that’s a no-no!! Just want to make sure I’m freezing my foods safely!
    Thanks so much!

  5. Barb Avatar

    Hi Katie – My family absolutely loved this lasagna recipe! So much flavor that we didn’t even miss the pasta!! Can you please share your homemade pasta sauce recipe? I have been using organic store bought, but would love to try your homemade version. I’m sure it is great because so far all of your recipes that I have tried have turned out awesome. Going grain-free is not as hard as I thought it would be. I am so glad I found your website!! I have joined your meal plan service and just love that too!! Thank you so much for the great recipes and all the helpful information!!

  6. Ashley Avatar

    This recipe is one of my favorites, but I have to admit the first time I made it I was a little disappointed. I didn’t feel like it had enough flavor. I recently made it again and this time I replaced half the ricotta cheese with pureed cauliflower, substituted all the spaghetti sauce for 16oz tomato sauce and 8oz tomato paste, and added tons of delicious veggies to the meat (onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, spinach, mushrooms, carrots) and it really added a ton of flavor to it. Even my anti-grain free family loved it!

  7. Bonnie Mahan Avatar
    Bonnie Mahan

    Made this dish tonight using Desiree’s method (I used ground turkey) and added coconut flour to my zucchini mixture. It was absolutely awesome! I am loving your recipes, you are really helping me with my new grain-free healthy lifestyle!

  8. Andrea Avatar

    I might try this in the crock pot, I have a regular lasagna recipe for the crock pot and hopefully this will transition well.  🙂

  9. Wanda Avatar

    I have made a zucchini lasagna, and it was so watery and sloppy when it was warm :S I did slice them thin with a vegetable peeler, and salted them to bring out the moisture, then rindes and dried them. Didn’t make that much difference, tho… so I am thinking I will def try cooking and maybe freezing the zucchini first. I also didn’t have any eggs from my farmer friend that day so the ricotta probably compounded the problem. I was SO disappointed, so I’m reluctant to try it all again but I will, just cause I miss that meat, sauce and cheese goodness!  Thanks for the recipe!

    1. Cindy M Avatar
      Cindy M

      Wanda: Try her eggplant parmesan recipe if you’re looking for “meat, sauce and cheese goodness”. It’s excellent!

  10. Maria V. Arnold Avatar
    Maria V. Arnold

    This look amazing, but approximately how many cups of zucchini are needed for this recipe? Or alternately, how many zucchini in a pound? I’m buying my produce from a co-op and we split shares which are by the pound, not by numbers, hence the questions 🙂

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      I haven’t measured exactly, but I’m guessing it would be around 3
      pounds of Zucchini. You could definitely make it work with whatever
      you have by slicing them thinner or thicker to have enough for two
      layers.

  11. Dotty Avatar

     This sounds scrumptious; thanks for both versions of the recipe.  I hope to try them.

  12. Becca james Avatar
    Becca james

    I just made this to rave reviews from kids and husband alike.  Really good. I put a couple cubes (frozen in ice cube trays) of pesto from last years’ garden in the ricotta mixture – very good. Thank You 

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      Great idea on the pesto.. I’ve still got some frozen too, I’ll have
      to try it!

  13. Rebekka Avatar
    Rebekka

     In the winter you can use white cabbage in place of the zucchini. You need to blanch the leaves until tender first. The sauce should be thicker than with pasta because the cabbage doesn’t absorb any of the liquid. I’ve never tried it with zucchini but can vouch for the cabbage version. It has a more intense flavor than with pasta, but is not too cabbage-y and the tomato/cabbage combo is really good.

    1. Wellness Mama Avatar
      Wellness Mama

      Great idea! I’ve never tried it that way, but our garden should be
      producing cabbage soon! Thanks for the idea!

  14. Anne Avatar

    Wow, this looks great, and will be a welcome change of pace at my house. We don’t eat pasta, but my kids miss this kind of pasta-type dish. I think I’m pretty creative in the kitchen, but swapping the pasta noodles for zucchini never occurred to me!

  15. Bean Avatar

    I can’t wait to try this. I have a similar recipe for a casserole that leaves out the tomato sauce and the zucchini is in chunks. My meat loving, grain loving (sigh)family loves it. Very flavorful.

  16. Tara Chaput Avatar
    Tara Chaput

    I could easily make this grain free version for myself and make regular lasagna for the kids. Yay! I wanted to have roasted vegetable lasagna for mother’s day but didn’t have any idea how to replace the pasta. 🙂

  17. Megan Ciampa Avatar
    Megan Ciampa

    Wow, it’s like you’ve read my mind. We recently indulged in “regular” lasagna the other day and the thing I love about it the most are the layers of meat, cheese & creaminess (not necessarily the lasagna noodles). I was wondering what could take its place without making it an overly sloppy mess — and thought, hmm, maybe zucchini? But I’m not a recipe-creator so I’m glad someone else has done the dirty work for me! Looking forward to trying this sometime!

  18. Lisa Avatar

    This looks super yummy! I’m going to try it with alfredo. My husband is allergic to tomatoes, so the grain-free lifestyle also has to be tomato free too. Talk about a challenge! But I usually put some pasta sauce on the side for dipping or topping my own…I LOVE tomatoes!

  19. Pogonia Avatar
    Pogonia

    I’m going to try both of these! I love lasagna but hate the heavy feeling, also. 🙂

4.28 from 11 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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