Looking to change up your regular old lasagna recipe? Try this one that is kid approved, delicious, and satisfying! This recipe is very similar to making a homemade lasagna but with some simple swaps to make it low carb and help you and your family to get in some extra greens.
In this recipe, I used ground beef, but you can easily swap the meat for ground turkey, ground turkey or shredded chicken. The marinara sauce that I used is from Costco is called Victoria White Linen Marinara Sauce and has no added sugar keeping it as low carb as possible. So when you choose your marinara or if you decide to make your own, make sure to read the labels so that there aren't any hidden ingredients like added sugar.
Another swap I made for mine, which I included in the recipe below, was to use cottage cheese instead of ricotta. Cottage cheese has more curds in it making it more lumpy, so in order together the consistency of ricotta which is more creamy, you will just need to blend it in a food processor or a blender to cream it up. Using cottage cheese will lower the fat content compared to ricotta cheese and therefore lowing the overall calorie intake per serving. I chose to use cottage cheese because we are already using higher fat sources in this recipe by using ground beef and an additional amount of shredded cheese. I wanted to keep the over caloric total and fat macro lower because of the other fat sources in this recipe.
Last, but not least, the most obvious swap for this recipe compared to your traditional lasagna is the use of zucchini instead of pasta. I also did this for my lower carb intake for the day since I am carb cycling and I used this recipe in a lower carb day. Zucchini, although it does have carbohydrates in it, many of those carbs are fiber. Also zucchini is high in water content and therefore you can eat a lot of zucchini compared to pasta as far a volume goes and still keep your calories relatively low keeping your stomach fuller longer.
I hope you and your family enjoy this recipe as much as my family did!
StressLess Zucchini Lasagna
Author: Britt from Stressless Lifestyle
Prep Time 10-20 minutes
Total Time 40-50 minutes
Makes 8 servings
Ingredients
1 pound ground beef (I used 7% lean or 93/7)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ cups marinara sauce
5 medium sized zucchini
Kosher salt
1 ½ cups part skim ricotta cheese or cottage cheese
2 cups shredded cheese mix or shredded mozzarella cheese
1 large egg
Instructions
Slice zucchini into 1/8" thick slices, add lightly salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Zucchini has a lot of water when cooked and salting it takes out some of the moisture. After 10 minutes, blot excess moisture with a paper towel.
In a medium saucepan, brown meat. When cooked drain in colander to remove any fat.
Add to the pan and saute garlic for about 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, add marinara sauce. Simmer on low covered until needed.The mixture of sauce and meat should be thick.
On another saucepan or grill pan, over medium heat grill zucchini slices 2 to 3 minutes per side, until slightly browned. Place on paper towels to soak any excess moisture.
Preheat oven to 375°.
If you are using cottage cheese, blend cottage cheese in a blender for a few minutes to make the consistency more creamy like ricotta cheese. In a medium bowl mix ricotta or cottage cheese, 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese and egg. Stir well.
In a 9x12 casserole spread 1/2 cup of sauce/meat mixture on the bottom and layer the zucchini to cover. Spread 1/2 cup of the ricotta cheese mixture, and repeat the process until all your ingredients are used up. The last layer top with any remaining zucchini and sauce and bake 15-20 minutes.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and bake uncovered for another 5-10 minutes until melted.
Let stand about 5 - 10 minutes before serving.
Notes:
You can freeze this meal after step 7 for up to 3 months. Or completely bake, consume while still warm and refrigerate any leftovers to be reheated for up to 3-5 days.