There’s a ton of zucchini lasagna recipes to pick from, but our Fool Proof Zucchini Lasagna is the one you need to make! If you’ve tried making zucchini lasagna before but it turned out too watery, salting the zucchini slices beforehand is the solution. Tender, flavorful zucchini layered between a homemade meat sauce and cheese, it’s incredibly hearty and comforting.
Why We Love This Zucchini Lasagna Recipe
If you follow the steps to making this Fool Proof Lasagna Recipe, it’s going to come out perfect. Since zucchini is very watery, a lot of recipes that you try are going to end up with excess liquid. And while that can’t be completely avoided, there are ways of reducing the amount of liquid in the final dish.
- Lighter feeling than a traditional lasagna: Since we’re swapping out zucchini for lasagna noodles, this lasagna won’t leave you feeling overly full.
- Sliceable: Since we’re salting the zucchini to remove a lot of excess water, this lasagna slices just like the traditional version.
- No need to boil noodles in a separate pot: Using sliced zucchini instead of lasagna noodles saves the step (and clean up!) of boiling pasta.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The basic ingredients are pictured here, but scroll to the recipe card at the end of the post for the complete list.
- Zucchini: Zucchini comes in many different sizes, for this recipe you’ll need about 2 pounds of zucchini.
- Ground beef: You can also use ground turkey, but we love the meaty flavor that beef adds to this veggie-heavy dish.
- Crushed tomatoes: We like the texture of crushed tomatoes for this recipe, but you can also use tomato sauce or even a jar of marinara sauce.
- Tomato Paste: (Not pictured) Adding a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste helps to thicken the sauce, but if you don’t have it you don’t have to add it.
- Ricotta cheese: Use whole milk if you can since it’s thicker and helps to hold everything together.
- Mozzarella cheese: You can use whole milk or part-skim but buy it whole and grate it yourself for best results.
- Parmesan cheese: A good, nutty, salty parmesan cheese.
- Italian seasoning: An all in one spice to keep it simple. If you don’t have it you can use dried oregano and basil instead.
- Egg: To bind the cheese filling together.
How To Make
Step by step photos here with brief instructions. For complete directions, scroll to the recipe card at the end of the post.
- Make the sauce: Brown ground beef in a large skillet, draining any excess grease. Add garlic and seasonings, then stir in tomato paste and crushed tomatoes. Simmer, partially covered for 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the sauce doesn’t stick. You want to end up with a thick sauce here, there will inevitably be some extra water from the zucchini so the other components need to be thick.
- Prepare zucchini: Thinly slice zucchini using a mandoline slicer. You want slices that are a little less than 1/8 inch thick, if they are thicker they won’t cook up as tender. To get thin, even slices you really can’t achieve this with a knife. Lay the slices on paper towels in a single layer, sprinkle with kosher salt and let sit for 15 minutes. This will draw out a lot of the water, then you can blot with paper towels to remove salt and moisture.
- Make the ricotta cheese mixture: Add ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, an egg and salt and pepper to a bowl. Mix to combine.
- Layer the lasagna: Spread a small amount of the sauce into the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Add zucchini slices in a single layer (overlapping slightly). Spread on a layer of the ricotta cheese, followed by mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Make sure the layers are as even as possible so the lasagna slices well once it’s cooked.
- Repeat with another layer of zucchini, ricotta, sauce and both cheeses. Finish with a final layer of zucchini covered with sauce and more mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Add parsley (optional) and then cover with foil. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake another 20 minutes. Let rest 10-15 minutes before slicing so the juices and cheese firm up.
What To Serve With Zucchini Lasagna
Since we have our meat and vegetables all in one pan, this lasagna is really and an all in one dinner. But it’s tough to resist some go-to sides like this Cheesy Garlic Bread or a crisp Escarole Salad with Bacon.
If you want to add a couple more vegetables sides, try our new favorite Shaved Broccoli with Pine Nuts or even a simple microwave Steamed Broccoli recipe.
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Zucchini Lasagna Recipe
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeWe served this Fool Proof Zucchini Lasagna to a family member that really isn’t a fan of veggies – and we were shocked at his response. He said that it was even better than regular lasagna…so if that’s not a reason to try this recipe I don’t know what is!
Ingredients
- 4 large zucchini, sliced very thin on a mandoline (if you have smaller, skinny zucchini you might need 5–6 zucchini – you’ll need about 2 pounds total)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1–28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
- 15 ounces ricotta cheese, whole milk
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the zucchini slices on a paper towel in a single layer and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 15 minutes and then dry well with paper towels, blotting off the moisture and the salt.
- Make the sauce by adding a tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet along with the ground beef. Cook and break up into crumbles until no pink remains. Drain the grease from the skillet. Now add the garlic, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon of the salt, pepper, tomato paste and stir to combine.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes, stir and simmer over low heat, partially covered, for 15 minutes.
- While the sauce is simmering, add the ricotta cheese to a bowl along with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, pepper to taste, 1/4 cup of the parmesan cheese and the egg. Mix to combine.
- Add 1/2 cup of the sauce to the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish, spreading out to cover the bottom of the dish. Place zucchini slices on top of the sauce, they can overlap a bit, and then spread 1/2 of the ricotta mixture on top in an even layer.
- Sprinkle about 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese on top of the ricotta mixture along with 1/3 of the parmesan cheese. Repeat with more sauce, another layer of zucchini slices and another layer of the ricotta cheese mixture. Add another 1/3 of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese followed by the last layer of zucchini slices.
- Top with the rest of the sauce, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle on the parsley if using. Cover with non-stick aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
Recipe Notes
Use a mandoline slicer for best results!
Store: Store leftovers in an air tight container for 4 days.
Reheat: Reheat in the microwave until warmed through.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven / Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
