Name: Zucchini Lasagna
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 65 min
Total time: 100 min
Ingredients: 20 ounces zucchini ((Note 1)); 1 pound ground beef ((Note 2)); 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce ((Note 3)); 1 cup finely chopped onion ((Note 4)); 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese ((Note 5)); 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese ((Note 6)); 1 tablespoon dried oregano; 1.5 teaspoons table salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne

Summary:

This is an easy recipe for low carb lasagna with ground meat, where noodles are replaced by thin zucchini slices. Since most of the flavor resides in the rich meaty sauce, the lack of noodles doesn't detract. This recipe prevents a watery lasagna by simply making the sauce extra thick, avoiding extra steps like pre-salting or grilling the zucchini slices.

Zucchini Lasagna

4.9 from 86 votes

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Prep: 20 mins

Cook: 1 hr 5 mins

Cool: 15 mins

Yield: 4 servings

Calories: 470

Net Carbs: 8.5g

INGREDIENTS

▢ 20 ounces zucchini (Note 1)
▢ 1 pound ground beef (Note 2)
▢ 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce (Note 3)
▢ 1 cup finely chopped onion (Note 4)
▢ 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (Note 5)
▢ 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese (Note 6)
▢ 1 tablespoon dried oregano
▢ 1.5 teaspoons table salt
▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne (Note 7)

INSTRUCTIONS

Brown Beef: Add ground beef to high-sided pan (Note 8) over medium-high heat. Crumbling beef with stiff utensil, cook until browned and released water has evaporated, 7 to 8 minutes. Optionally, drain off grease in pan, especially if using less than 90% lean beef.
Make Tomato Sauce: Add onions to pan with ground beef over medium-high heat. Cook until onions are softened and translucent, stirring occasionally, a few minutes. Reduce to medium heat, and stir in tomato sauce. Simmer until sauce is thick and clings to meat and onions (important for liquid control; Note 9), stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. Stir in oregano, salt, and cayenne until well-mixed, about 1 minute. Turn off heat.
Prep Oven & Cut Zucchini: Position oven rack in lower half of oven, and preheat to 375 F. For each zucchini, slice off and discard both ends. Stand zucchini vertically on a stable flat end, and carefully slice into 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick strips along the length (Note 10).
Assemble Lasagna: Arrange one-third of zucchini slices along bottom of 8×8 inch baking dish, slightly overlapping each other. Evenly spread half of meat sauce over zucchini slices. Distribute 1/2 cup of mozzarella over meat sauce. Repeat with another zucchini layer, meat sauce layer, and mozzarella layer. Top with remaining zucchini slices. Add another 1/2 cup mozzarella and 1/2 cup parmesan over zucchini slices. Give baking dish a quick shake so that cheeses spread out and settle into cracks. (See Note 11 for make-ahead option.)
Bake & Serve: Bake uncovered at 375 F until lasagna is golden brown on top, about 45 minutes (Note 12). Cool for 15 minutes to allow lasagna to set and cease bubbling before slicing. Serve (Note 13) and store any leftovers (Note 14).

NUTRITION

Makes 4 Servings

(Notes 15-16)

Amount Per Serving (1.5 cups):

Calories 470 (48% from fat)
Total Fat 25g	39%
Saturated Fat 12g	62%
Cholesterol 128mg	43%
Sodium 1260mg	52%
Net Carb 8.5g
Total Carb 12.5g	4%
Dietary Fiber 4g	16%
Sugars 7.5g
Protein 46g

Vitamin A 22% · Vitamin C 48% · Calcium 45% · Iron 24%

PHOTOS

stirring tomato meat sauce in black skillet

collage showing how to assemble zucchini lasagna

baked zucchini lasagna in glass baking dish

NOTES & TIPS

(1) Zucchini. About 2 large or 3 medium raw zucchini. Peeling and de-seeding are not necessary. See Note 9 for details on why pre-salting zucchini to draw out moisture is not needed.

(2) Ground Beef. Extra lean ground beef (such as 95%) is ideal for avoiding a greasy casserole. If yours is less than 90% lean, drain off the grease in the pan after browning the meat. Don’t want to use beef? Readers have successfully substituted with ground turkey, Italian sausage, and plant-based protein.

(3) Tomato Sauce. About 1.75 cups. To ensure that the resulting tomato sauce is thick, use tomato sauce or puree, not thinner products like diced or crushed tomatoes. Some pasta or spaghetti sauces will work, but they vary in consistency, so you may need to adjust the sauce’s simmering time.

(4) Onion. About 1 small onion. I use a yellow onion.

(5) Mozzarella Cheese. About 5 ounces weight. I use a pre-shredded bag of low-moisture part-skim cheese, which means the cheese has been dried out for a longer shelf life and better browning ability compared to fresh mozzarella. Readers have successfully substituted with cheddar cheese, monterey cheese, vegan cheese, ricotta cheese, and cottage cheese.

(6) Parmesan Cheese. About 2 ounces weight. This is the kind of parmesan that has a sandy or almost powdery texture. Not shredded.

(7) Cayenne. This amount doesn’t make the lasagna spicy; it just enhances the other flavors in the lasagna. If you want a spicy lasagna, increase the cayenne or add some red pepper flakes.

(8) Pan. The pan should be large enough to hold the beef, tomato sauce, and onions. I use a 10-inch nonstick pan with 3-inch-tall sides. No lid needed. It’s not necessary to pre-heat the pan, and oil is not required since the beef will release grease as it cooks.

(9) Liquid Control/Thick Sauce. Zucchini is a wet vegetable that releases a lot of liquid as it cooks, so a common technique is to salt zucchini slices prior to cooking or grill them. In this recipe, such methods are skipped in favor of simply simmering until the sauce is extra thick (see photo of thickened sauce). Then the zucchini’s released liquid is absorbed by the thick sauce during baking, avoiding an overly watery lasagna.

(10) Cutting Zucchini. Don’t worry if your slices aren’t perfect — it won’t affect the deliciousness of the lasagna. Use a mandolin if you want perfect zucchini slices. Another option is to use a vegetable peeler or cheese slicer. Once cut, the zucchini slices can be used immediately to assemble the lasagna, and do not need to sit around (see Note 9 on liquid control).

(11) Make Ahead Options. Assemble the lasagna, cover tightly with foil, and refrigerate or freeze (without baking). Before serving, preheat the oven and bake uncovered until the lasagna is golden brown on top, about 50 minutes (from refrigerated) — this is 5 minutes more than what’s listed in the recipe, since it’s chilled. Another option is to assemble and fully bake the lasagna, then cover and refrigerate. When you’re ready to serve, reheat in the oven until warmed through.

(12) Baking Lasagna. Watch the lasagna carefully after 30 minutes of baking. It can turn quickly from a white surface to a golden brown surface, and the cheese can easily burn. If the surface is golden brown before the lasagna is fully cooked, cover with foil.

(13) Serving. Serve this zucchini lasagna with low carb appetizers and sides like artichokes with balsamic dip, garlic roasted mushrooms, and creamed spinach.

(14) Leftovers. Cover and store leftover servings in the refrigerator or freezer, and reheat using the microwave or oven.

(15) Nutrition. The estimate assumes all of the ground beef if consumed, which is not the case if you drained off some of the beef’s grease.

(16) Adjusting Yield. You can double the ingredients proportionally. Use a larger 9×13-inch casserole dish and increase the baking time as needed until the casserole is cooked through and golden brown on top.

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Abby

10/10!!! I’m not a great cook, like…at all!! I always seem to overcook or burn my food, I was worried I would do the same with this recipe, but since we are trying to do the low carb thing before our Hawaii trip, wanted to try this. I was so surprised how this came out, couldn’t even tell I was eating zucchini! This was amazing!!! Husband went back 3 times tonight to refill his plate 🤣🤣 can’t wait to have my leftovers tomorrow, this will definitely be on our repeat menu, thanks so much!! (Oh, I also added ricotta to the recipe, nice touch!)

Annie

Julia, this is AWESOME! I’m not a big fan of regular lasagna bcz it’s heavy. This is light and flavorful. I adapted a few things I’d like to share. COSTCO sells a fantastic Paleo smoked chicken sausage by Sabatino’s. It has 1gm carb per link, so it’s super Keto friendly and great for people who prefer to skip beef. It’s garlicky and salty and full of basil, so I eliminated the salt and oregano at the end of your recipe. Just grind it in your food processor, and sauté as you would the ground beef. The flavor is out of this world! Thank you for your outstanding recipes. Every one I’ve tried so far has been delicious and easy to produce. Especially the baked goods! The pecan sandies are a staple around here now.

Brenda

I have made this several times … delicious! I change it up with some fresh herbs now and then (basil, thyme, rosemary) along with the oregano. I’ve also added spinach and/or kale (finely chopped). All were good! I froze individual portions and the re-heated portions were just as tasty! Thanks for this great recipe!

Patti C.

Loved it! This was so good. I made it with ground chicken as I was out of beef. I also admit to using more mozzarella (just couldn’t help it) 😁. I added heaping Tbsp of tomato paste, for exta taste and as a thickener.
The zucchini slices had a perfect consistency. The meat sauce was amazing. Before we started our keto life we made homemade lasagna including pasta from scratch, this was too good to be true. The recipe was so easy I didn’t have high hopes but…I was totally blown away. Thank you for bringing lasagna back into our life. 💖💖

Whitney

This lasagna was seriously amazing! I’m not going to lie… I am not much of a cook but my husband and I recently joined the keto bandwagon and have been making all of our meals. My kids have only ever tried lasagna from the frozen food section at the grocery store and none are a fan of that but when I made this the other day, they ate the entire thing. I expected there to be left overs for my husband and I for lunch the next day but they ate it all lol. The kids had two helpings (I doubled the recipe for it to be a bigger family meal since there 6 of us). I made extra of the meat mixture and used it for stuffed pepper filling the next evening and threw mozzarella on top for those and they were great too. Thank you for your great recipes… yours have all been my favorites so far!

Bree

This was delicious! Even my husband who isn’t much for vegetables ate it (plus 3rds!). It did come out a little runny, but I think I didn’t simmer the sauce enough. I doubled the recipe and realized as I was cooking that I was short in beef. So I made one half with beef, one half woth italian sausage just to try it. I think I prefer sausage, but both were great! Thank you!

Jessie

This is so good I make it for guests and they all want the recipe. I sub our beef for turkey (no one can even tell) and chop up mushroom really small and add them to the meat, too. Even my three kids (5, 6 & 13) LOVE this dish! WIN!!

Kristie L.

Absolute perfection! Instant family favorite. Introduced my daughter (hater of all things green) to this lasagna and she couldn’t even tell it was structured with zucchini! Now she calls me each time to let me know they are making it again 🙂 Like others, I use half Italian sausage and ground beef. I think the key is to make sure all the water has evaporated from the sauce and the sauce sticks to the meat before arranging the lasagna otherwise you will have a wet mess. The sauce recipe itself is 5 stars and don’t even get me started on the Parmesan mozzarella crust….delicious! Thanks for the tips, it really is the best zucchini lasagna recipe I’ve ran across!

Lindsey

Really good and easy recipe! I’d do 1/4 of the salt though – the Parmesan already has so much. Mine came out a bit too salty.

Maxi

I made this a couple of weeks ago. I froze half of it and am thrilled to say it is still so VERY delicious. I added some mushrooms but that’s it. Your suggestions about making the sauce thicker was spot on. Thank you for another wonderful recipe!

Donna Davis

I followed the recipe but I added ricotta cheese to the first meat layer. It was fabulous. I also used turkey meat instead of beef and you couldn’t taste the difference. The spices were perfect. Loved this recipe.

Shelli hathcock

My husband and I loved this recipe so much. It was so light but yet filling. I used marinara sauce instead of the tomato sauce and it was so good. I will be making this again!!!!

Roma

Made this at least 4 times! My family loves it and it is easy to put together! Ver, very good

kat

1000/10!!!! Will be making this often. It’s delicious and just as good as regular lasagna!!! Thanks for sharing /)

Shara

I want to try this, but I also love ricotta in my lasagne. Is that something I could add to this if I drained it first to make it less watery?

Julia

Yes. Please see Note 5 above — other readers have substituted this and it worked out well.

Lillie

Tried to make this recipe and got so frustrated with the slicing of the zucchini that I had to quit and make something else. Highly suggest this to be a very experienced chef’s recipe, or you’ll end up crying into a pan of ground beef.

Mrs. R

I found just slicing the zucchini lengthwise into 1/4” slices worked easily. Using a longer knife helps. I only needed two zucchini, it was quick. This recipe is really good, so worth another try…

Shenise

So this came out super watery (maybe from the zucchini, because the sauce practically stuck to the pan lol), but it looks and smells really good! I haven’t tried it yet, but I think I’ll like it. My daughter says it’s not bad.

Did you measure out the zucchini by weight (20 ounces)? I’m wondering if you used a larger amount of zucchini, resulting in more liquid released. Also, the zucchini lasagna will set the longer it cools, and should be less watery the next day.

Lisa

This was very easy to make and tasted super delicious. An absolute winner at my house! I used 1/2 italian sausage and 1/2 hamburger in mine and chose to mix ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. I would definitely do the same again. Also added 1 clove of pressed garlic to the ground beef and onion and used fresh basil and oregano and left out the cayenne. My zucchini cooked very nicely and was a great alternative to the noodles. The only shortcoming for this recipe was that it did create a lot of liquid after baking. I did drain my meat before adding the sauce so I’m not sure what i could have done differently to prevent this. All in all, it was a great recipe!

Cindy Masterson-Roth

Loved it ! hubby loved it ! definitely a remake. I did a couple wee tiny tweeks to accommodate what I had on hand, but the thickened sauce & leaving it rest 15 minutes before serving were “spot on”. Thanks !

Rhonda

Made this, it was awesome! Added sauteed gypsy peppers (surplus from the garden)

Jeralyn

Definitely a 10/10, my son who is so picky and dislike cheese, actually requested this for his home lunch. I made this multiple times and its always a hit at home, thanks for sharing the recipe.

Becky Mallow

This was amazing with garlic toast and salad with low fat dressing, it’s healthy food at its best. Being a diabetic cutting carbs is a game winner!

Elaine

I made mine with Beyond Meat instead of ground beef. It is so good it’s a little runny but so delicious!

Dixie

I made this. But didnt add any salt, I used fresh garlic and added mushrooms in my sauce. Also I grilled the zucchini on my BBQ, came out delicious. I’m going to try yellow crookneck squash next time

Emily

Made this tonight and it was great! I sprinkled the zucchini with a tiny bit of salt and layered between layers of paper towels with a bowl on top to absorb excess liquid. I also subbed ground turkey instead of ground beef. I also couldn’t find oregano but I used an Italian seasoning blend. Turned out delicious and I didn’t miss the noodles at all.

Zucchini Lasagna