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.
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.)
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 |
PHOTOS
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!)
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.
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!
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. 💖💖
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!
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.
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!
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!
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!
Made this zucchini lasagna for meal prep. Used ground Turkey instead of beef & had a container of ricotta cheese in the frig that I needed to use up, so I added it as a center layer!! Came out beautiful & absolutely delicious!! Will be making this again.
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.
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!!!!
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!!
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!
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.
This is my favorite low carb recipe. It is so amazing I make it at least once a month.
I was surprised at how NOT watery this was, as I’ve made zucchini casseroles before and they usually are too watery. I did suck up some of the juice after cooking with my turkey baster 🙂 but honestly there wasn’t all that much to suck up. My only comment is that it was a bit too salty–due to the large amount of parmesan on top. I’ll just cut that amount in half next time. Thanks for this recipe –the very thick sauce was what did the trick I guess!
amazing!! I used a garden fresh squash and a zuchini, texture was perfect. The cayenne pepper added a pop of flavor. Will make again!!
Absolutely delicious! The lasagne kept it’s shape so well too, managed to cut 4 squares very easily. This is going to be a weekly staple for us now we have started on keto. Very easy & quick to prep & cook too so good mid-week meal choice.
I followed the directions perfectly and i don’t know what happened. There was so much water in it that i had to throw it away. i’m so sad:( i don’t know what i did wrong
I have a convection oven. This can only cook about 30 minutes on the mid level shelf otherwise it will burn bad. Thank God I’m a avid cooker and baker to know to check. Otherwise tastes good.
Made this today using mild ground sausage and dehydrated onions. Delicious!!
This was amazing! Followed your recipe exactly (except I thickened my sauce by adding a little tomato paste) and did not expect to like this as much as “regular” lasagne but sure do- possibly even more!
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
A great recipe, thank you so much!!!