Zucchini Lasagna
543 Comments
Updated Aug 03, 2023
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Zucchini lasagna is a fresh take on a classic comfort food dish. It’s loaded with veggies, but still has the rich flavors and scrumptious texture of a traditional lasagna. Top it off with some grated parmesan cheese and basil leaves, and you’ll have the perfect weeknight meal for the whole family.
Lasagna is comfort food that hits straight home. But for me, I’m always looking for ways to incorporate more vegetables and create healthier spins on classic recipes. Enter, this zucchini lasagna! It’s still got that hearty, cheesy lasagna flavor, but it’s a little lighter and veggie-forward.
I’m a big fan of transforming zucchini into almost anything, from zucchini noodles to zucchini bread. And this zucchini lasagna is similar to my zucchini noodle spaghetti bolognese, but in casserole form that works so well for family dinners (or meal prepping for the week). Oh, and did I mention you can freeze it? It’s a definite win for easy, weeknight dinners!
Zucchini Lasagna Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients for zucchini lasagna are pretty basic: zucchini, ground beef, pasta sauce, ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella, egg, basil, and parsley. But there are a few small details to watch out for when it comes to texture and consistency. Let’s take a look:
- Small vs. large zucchini: Either size will work, just make sure you have about 2 pounds of zucchini which is about 5 small zucchini or 3 large zucchini.
- Part-skim vs. whole milk ricotta: Whole milk ricotta has a richer, creamier texture while part-skim will save you some calories and fat. Both work great, it’s up to you.
- Mozzarella vs. parmesan: I suggest using both! In this recipe, I mix the ricotta and parmesan together and grate the mozzarella on top. I love the variety of cheeses.
Helpful tip: The beauty of lasagna is that you can pack it with any thinly sliced vegetable such as mushrooms, spinach, onions, or eggplant. You can even slice pumpkin or sweet potato as alternating slices with the zucchini. The possibilities are endless!
How to Make Zucchini Less Watery
You may recall from my zucchini noodles post that zucchini is 95% water. That means when you cook it, it will naturally become watery. But if you’re looking to have a little less juice in your lasagna, I do have a few tips:
- Slice your zucchini into thinner slices: Thinner slices mean fewer zucchini, thus less water.
- Salt your zucchini slices: Salt helps to draw water out of the zucchini! Once salted, let them sit for 15 minutes before blotting dry (and removing some of that salt) with a paper towel.
- Grill to reduce the moisture: Grill the zucchini slices for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
Personally, I don’t mind if my zucchini is a bit more watery. I just scoop out a portion of lasagna with a spatula with holes, which drains any water. But feel free to use the method that works best for you.
Lastly, note that this recipe also uses more zucchini than other zucchini lasagnas, as the slices are layered on top of each other. So it will come out a bit more watery than expected. I personally love biting into the chunks of zucchini, so my motto is the more the better!
How to Cut Zucchini for Lasagna
You can use a mandoline, peeler, or vegetable sheet cutter. But because many people don’t own a vegetable sheet cutter, I’m showing you how to cut your zucchini using a mandolin or a peeler today. I prefer a mandolin because it allows me to control the thickness of my zucchini. Plus, I find it to be faster and easier than a peeler.
How To Make Zucchini Lasagna
Slice the zucchini lengthwise. If you’d like to make your lasagna less watery, use one of the tips above.
Make the bolognese sauce. In a large pan, cook the ground beef until it’s perfectly browned. Then, stir in the pasta sauce.
Make the ricotta mix. Stir together the ricotta cheese, parmesan, egg, and some salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
Add the first set of layers. First, spread some pasta sauce onto the bottom of the casserole dish. Second, layer zucchini slices on top. Third, add half of the bolognese sauce. Lastly, evenly spread half of the ricotta mixture, with sprinkles of grated mozzarella, parsley, and basil on top.
Repeat these layers one more time. Feel free to press down on your zucchini in the second layer to get it nice and flat. Then top the last zucchini layer with extra herbs and grated mozzarella.
Bake the lasagna. Cook it for about 40 minutes, then let it broil for 5 minutes to get a nice golden brown top. Garnish with whole basil leaves and serve!
Storage Tips
- To store for the week: Once the lasagna has cooled, place it in an airtight container. It will keep for 4 to 5 days in the fridge.
- Freeze for later: This is one of my favorite freezer-friendly meals! I recommend pre-slicing the lasagna before storing individual portions in a freezer-safe container. It will keep for up to 3 months.
More Zucchini Recipes
If you still have an abundance of zucchini, these zucchini recipes are the best of the best!
- Paleo Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Pizza Stuffed Zucchini Boats
- Zucchini and Prosciutto Egg Muffins
- Baked Zucchini Fries
- Zucchini Noodle Caprese
I’m confident that this zucchini lasagna will instantly become a dinner favorite. Once you make it, let me know how it turned out in the comment box below!
Zucchini Lasagna Recipe (Not Watery)
Description
Video
Ingredients
- 4 large zucchini
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 24 ounces pasta sauce
- 15 ounce ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded parmesan regianno
- 1 ½ cups mozzarella
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- small handful fresh parsley and basil , chopped
Instructions
- Slice zucchini. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Slice the zucchini lengthwise into thin slices, as thin or thick as you'd like. Set aside.
- Make bolognese. Add the ground beef to a large pan over medium-high heat. Finely break down the ground beef with a spatula and pan-fry until browned and no longer pink. Then, pour the pasta sauce on top (remember to reserve 1/2 cup) and stir together, then remove from heat.
- Make ricotta mix. In a medium bowl, make the ricotta mix by stirring together the ricotta cheese, parmesan, egg, salt and pepper.
- Add the first layers. Spread 1/2 cup of pasta sauce onto the bottom of your 9×13-inch casserole dish. Then add your zucchini slices on top of the pasta sauce. They can overlap or you can place them side-by-side.
- Add the secondary layers. Top the zucchini with 1/2 of the bolognese sauce, and evenly spread 1/2 the ricotta mix on top of that. Then, add 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella with a sprinkle of chopped parsley and basil.
- Repeat these layers one more time.
- Finish the topping. Top the lasagna with a final layer of zucchini slices, a sprinkle of chopped parsley and basil, and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Bake. Place the lasagna in the oven and cook for 40 to 45 minutes. Broil for a couple of minutes to get a nice golden top. Garnish with whole basil leaves and serve.
Lisa’s Tips
- I used store-bought pasta sauce (I love Rao’s) but if you’d like to make your bolognese from scratch, you can follow my bolognese recipe.
- This is the mandoline I love…and don’t forget to use cut resistant gloves as well. Your fingers will thank you!
- The casserole dish is 9×13 for those looking for exact measurements.
Nutrition
©Downshiftology. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Recipe originally posted September 2019, but updated to include new information.
my wives favorite and she’s italian..made a vegan version for my vegan nieces…loved it!
Glad everyone is loving this zucchini lasagna Neal!
DELICIOUS! Definitely going to be a staple meal for our family.
Wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, Jennifer!
Really enjoyed it. Thank you for sharing this idea.
Thank you for the stellar idea! I used meatless ground and added overly-roasted crimini mushroom slices to the Bolonese, as well as spinach and a pinch of nutmeg to the ricotta mix. The zucchini slices held up great and it served up (stayed together) beautifully after cooling for a bit. It even satisfied my very meat-centric hubs!
I am thinking about making these for neighbors for Christmas. I usually do cookies, but we have all been doing low carb so thought this would be a great idea! Would it freeze well before the baking step?
It’s best to bake this then freeze as the zucchini will get watery.
This is so good. I made this because my husband is gluten free and I wasn’t sure if gluten free noodles would be as good as regular lasagna. This one is as good as regular lasagna and no one missed the noodles. I cut zucchini on the thicker side on a mandolin. It is REALLY NOT watery, she was right. I didn’t look at the pics so I laid the slices vertically like noodles and it worked out.
Yay, I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed the zucchini lasagna! Thanks Stephanie!
I made this recipe it was very good my family enjoyed the dish. 😊awesome😊
Happy to hear the whole family enjoyed this zucchini lasagna!
Any ideas to substitute the meat for something vegetarian?
You can always use mushrooms, lentils, or other types of veggies you can mince into a meat like texture :)
I do spinach artichoke as a vegetarian option and it is my favorite!
This is the best Zucchini lasagna recipe! Thank you! Making it for a 3rd time!
You’re on a roll! Glad you’re loving this lasagna Barb :)
This recipe is awesome. I made a vegan ricotta and mozzarella because I can’t have dairy and it turned out so good. This will be a staple recipe I use from now on. Thank you!
Happy to hear you enjoyed this lasagna recipe Amy!
Hola
Q clase de salsa usaste
Excellent recipe. I used 1 pound hamburg, one large link hot Italian sausage and one large link sweet Italian sausage and about 4 baby Bella mushrooms. I also added a little red wine to the sauce. We liked the zucchini better than the pasta.
Loving the mixture you added into the bolognese mix Denise!
I just made this with brown rice lasagna noodles. OMG. To die for! Next time I’ll try zucchini. The meat, tomatoes, and cheeses blended so well. I used red onion and some garlic (didn’t have store bought pasta sauce), a tin of crushed organic tomatoes, lots of dried parsley, and of course the fresh parsley and basil between layers. Best lasagna I’ve ever made.
Glad this turned out great with the brown rice lasagna noodles!
Really excited for chicken enchilada recipe!!!
Hope to get that up at some point!
I made this recipe twice. About to make it a third time. It’s a hit.
Amazing! It truly is the best way to celebrate zucchini season :)
Fabulous recipe and treating the zucchini with salt was brilliant. Only feedback is 1/2 cup measure of sauce and ricotta between layers was not nearly enough and resulted in a lot of excess. I made it with the rest but I’ll use at least a cup of each the next time. The only other thing I did was rather than finish with zucchini noodles, I finished with meat sauce and mozzarella which resulted in a real lasagna presentation. However, this was a great recipe and was great the next day, the zucchini did not degrade like regular noodles do. Thank you!
The recipe says to add half of the entire bolognese sauce and half of the entire ricotta mixture to each layer, not half a cup to each layer.
Recipe was great!!! Made it with the grilled zucchini noodles. Making it the second time in a week to take to my sons for a family get together.
Love the idea of using grilled zucchini! Hope everyone loves this lasagna recipe :)
Awesome video!!
Thanks so much Lynn! Hope you enjoy the recipe :)
Easy to follow and tasted absolutely delicious.
Glad you enjoyed this zucchini lasagna recipe Tina!
I loved this recipe, I only used half the ingredients and use Alfredo sauce because that is all I had at the time and it was superb!! Thank you so much
Glad you enjoyed this zucchini lasagna!
Fantastic!
This was SO GOOD! I just bought a peel to make thin strips of zucchini and wanted to try out this recipe. I salted and let the zucchini set while I got the ingredients together. This I rinsed and dried in my salad spinner. It worked great. I only used 1lb of meat and included chopped mushrooms and peppers. It was so great and tasted wonderful the next day. Definitely becoming a new meal in my monthly rotation. Thanks!
Happy to hear you loved this zucchini lasagna and got to put your peeler to work :)
Absolutely delicious. I altered the recipe to be lower sodium with low sodium pasta sauce (store bought), as I follow the DASH diet for high blood pressure. I also cut fat by using nonfat ricotta. Instead of 2 lbs. of ground beef, I used 1 lb. of roughly chopped baby portobello mushrooms and two large onions for the bolognese. I did not use salt on the zucchini but besides a little bit of water in the bottom of the dish after serving, it wasn’t an issue. This recipe can definitely be tweaked to fit dietary restrictions such as mine without taking away the quality of flavor, which I was absolutely astounded by. I highly recommend it!
Glad this zucchini lasagna turned out perfectly with your adjustments!
Wow wow! That turned out so yummy and it wasn’t really watery. My husband says he likes it better than regular lasagna. This’ll be a go-to recipe – especially when we don’t know what to do with all our zucchini.
Glad to hear you both enjoyed this zucchini lasagna so much :)
Hi
great recipe. The Fam loved it.
Have you ever sliced the zucchini and then froze it? Then process with the salting and grilling once thawed?
Will try that
Thanks again for the recipe
It’s hard to freeze the zucchini as it will get soggy.
Excellent recipe I did it and it’s delicious!!!!
Glad you enjoyed this zucchini lasagna!
Would it makes sense to leave out the egg? My son’s allergic.
Hi Alice – I think it would still be fine without the egg.
I make my regular lasagna without the egg all the time. Works fine!
With most recipes I’ve used chia or flax egg recipe. They can be a good substitute for conventional eggs when allergies or some other reason is a factor. Either will work fine in this recipe. For 1 chia or flax egg, the recipe follows. Chia egg: 1 Tbsp chia seeds + 2.5 Tbsp water = a chia egg. Let set it about 10 mins to thicken. Use as you would regular egg. Flax egg: 2 1/2 teaspoons pre-ground flax, 3 Tblsp water,, let sit 10 mins till thickens.
So delicious. Best I’ve ever made. One thing is it came out super watery. What did I do wrong? Even still it was so delicious. 😋
Hi Janice – It will most likely be due to the zucchini not being dried out enough. One step you can do is to pan fry the zucchini a bit to remove the moisture.
Delicious recipe! This is the second time I made it. Some of our family cannot eat dairy so I used kite hill almond milk ricotta and omitted the other cheese on half. It was still very good. Salted the zucchini and let it sit. Worked perfectly. Thank you for the recipe!
Glad this was a family winner Jay! :)
This lasagna was amazing. My whole family loved it and had second helpings. This will definitely be a go to meal in my home from now on. Thank you!
Happy to hear the whole family enjoyed this zucchini lasagna!
Your recipe was a lifesaver for my husband who loves lasagna but could no longer eat traditional lasagna because of the carbs. Followed your recipe, made sure to salt and squeeze the zucchini slices to get all the water out and it turned out great! Will be making again!
Glad this zucchini lasagna was a winner Alice!
This is second time making it. First time I did as instructed and it came out perfect. This time I made it night before and will be baking it later. I suspect it might come out more watery, but will post result after. I love all your recipes!
Amazing! Glad you’re enjoying this zucchini lasagna recipe Marie.
Maria how did the zucchini lasagna turn out when you prepared it then baked it later? Also later the next day or 2 days later? Thanks
What a fabulous recipe!! I used two zucchini instead of four, and a slotted spoon is a must when serving, to help drain out any excess liquid. I was a little worried that the zucchini would water down the flavors but it didn’t at all! I was also afraid the zucchini would come out with a slimy or funny texture but it didn’t! I will be using this recipe again.
So glad your zucchini lasagna was a success Lauryn!
Unlike many recipes I find online- this one turned out perfectly and tasted absolutely as good as I wanted it to!! Great job & thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed this zucchini lasagna Pam!
Awesome 👍
Lisa, I just made this dish, as my husband says THIS IS A KEEPER!!!! This was delicious
I had a package of mushrooms and browned them with ground turkey instead of beef.
FYI, if anyone is reading this, you must try the following:
Chicken Fajitas
Lentil Soup
Stuffed Peppers
Overnight Oats
Lisa, I can’t wait for your cookbook. If you need recipe tasters, my husband and I have our knives and forks ready.
Thanks for ANOTHER DELICIOUS RECIPE
Yay, I’m so happy you both loved this recipe, Elayne! And you’re so sweet to list out the other recipes you’ve loved. It puts a big smile on my face to know you’ve enjoyed so many recipes. :) I sincerely appreciate your support and I can’t wait to share more about the cookbook in the future!
You missed a whole step of putting the lasagna at the bottom. Thanks for helping me ruin my first lasagna. Never using you again thats for sure.
Hi Claudia – I did not miss that step, it’s step #7 in the instructions. I’d recommend re-reading the instructions. I hope you have a wonderful day!
Love this recipe & look forward to trying others! Thank you!
I absolutely loved this dish! I’m not much of a cook, but this was really easy to make and it even tasted healthy. My husband really liked it too and he is not exactly health conscious. I will definitely make this one of my go to meals!
Thrilled to hear this was easy to follow along to, and is now one of your go-to meals!
This is a great recipe. I am making it tomorrow but wonder what I can do the day before?
I can’t find the info in your blog post for this recipe. Can I make the sauce ahead? Can I cut the zucchini the day before? Help!!!
BTW I made this in the summer and it was amazing!!!!
For this recipe, I think it’s best to make it the day of. But, you can always make the whole recipe the day before and just store it in the fridge. Then warm it up in the oven the next day!
I made this recipe last summer and it was amazingly delicious!
Wonderful! Glad you enjoyed this recipe Kathy :)
This is by far my favorite recipe of zucchini lasagna. The cheese mix is awesome. The only thing is that if the zucchini are not cooked a bit in oil before putting them in the dish, it releases a lot of water and you end up with too much liquid in the lasagna.
Good idea on cooking them a bit before layering into the lasagna to prevent water!
Great success!! An overrall nutritional & tasty recipe for the family.
Glad this recipe was a win Gurwant!
This an easy and tasty recipe which is now added to my ‘go to’ list of recipes when I need something I know will work. The only thing I did differently is that I used minced Quorn as my husband and I are trying to decrease the amount of red meat we eat, it still tasted great and even means a fewer calories. Thank you again, your recipes are always fool proof and taste great.
I used my mandoline (which I asked for for Christmas) into very thin slices + or- 1/8 inch. But because we both dislike salt, I placed the slices on sheet pans lined with paper towels and placed them in a 225 F oven for about ten minutes to dry them and soften them. It is a bit of trouble, but really IS worth the bother; the results were wonderful!
Happy to hear you loved this zucchini lasagna Lee!
Hi,
Not sure if this has been answered before, but can I swap out ground beef for ground turkey meat in this recipe?
Hi Dominique – yes, no problem.
Could I make/assemble this a day before, put in the fridge and cook the next day?
Hi Christina – It’s best to cook it the day of because zucchini will become more watery as it sits.
OMG…. Best Lasagna I have ever had!!!!!!
I did change a few things. For one I used Hunts meat sauce in a can. I substituted Cottage Cheese for the ricotta cheese. Instead of using parmesan regianno cheese i used parmesan romano and asiago blend. I also used it as a topping with the mozzarella.
Like I said it is the best I have ever had, My wife agreed also.
Happy to hear this zucchini lasagna was a success!
I discovered this site accidentally when I was looking for a shakshuka recipe and I’m so glad I did! I have tried at least 6 of your recipes so far and they were all easy and delicious. I am not a fan of zucchini, but I absolutely loved this lasagna and it was so easy to make. Looking forward to trying even more of your recipes (:
Happy to hear you’ve been enjoying all my recipes so far! Can’t wait to see what you make next Jess :)
I don’t cook, but was able to follow this recipe and it turned out great. I used the mandolin to slice zucchini and a little bit of sweet potato, then heated zucchini slices on a pan until very slightly brown and set them on paper towels to blot. I parboiled the sweet potato slices and drained them. Instead of ricotta (couldn’t find), I used the low fat cottage cheese I could find at the store (1:1 ratio) and added another egg in case the cottage cheese would make it too watery. I added onion and garlic before browning the ground beef and added whatever spices I had in my cabinet, and it turned out amazing. Next time I would add more zucchini and less ground beef (just personal preference).
Happy to hear your zucchini lasagna turned out great :) You can always lessen the amount of beef used as well.
I was looking for low carb recipes. I just made this. It is so good!! I added some spinach to it. I was hoping the zucchini taste wasn’t gonna be dominant. I like zucchini but don’t love it. Lol. Will definitely make this often. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to look at more of your recipes!!
Happy to hear you enjoyed this lasagna recipe!