Zucchini Lasagna

Instead of noodles, Zucchini Lasagna uses roasted zucchini ribbons layered with ricotta cheese and plenty of homemade meat sauce in this delicious, lightened-up Italian casserole.

I adore Italian-American restaurant fare. (Case in point: I have a complete Italian Feast menu with inspiration from antipasto to tiramisu so we can all enjoy our own red plaid tablecloth bistro-inspired feast right at home!)

One of my favorite comfort food entrees at an Italian restaurant: lasagna. My Best Make Ahead Lasagna and Vegetable Lasagna earn rave reviews from my dinner guests and readers alike, and I adore the luscious layered concept so much, I’ve even created a Chocolate Lasagna so we can savor it for dessert.

And now, I’ve perfected a lasagna recipe that swaps in thin slices of zucchini for regular pasta. All the extra veggies make this recipe extra nutritious, and the fluffy ricotta cheese and marinara sauce-coated ground beef pretty much guarantee no one will be missing the lasagna noodles. This naturally gluten-free entree is not the same as traditional lasagna, but it’s equally delicious in its own right!

Recipe ingredients

At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.

Ingredient notes

• Ground meat: Start with 2 pounds of ground beef, 2 pounds of ground Italian sausage, or 1 pound of each. You can also substitute ground turkey for a lighter lasagna.
• Sugar: Even a tablespoon is too much for some people. If you don’t like the sound of sugar in your meat sauce, please leave it out. In my family, people add ¼ cup or even up to ½ cup.
• Italian seasoning: It’s easy to make your own homemade Italian seasoning with dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram.
• Fennel seeds: The seeds make the Italian sausage flavors pop. If you love the taste of a sweet tomato sauce, use just ground beef (no sausage), at least ¼ cup sugar, and omit the fennel seeds.
• Grilled zucchini: Grilling the zucchini helps remove excess moisture from the slices, ensuring you do not have a wet or soupy lasagna. You could also use a mix of zucchini and yellow squash or all yellow squash if you prefer; they perform and taste similarly in this homemade lasagna recipe. In a perfect world, we would all own a mandoline to get the thinnest possible slices of zucchini, but you can use a sharp chef’s knife and you’ll be good.
• Ricotta cheese: Buy a container at the store, or make your own ricotta if you have time; you need just 4 ingredients (milk, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt).

Step-by-step instructions

To roast the zucchini:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper for easy clean-up. In a large bowl, add zucchini strips, extra-virgin olive oil, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Toss to combine.

2. Arrange zucchini slices on prepared baking sheets in an even layer.

3. Bake until zucchini is light golden brown and fork-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

To make the sauce:

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add beef (or sausage) and onion, and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds. Simmer uncovered until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper (I like 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper). You should have about 2 quarts of sauce.

For the ricotta filling:

1. In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and salt. Chill until sauce and zucchini are finished.

To assemble and bake the lasagna:

1. In the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch dish, spread 2 cups meat sauce. Arrange a single layer of zucchini noodles over the meat sauce. Spread with a heaping 2/3 cups ricotta mixture. Top with about 1 ½ cups mozzarella. Sprinkle with ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese.

2. Spoon 2 cups meat sauce over the cheese. Make another layer of zucchini, ricotta mixture (2/3 cup), mozzarella (1 ½ cups), and Parmesan (⅓ cup). Repeat layers one more time, for a total of three layers.

3. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bubbling hot, and cheese is beginning to brown, about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh basil or parsley, if desired.

Recipe tips and variations

• Yield: This Zucchini Lasagna is made in a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish, enough for 12 generous slices.
• Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
• Make ahead: Make this recipe up to 3 days before you need it and keep it in the refrigerator. Reheat until heated through in a 375-degree oven until heated through and reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees on a digital thermometer.
• Perk things up with pesto: Zucchini season delightfully overlaps with basil season. So if you have a jar of pesto in the pantry, or homemade pesto in the refrigerator, I fully support adding a surprise layer inside this Zucchini Lasagna for extra summer flavor.
• Round out the menu: Get your Italian fix with Garlic Bread, Caesar Salad, Antipasto Salad, Bruschetta, a full Antipasto Platter, and Pizzelle or Tiramisu for dessert. And, sip on a cool Granita or your favorite bottle of red wine.
• More zucchini recipes: Try Zucchini Parmesan, Stuffed Zucchini, and Roasted Zucchini.
• Meat sauce: My favorite Homemade Meat Sauce has both ground beef and Italian sausage. It’s perfect for lasagna, spaghetti, or spiralized zoodles, and it comes together with easy pantry ingredients.
• Meatless: For a hearty meatless marinara sauce, try my Homemade Tomato Sauce. You can add extra vegetables like onions, bell peppers, or finely diced carrots. This one makes a great pizza sauce, too!
• Spaghetti and Meatballs: This classic Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe is a hearty and comforting family dinner idea. One bite of this Italian-American dinner recipe will transport you to a Midwestern red sauce restaurant.
• Spaghetti Squash with meat sauce: Learn how to cook spaghetti squash, then top with homemade tomato sauce or your favorite meat sauce.
• Lasagna: This traditional Lasagna Recipe has three kinds of cheese, two different meats, one fantastic homemade sauce, and plenty of cheese. Or, try my super popular Make Ahead Lasagna which uses standard lasagna noodles (not the no-boil kind) but they go in unboiled, uncooked, bone-dry. It’s amazing.
• Zucchini Parmesan: In lieu of the whole breading-and-frying situation, this fuss-free Zucchini Parmesan uses roasted zucchini “noodles” in one of my best Italian dinners for busy weeknights.
• Baked Ziti: Far less fussy than lasagna but just as cheesy and comforting, this meaty Baked Ziti casserole is made with ground Italian sausage and calls for just 15 minutes of prep time.
• Italian meatballs: These classic Italian Meatballs are ready to be sauced and served with spaghetti, on meatball subs, or as an appetizer. Pan-fry and baking instructions included! Or try my wildly popular Turkey Meatballs.

More tasty recipes to try

Appetizer Recipes

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Side Dish Recipes

Marinated Mushrooms

Italian Recipes

Chicken Marsala

Italian Recipes

Spaghetti and Meatballs Recipe

Zucchini Lasagna

By Meggan Hill

Instead of noodles, Zucchini Lasagna uses roasted zucchini ribbons layered with ricotta cheese and plenty of homemade meat sauce in this delicious, lightened-up Italian casserole.

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings 12 servings (1 slice each)

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Calories 510

5 from 6 votes

ReviewPrint

Ingredients 

US CustomaryMetric

For the zucchini:

• ▢ 2 pounds zucchini ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

• ▢ 2 pounds ground beef (see note 1)
• ▢ 1 medium onion chopped (about 1 cup)
• ▢ 4 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ 28 ounces crushed tomatoes undrained
• ▢ 15 ounces tomato sauce
• ▢ 6 ounces tomato paste
• ▢ 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or to taste (see note 2)
• ▢ 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning (see note 3)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (see note 4)

For the ricotta filling:

• ▢ 15 ounces ricotta cheese (see note 5)
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt

For assembly:

• ▢ 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ▢ 4 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• ▢ fresh parsley minced, for garnish

Instructions 

To make the zucchini:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper for easy clean-up.
• In a large bowl, add zucchini slices, olive oil, and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper (I like ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper). Toss to combine.
• Arrange zucchini slices on prepared baking sheets in an even layer. Bake until zucchini is light golden brown and fork-tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain on paper towels and reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees.

To make the sauce:

• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add beef (or sausage) and onion, and cook until mostly browned, about 5 minutes. Drain if desired. Stir in garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, and fennel seeds. Simmer uncovered until thickened, about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper (I like 1 ½ teaspoon salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper). You should have about 2 quarts of sauce.

To make the ricotta filling:

• In a large bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, parsley, and salt. Chill until sauce and zucchini are finished.

To assemble and bake the lasagna:

• In the bottom of a 9-inch by 13-inch dish, spread 2 cups meat sauce. Arrange a single layer of zucchini over the meat sauce. Spread with heaping 2/3 cups ricotta mixture. Top with about 1 ½ cups mozzarella. Sprinkle with ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese.
• Spoon 2 cups meat sauce over the cheese. Make another layer of zucchini, ricotta mixture (2/3 cup), mozzarella (1 ½ cups) and Parmesean (⅓ cup). Repeat layers one more time, for a total of three layers.
• Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bubbling hot, and cheese is beginning to brown, about 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Recipe Video

Notes

1. Ground meat: You can do 2 pounds of ground beef, 2 pounds of ground Italian sausage, or 1 pound of each.
2. Sugar: Even a tablespoon is too much for some people. If you don’t like the sound of sugar in your meat sauce, please leave it out. In my family, people add ¼ cup or even up to ½ cup.
3. Italian seasoning: It’s easy to make your own homemade Italian seasoning with dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram.
4. Fennel seeds: The seeds make the Italian sausage flavors pop. If you love the taste of a sweet tomato sauce, use just ground beef (no sausage), at least ¼ cup sugar, and omit the fennel seeds.
5. Ricotta cheese: Make your own ricotta with just 4 ingredients: Milk, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt.
6. Yield: This Zucchini Lasagna is made in a 9-inch by 13-inch baking dish, enough for 12 generous slices.
7. Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 510kcalCarbohydrates: 18gProtein: 33gFat: 35gSaturated Fat: 16gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 128mgSodium: 967mgPotassium: 964mgFiber: 4gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 1208IUVitamin C: 26mgCalcium: 435mgIron: 4mg

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Meggan Hill

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Meggan Hill is a classically-trained chef and professional writer. Her meticulously-tested recipes and detailed tutorials bring confidence and success to home cooks everywhere. Meggan has been featured on NPR, HuffPost, FoxNews, LA Times, and more.

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