📋Ground Beef Zucchini Lasagna recipe

a slice of Zucchini Ground beef lasagna on a white plate with salad and a fork

5 from 2 votes

📋Ground Beef Zucchini Lasagna recipe

This Zucchini Ground Beef Lasagna is healthy, low-carb, and delicious! With layers of meat sauce, zucchini, and a creamy cottage cheese spinach and cheese filling, topped with mozzarella, this recipe tastes like traditional lasagna, making it a great way to hide veggies for picky eaters!

Course dinner, main

Cuisine Italian

Keyword lasagna, meat lasagna, zucchini

Special Diet weight watchers

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 5

Servings servings

Calories 244kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Equipment

Ingredients

4 medium zucchinis or 2 large sliced thinly lengthwise
21 oz * pasta sauce (or 640 ml or about 2 ¾ cups)
2 lbs lean ground lean
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
¾ cup low-fat cottage cheese
4 cloves garlic
2 ½ cups fresh spinach
2 cups partly skimmed mozzarella cheese, shredded (about a 400 g package or about 2 cups)
1.5 cups reduced-fat parmesan cheese
1 small onion, chopped
1.5 cups sliced mushrooms (227 g package)

Garnish (optional)

fresh basil leaves
additional parmesan cheese

US Customary - Metric

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Instructions

Using a mandoline or a sharp knife, cut the zucchinis lengthwise (into thin strips), about ⅛ inch or 3 mm thick.
However, it's really hard to get uniform thickness with a knife. I highly recommend a mandoline.
*See Video: How to cut zucchini with mandoline - skip to 0:53
Optional: To reduce the moisture in the reicpe: * Lay the slices on paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt to help draw out moisture. Let them sit for about 10 minutes, then pat dry with additional paper towels.
*I didn't do this because I'm reducing salt in my diet, and I don't mind if it's a little watery
Brown ground beef and onion in large pot or a deep, large skillet over medium-high heat until the internal temperature of the ground beef reaches 165 degrees F (74 degrees C)
Cook mushrooms in 1 tablespoon water for 3 minutes in microwave and drain.
Add the mushrooms, pasta sauce, Italian seasoning and garlic to the ground beef.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the cottage cheese, parmesan cheese and spinach. Mix until well combined.
*You can also drain the cottage cheese to cut down on the moisture (or use dry cottage cheese)
Add half the meat sauce to the bottom of the prepared lasagna pan.
Then place zucchini slices in an even layer over the sauce, overlapping a little. If you have any areas on the top or bottom that aren't covered with zucchini, add additional slices (as in photo)
Next, spread the spinach and cheese mixture evenly over the zucchini, ensuring it covers the slices completely.
Add another layer of zucchini slices, slightly overlapping, over the spinach cheese mixture. Be sure to cover any bare spots on the top or bottom, with zucchini pieces.
Add the remaining meat sauce on top of the 2nd layer of zucchini and spread as evenly as possible.
Tightly cover the baking dish with foil (shiny side in to reflect the heat) sealing the edges, and bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes.
Remove the lasagna from the oven and discard the foil.
Sprinkle on shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and a fork goes easily through the zucchini.
Turn up the oven to broil - 500 degrees F (260 degrees C)- for 1-2 minutes until cheese bubbles and lasagna is lightly browned. *You need to watch it very carefully so it doesn't burn.
Allow the lasagna to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Garnish (optional) with fresh basil and additional parmesan cheese.

Notes

Expert Recipe tips

- Use a mandoline for even zucchini slices. Uniform slices (about ⅛ inch or 3 mm thick) help the lasagna layer evenly and cook consistently.

- Pre-cook mushrooms to prevent excess moisture. Mushrooms release a lot of liquid when baked, which can make the lasagna watery.

- Salt or bake zucchini slices before assembling. This helps reduce moisture and prevent a watery lasagna.

- Drain cottage cheese if using regular instead of dry. Removing excess liquid from the cottage cheese will give you a thicker filling and reduce the chances of the lasagna being runny after baking.

- Let the lasagna rest before slicing. A 10-minute resting period after baking allows the layers to set and makes slicing easier.

- Use extra lean ground beef to avoid greasy layers. Higher fat content in beef can cause greasy pooling, so stick with lean or extra lean and drain after browning.

- Shiny side of foil in = better heat reflection. When covering with foil, place the shiny side facing inwards to help the lasagna bake more evenly.

- Broil at the end for a golden cheesy top. Just 1–2 minutes under the broiler adds a bubbly, browned finish—watch closely so it doesn't burn.

- Use fresh spinach for better flavor and texture. Baby spinach blends more seamlessly into the filling and is easier to work with than frozen.

- Layer zucchini slightly overlapping for better coverage. This helps mimic traditional noodles and prevents bare spots that collapse when sliced.

*OPTIONAL: To reduce the moisture from the zucchini in the recipe:

* Lay the slices on paper towels and sprinkle with a little Kosher salt to help draw out moisture. Let them sit for about 10 minutes, then pat dry with additional paper towels (this will remove some of the salt as well).

**I didn't do this because I'm reducing salt in my diet, it was an extra step I was too lazy to do, and I don't mind if it's a little watery! You can drain off any excess moisture. And if you're slicing the noodles thin enough, and pre-cooking the mushrooms, it shouldn't be a problem.

**Alternatively, you can bake your lasagna noodles in advance to draw out moisture. Place the noodles on trays lined with parchment paper and bake for 10 minutes at 375F. Then pat dry when they’re removed from the oven.

Storage & Freezing

Store this zucchini in the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days. You can freeze it for up to 3 months in a sealed container.

TO REHEAT (from frozen):

I love using this casserole reheating technique for any casserole- it prevents the casserole from drying out.

Simply take lasagna out of the freezer the night before and let it defrost (preferably in the fridge). Ideally, you want to keep it at room temperature for about 30 minutes to an hour before you put it in the oven.
Then heat the oven to 350 degrees F/175 degrees C, remove the lid and plastic wrap, then tightly seal your casserole dish with aluminum foil (shiny side in) and put it in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, until it's warmed through. *you can remove the foil and broil it for the final 2 minutes if you desire.

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