Zucchini Lasagna

5 from 3 votes

This zucchini lasagna recipe uses zucchini slices instead of traditional noodles to create a low-carb, gluten-free, and delicious lasagna!

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Total Time1 10

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Amercian, Italian

Total Cost: ($15.47 recipe / $1.54 serving)

Servings: servings

Author: Jess Rice

Ingredients

Sauce Ingredients

1 24 oz. jar tomato sauce $1.67
2 Tbsp tomato paste $0.49
½ lb ground Italian sausage $1.78

Zucchini Prep

4-5 large zucchini* $3.72
1 tsp sea salt $0.01
½ tsp garlic powder $0.02
cooking oil spray** $0.05

Cheese Layer

32 oz whole milk ricotta cheese, liquid drained off top $4.48
2 cups shredded mozzarella $2.24
3 cloves garlic, minced $0.03
2 Tbsp Italian herb seasoning $0.56
2 large eggs $0.32
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper $0.01
1 tsp sea salt $0.09

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut zucchini into long 1/8 inch thick planks using a mandolin slicer or a sharp knife, reserving any slightly thicker slices for the bottom layer of your lasagna.
Sprinkle each zucchini plank with salt and let them sit for 10 minutes to release water while you prepare the cheese layer.
To prepare cheese layer, combine ricotta, shredded mozzarella, minced garlic, Italian herb seasoning, eggs, black pepper, and 1 tsp sea salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. ***
Dab zucchini slices dry with a clean cloth or paper towels. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets (I used 2) and lightly mist zucchini with oil and sprinkle with garlic powder. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes to help dehydrate them slightly. (This is an important step if you don’t want extra juicy lasagna!)
Remove zucchini from oven and set aside.
In a large skillet, break apart ground Italian sausage with a spatula and cook until browned. (I did not have any extra oil in my pan, but if you do, you’ll want to strain it off.)
Add jarred sauce and tomato paste to the browned Italian sausage and stir together to combine. The tomato paste helps thicken the sauce, which is very important for this recipe if you want to avoid a watery lasagna.
Spoon a few spoonfuls of the finished sauce into the 9x13” baking dish and spread around to cover the bottom. On top of the sauce, begin adding layers of zucchini, overlapping strips halfway to form a barrier to keep layers separate (just as you would with noodles!)
Then, add a layer of cheese mixture, another layer of zucchini, another layer of cheese, and a layer of sauce— repeating this order until your lasagna pan is full. Sprinkle more cheese on top, if desired. ****
Bake for 35-40 minutes, broiling for 3 min at the very end to lightly brown the cheese on top. Let your lasagna cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Top with fresh parsley or basil if you have some on hand. Enjoy!

See how we calculate recipe costs here.

Notes

* Layer thicker slices of zucchini on bottom. This will give the lasagna a sturdy base that help everything stay together when it comes time to slice and serve.

** If you don’t have cooking oil spray, you can lightly brush each plank with about 1 tsp oil. They don’t need to be drenched since we are just baking them for the purpose of dehydration.

*** If you have a small food processor, you can do this step in batches and mix everything together well by hand before spreading.

**** I saved most of the sauce for the final layer on top instead of adding layers of sauce throughout. Instead of drenching the lasagna as it cooks, I saved some sauce on the side for serving. I find this helps ensure that the zucchini lasagna is not watery or falling apart when it comes time to serve. I didn’t want to waste the extra cheese I had, so I added dollops on the top layer with dollops of sauce. It came out perfect and nothing went to waste!

Nutrition